What MedHelp does

MedHelp is a private, physician-led urgent care and primary care medical practice founded in 1982 by Dr. Michael Vaughn in Birmingham, Alabama, and currently led by CEO Dr. Jordan Vaughn. The company operates five clinic locations across the Birmingham metropolitan area — Highway 280, Trussville, Pelham, Lakeshore (Homewood), and Women's & Wellness — offering walk-in urgent care open seven days a week, relationship-based primary care, phone-based telehealth, and an extended portfolio of specialty services including women's health, gynecology, mammography, dermatology, sports medicine, occupational health, Lyme disease treatment (MedRenew), wellness therapies (MedWell), clinical trials (Cahaba Research), and a Long COVID Clinic.

The company's core technology footprint consists of CLIA-certified on-site laboratories at each clinic, digital imaging (X-ray and ultrasound), two MedHelp Rx pharmacies at the Highway 280 and Lakeshore sites for integrated prescription fulfillment, a phone-based telehealth platform available 8am-4pm Monday through Saturday, and the athenahealth patient portal used for visit notes, lab results, and online bill pay. MedHelp accepts most major insurance plans and offers self-pay pricing structured to be a fraction of the average emergency room visit cost.

MedHelp's revenue model is primarily fee-for-service, transaction-based healthcare delivery billed through insurance or paid out-of-pocket at the point of service, with average urgent care visits priced at approximately $150 versus approximately $2,000 for an average ER visit and average patient wait times of approximately 20 minutes. Recurring primary care relationships, telehealth consultations, COVID-19 testing, specialty services, and pharmacy sales contribute additional revenue streams. The company additionally targets self-insured employers through an Employer-Sponsored Direct Primary Care offering and runs a cash-pay Wellness and Preventive Medicine service at the Women's and Wellness clinic. The customer base is broadly distributed across individual patients in the Birmingham metro; no single anchor customer or institutional payer concentration is disclosed.

Name

MedHelp

Legal name

MedHelp

Website

https://medhelpclinics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

MedHelp is a private Birmingham, Alabama-based urgent care and primary care medical practice founded in 1982, operating five clinics offering walk-in urgent care, relationship-based primary care, telehealth, specialty services, on-site labs, and integrated pharmacies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Urgent Care Visits: Fee-for-service urgent care visits billed to insurance or paid as self-pay. Walk-in basis with no appointment required. Services include treatment for acute illnesses, injuries, diagnostic testing, and minor procedures.
2. Primary Care Services: Relationship-based primary care with scheduled appointments. Includes annual physicals, chronic condition management, preventive care, and acute care visits. Insurance billing or self-pay options.
3. Telehealth Consultations: Virtual doctor visits for COVID-19 screening, follow-up care, prescription refills, and urgent care consultations. Phone-based appointments with no special software required.
4. COVID-19 Testing: Drive-thru COVID-19 testing at all five clinic locations. Rapid and PCR testing with results available in as little as fifteen minutes. Telehealth screening required prior to testing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MedHelp operates walk-in urgent care and relationship-based primary care services across five clinic locations in the Birmingham, Alabama metro area, open seven days a week with no appointment required for urgent needs. The integrated model bundles on-site CLIA-certified laboratory diagnostics, MedHelp Rx pharmacies at select locations, phone-based telehealth, and specialty services including COVID-19 testing, Long COVID treatment, women's health, sports medicine, and occupational health. The practice has served the Birmingham community since 1982 with board-certified physicians and a focus on affordable alternatives to emergency room visits.

Product overview

MedHelp is a healthcare provider operating five urgent care and primary care clinic locations in the Birmingham, Alabama metro area since 1982. The core offering consists of walk-in Urgent Care (open seven days a week, no appointment required) and relationship-based Primary Care (offered at all five locations). The company operates an integrated model where patients can receive multiple services at the same facilities. On-site capabilities include a CLIA-certified laboratory and MedHelp Rx pharmacies at select locations for prescription fulfillment. Specialty services include: Telehealth (phone-based virtual visits), COVID-19 Testing/Antibody Testing/Follow-Up Clinic, Long COVID Clinic, Women's & Wellness (gynecology, mammography, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy), Dermatology and Aesthetic Services, Sports Medicine, Occupational Health, Chronic Care Management with Home Monitoring, Employer-Sponsored Direct Primary Care, Cahaba Research Clinical Trials, Wellness Therapies (IV infusions), and Lyme Disease Treatment (via MedRenew partnership). The company added Wellness and Preventive Medicine as a holistic, cash-pay service targeting root-cause healthcare.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MedHelp Rx: Independent, full-service pharmacies at Highway 280 and Lakeshore clinic locations
• Cahaba Research
• MedRenew
• MedWell
• MedHelp Women's and Wellness
• Long COVID Clinic

Products and services

• Urgent Care Walk-in urgent care services for non-emergency medical issues including cuts, sprains, fractures, flu, fever, infections, and other acute conditions. Open seven days a week with no appointment required; average wait time approximately 20 minutes and most visits completed in under one hour.
• Primary Care Relationship-based primary care medicine providing wellness checkups, chronic disease management (cholesterol, asthma, COPD, ADD/ADHD, hypertension, thyroid issues, diabetes), preventive care, and acute illness treatment for patients of all ages, offered at all five clinic locations.
• Telehealth Virtual doctor appointments conducted over the phone, available 8am-4pm Monday through Saturday. Used for COVID-19 screening, urgent care issues, prescription refills, and primary care follow-ups; required prior to receiving COVID-19 testing.
• MedHelp Rx Pharmacy Independent, full-service pharmacies located at the Highway 280 and Lakeshore clinic locations, allowing patients to fill prescriptions on-site before leaving.
• On-Site Laboratory and Medical Diagnostics
• Long COVID Clinic
• COVID-19 Testing
• Women's & Wellness / Gynecology
• Mammogram
• Sports Medicine
• Occupational Health
• Dermatology and Aesthetic Services
• Age Management / Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Wellness Therapies (MedWell)
• Lyme Disease Treatment (MedRenew)
• Chronic Care Management with Home Monitoring
• Employer-Sponsored Direct Primary Care
• Cahaba Research (Clinical Trials)
• Wellness and Preventive Medicine

Quantifiable outcome

• Average urgent care visit costs approximately $150 compared to $2000 for emergency room visit
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• athenahealthcoreTechnology or Integrationathenahealth provides the patient portal platform used by MedHelp for patient engagement, including viewing visit notes, lab results, and secure communications with healthcare providers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• American Family Care (AFC): Birmingham-headquartered urgent care and primary care chain founded in 1982. Operates walk-in clinics across multiple states with on-site labs, X-ray, and occupational health — virtually identical service model and shared Birmingham heritage, making it the most direct competitor in the same metro.
• Urgent Care for Children: Birmingham-based pediatric urgent care provider with multiple locations across Alabama. While pediatric-focused, it directly competes for the same walk-in, no-appointment patient base in the Birmingham metro and overlaps on urgent care operating model and employer/occupational health.
• GoHealth Urgent Care: Large multi-state urgent care operator with in-network partnerships with major health systems. Competes head-to-head with MedHelp on walk-in urgent care, on-site diagnostics, and employer occupational health contracts, but at significantly greater geographic scale.
• FastMed Urgent Care: Multi-state urgent care and primary care chain offering walk-in treatment, on-site labs and imaging, occupational health, and telehealth. Closely mirrors MedHelp's service mix and target patient segments (uninsured, employer, episodic care), though at broader regional scale.
• NextCare Urgent Care: One of the largest U.S. urgent care operators with hundreds of clinics offering walk-in care, occupational health, vaccines, and lab services. Direct peer on urgent care operations, employer services, and primary care overlap, competing for the same patient demand profile.
• Patient First: Mid-Atlantic urgent care and primary care chain with walk-in, on-site lab/imaging, and occupational health services. Closely comparable operating model, hours, and service breadth to MedHelp, but operating in different geographies.

Broad incumbents

• CVS MinuteClinic: National retail-clinic operator inside CVS pharmacies offering walk-in acute care, vaccinations, and chronic condition support. Competes with MedHelp on convenient, low-acuity walk-in visits, with substantially greater digital infrastructure, brand, and pharmacy-capture capabilities.
• One Medical (Amazon): Membership-based primary care platform acquired by Amazon, combining relationship-based primary care with 24/7 virtual access. Competes with MedHelp's primary care and chronic care management offerings, with superior technology, scale, and consumer brand.
• U.S. HealthWorks (now Concentra): National occupational health and urgent care operator owned by SelectHealth/Concentra. Direct overlap with MedHelp's occupational health, workers' compensation, and employer-sponsored services, with much broader geographic reach and employer contracts.

Emerging players

• Teladoc Health: National telehealth leader offering virtual urgent care, primary care, and chronic condition management. Competes with MedHelp's phone-based telehealth offering and digital front door, with materially superior technology and payer relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medhelp-p.c.

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MedHelp