Wichita Moms Blog has partnered with Amwell for this sponsored post! You can read more about why moms should consider using telehealth here.
Being sick is the pits.
But even worse than being sick yourself is having sick kiddos. And I’ve had my fair share of those, hence my expertise on soothing sick little ones.
But the worst yet? That moment you realize your two year old has a fever at 5:01 p.m. on a Friday. Or your child breaks out into a strange and painful rash while on vacation. Or your toddler and b
rand new baby come down with a respiratory virus in the middle of the worst snow storm all winter when the last thing you want to do is drag them out to the pediatrician’s office. (Not that I speak from experience or anything).
But Murphy’s Law guarantees your children will get sick at the most inconvenient times.
Luckily, we have a wonderful pediatrician who openly encourages us to call her “after hours” with any concerns. (And I may have taken her up on this more often than I’d like to admit). But there have also been times when we really couldn’t wait until the office opened the next morning. Or, admittedly, there have been plenty of times I just didn’t want to get the girls out for yet another visit to the doctor when I already knew the culprit of the illness and really just needed to get my hands on some antibiotics.
Or I think about the time our daughter had a terrifying allergic reaction to penicillin when we were 30 minutes up a mountain in the middle-of-nowhere Colorado. Or when our infant came down with a miserable ear infection in the middle of the night on a Saturday when my husband was out of town. Or when both of our girls developed coughs and fevers 12 hours before we left for my brother-in-law’s wedding in San Francisco.
Sound familiar?
In each of these situations, I joked with my husband that I needed a “pocket doctor”. The thought of making time to schedule another doctor’s appointment was overwhelming, and some of our circumstances required us to resort to an expensive ER visit, simply due to the timing or severity of the illness.
Needless to say, I was abs
olutely elated when I heard about the concept of telehealth services – healthcare via desktop or mobile video. (a.k.a. doctor visits without the hassle of trying to rush out the door when you can’t find that pesky other shoe or your toddler’s favorite purple jacket they insist on wearing). You virtually “meet” with a doctor without ever having to leave your house (or bed) !
Yes. For real.
Founded by a medical doctor brother duo in 2006, Amwell is one of the leading telehealth services in the US. Their mission is to help busy moms when sickness strikes abruptly, providing high quality, Board Certified licensed care (doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, psychologists, therapists and social workers) over desktop/mobile video in under 2 minutes. It’s truly as simple as typing in a symptom or a type of provider you’re looking for.
As if that doesn’t make my busy-mom-heart go pitter-pat, Amwell also integrated with Apple’s Health App as the first telehealth mobile app, the only app mentioned by name by Apple CEO, Tim Cook at Apple’s 2015 first quarter earnings call.
In addition to seeking the most convenient options (while still maintaining high quality), I’m always on the hunt for the most cost effective solutions when it comes to my family. So you can imagine my “thrill” of walking to my mailbox one morning only to find a $500+ bill from a middle of the night ER visit for my four month old that was made when my husband was out of town and I had no other option. The $500 diagnosis? An ear infection. Something that could have easily been diagnosed at a much more reasonably priced $49 visit with an Amwell physician.
But of course there are times when we do need to see our own doctor face to face. Believe me, we see ours quite often and have a wonderful relationship with her. So if you do end up needing to make an office appointment, you can look for a provider in Wichita with the handy Amwell find a doctor page!
- Find a family doctor in Wichita today.
- Find a pediatrician in Wichita today.
- Find a dietitian in Wichita today.
- Find a counselor in Wichita today.
So when the next illness strikes at a not-so-convenient time, simply hop on your laptop or pull up your Amwell mobile app and give it a try. Your first visit is FREE! Simply use the coupon code CITYMOMS at checkout.
Thank you to Amwell for sponsoring this post. And thank you for reading!
