Urgent care for kids, entirely over video.
Hugs is a video-only pediatric urgent care built by Dr. Laura Purdy, a family physician and mom of five, for the nights when you need someone who gets it. Open every hour of every day, licensed in all 50 states plus DC. One visit is $75 and the urgent care issue is handled. We treat what can be treated safely over video, and we tell you plainly when something needs hands, a swab or an emergency room.
A physician, PA or NP licensed in your state joins on video. Not for emergencies.
Booking for your state opens shortly.
Leave your email and we'll send the link the moment visits are live in your state. Have a thermometer reading and your pharmacy handy. Not an emergency service: call 911 if your child is struggling to breathe or won't wake.
- Licensed in all 50 states + DC
- Open 24 hours, every day
- Prescriptions to your pharmacy
- No insurance needed
What we treat
Conditions a clinician can manage safely on video, A to Z.
This is the list we treat and the conditions on it are handled end to end: assessment, a plan, and a prescription when one is warranted. If a visit turns out to need something we can't do over video, we say so during the call.
Not sure what's wrong? Just want to talk to the doctor?
You don't need a diagnosis to book. Describe what you're seeing and the clinician takes it from there.
Start a visit →Allergies
Seasonal and environmental allergy symptoms, including what to take, at what dose, and for how long.
Learn more →Bug bites
Bites and stings reviewed for local reaction versus infection versus something that needs an emergency room right now.
Learn more →Diaper rash
We tell the common rashes apart from yeast and from something that needs to be seen, and give you what to apply and what to stop using.
Learn more →Eczema
Flares assessed on camera, with a treatment plan, prescription creams where warranted, and what to change in the daily routine.
Learn more →Head lice
Confirmed with a close camera look at the scalp, then a treatment plan and what to do with bedding, brushes and siblings.
Learn more →Impetigo
The crusting and the pattern are visible on video, which is usually enough to diagnose and prescribe an antibiotic ointment or course.
Learn more →Influenza
Symptoms assessed on the call and a test ordered when it will change the plan. Antivirals prescribed where they're appropriate and still in the window.
Learn more →Nausea and vomiting
We work out whether this is a stomach bug that can be ridden out at home, and give you a hydration plan and the signs that mean it's time to be seen.
Learn more →Pinworms
Diagnosed from symptoms and history. Treatment is straightforward, and we'll tell you who else in the house needs it.
Learn more →Poison ivy
The rash is recognizable on camera. We treat the itch and inflammation and tell you how long it should take to settle.
Learn more →Ringworm
The ring is distinct enough to identify on camera. Antifungal treatment and guidance on keeping it from spreading at home.
Learn more →Scabies
Assessed from the rash, the pattern and the history. Treatment covers the child and, usually, the household.
Learn more →Strep throat
A swab is required, so we order the test and send you to a lab or pharmacy nearby. If it comes back positive we treat it and send the prescription.
Learn more →Sunburn
Assessed for degree and for signs of heat illness, with pain control and a plan for the next few days.
Learn more →Swimmer's ear
We can only treat swimmer's ear when the oozing is visible on camera. If we can't see it, the ear needs to be looked at in person and we'll say so.
Learn more →Fever under age three
We never treat a fever over 100.4°F in a child under three over video. A fever at that age needs to be examined in person, and we will send you where it can be. We'll stay on the call and help you decide where to go.
Every age, not every treatment
We see children of all ages. For infants and some younger children the visit is more often guidance, what to watch for, what to do tonight, when to be seen, than a prescription. That judgment is the clinician's to make on the call.
How it works
Four steps, from the couch to the pharmacy.
Sign up once, tell us what is going on tonight, see a clinician, pick up at your pharmacy. Tap a step to read it. The path fills as you go. See every step in detail →
Sign up
Create your account and add each child once: name, date of birth, weight, allergies, medicines and your pharmacy. Saved, so the next 2am is faster than the first.
Fill out the medical intake
What's going on tonight, since when, the temperature and how you took it, what you've tried. Add photos of a rash, an ear or a throat in good light. Your clinician reads it before the appointment.
Book a video appointment
Pick a time, day or night, with a physician, PA or nurse practitioner licensed in the state your child is in. They'll look at what they need to see and tell you plainly if something needs hands, a swab or an ER.
Pick up at your pharmacy
When a prescription is warranted, it's sent to the local pharmacy you chose, ready for pickup, with a written care plan, the signs that mean in-person care, and a school or daycare note if you need one.
Sign up
Create your account and add each child once: name, date of birth, weight, allergies, medicines and your pharmacy. Saved, so the next 2am is faster than the first.
Good to know
Two things to know before you book.
Strep and flu can be tested.
Both need a swab, so the clinician orders the test during the visit and directs you to a lab or pharmacy near you. The result comes back to us, and we follow up with treatment if it's positive.
Anything that needs hands.
Injuries needing imaging, deep cuts, trouble breathing, dehydration needing fluids, anything requiring a physical exam or an ear canal we can't see. We'll tell you in the first few minutes and point you to the right place.
Pricing
One price, per visit.
No claims, no deductible, no surprise bill three weeks later.
Video visit
- The urgent care issue handled
- Prescription sent to your pharmacy when warranted
- Strep or flu testing ordered if needed
- School and daycare notes
- Available any hour, any day
Medication costs at the pharmacy are separate. Keep the receipt for an HSA or FSA.
MembershipIn development
We're building a membership around connected devices: a home kit that lets a clinician listen, look and measure remotely, so a video visit can carry more of an exam. We haven't settled on the kit yet, so we're not selling it.
- Device-assisted evaluation at home
- Integrative technology across visits
- Reorders for some uncomplicated medications
Why we exist · a note from Dr. Laura
I've had five kids sick at once. I built the clinic I needed.
When the strep goes through the whole house, or the fever spikes at 2am, the pediatrician's office has been closed for hours. What's left is an urgent care with a long wait and a clinician who mostly sees adults, or an emergency room visit that costs more than a month of groceries, often for a rash, a bite or a stomach bug.
As a mom I wanted a clinician who listens, tells me what I can handle at home, and says just as plainly when I can't. As a doctor I knew which problems could be handled well on a screen. Hugs is both: pediatric-experienced clinicians at every hour, one $75 visit, and the same care I'd want for my own five.
Our commitment to families
What we promise every child, and every parent.
Mission
To give every family a pediatric clinician they can reach in minutes, at any hour, who treats what can be treated safely over video and says plainly when a child needs to be seen in person.
Vision
A country where no parent sits up at 2am wondering whether it can wait until morning, because the answer is one video call away, in every state, for a price they can plan around.
Our brand promise
We'll treat your child like one of our own.
A real, US-based clinician who listens before advising. A clear plan you can follow tonight, in writing. Honesty about what a screen can and can't do, and help getting to the right place when it can't. One price, no surprises. And a follow-through that treats your worry as seriously as your child's symptoms.
Signed, a mom of five and the clinicians of LPMD Medical Group.
Our values
Clarity
Plain words, a written plan, and a straight answer about what we can and can't do over video.
Compassion
We listen before we advise. A scared parent at 2am deserves patience, not a script.
Excellence
Board-certified, US-based clinicians, pediatric guidelines, and a standard we'd hold for our own kids.
Love
For children and the families who love them. It's why the clinic exists and how every visit should feel.
Safety
Firm limits on what we treat on video, and a fast, honest handoff to in-person care when a child needs it.
Efficiency
Sign up once, book in minutes, leave with the issue handled and the prescription already at your pharmacy.
About Dr. Laura
A mom of five who happens to be a doctor.
Dr. Laura Purdy, MD, MBA, is a board-certified family physician, the founder of Swellcare, and the mother of five kids, two dogs and a cat. She knows what it's like when the fever, the vomiting or the strep throat goes through the whole house in the same week, and what a parent needs at 2am: a real clinician who listens, says what can be handled at home, and says just as plainly when it can't.
Her work in virtual care began as a battalion surgeon with a U.S. Army Special Operations Civil Affairs unit, guiding medics through emergencies across East and West Africa by radio and phone. Fourteen years of active-duty service, more than 20,000 virtual consultations and medical-director roles at more than fifty digital health companies later, she built Swellcare, and now Hugs, as the clinic she would send her own family to.
The medical group
The medical group behind every Hugs visit.
Hugs visits are delivered by LPMD Medical Group, the clinician group led by Dr. Purdy. Every clinician who takes a Hugs visit is a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner licensed in the state your child is in, practicing within the scope their license allows there. The same clinicians, standards and safety rules apply in all 50 states plus DC.
Dr. Laura's standard for every visit
- 1Did we listen before we started giving advice?
- 2Did we explain what a video visit can and cannot do?
- 3Would we send our own family here?
If the answer is yes, we're doing it the Hugs way.
The management company
The Cura Collective runs the business side.
Hugs is a Venture portfolio brand managed by The Cura Collective, the management company behind the non-clinical side of the clinic: the website, marketing, technology and day-to-day operations, so the clinicians can focus on your child. The Cura Collective does not practice medicine and never directs a clinical decision. Diagnosis, treatment and every prescription belong to the LPMD Medical Group clinician on your call.
A Venture portfolio brandWho you'll see
US-based, licensed clinicians.
Physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, all US-based and licensed to practice in the state your child is in at the time of the call, working within the scope their license allows there.
Clinician name, MD
Physician · Medical DirectorClinician name, PA-C
Physician assistantClinician name, FNP
Nurse practitionerFAQ
Questions parents ask.
What does a visit cost?
Do you take insurance?
Where are you available?
What ages do you see?
Can you prescribe?
What if the visit can't be handled on video?
Are you working on home devices?
Ready when they're not okay.
It's 2am and we're up too. A pediatric video visit any hour, in all 50 states plus DC, for $75. For parents, by a mom of five.
Start a visit · $75