Birth to 8 weeks
Newborn care without the rushed handoff
Hospital follow-up, jaundice checks, weight checks, sleep questions, cord care, and feeding plans documented before you leave.
Boutique pediatrics in Central Austin
Brightside Pediatrics for fevers, first steps, growth spurts, and the teen years.
A modern pediatric and adolescent practice built around same-week sick care, 30-minute new-family visits, clear vaccine counseling, and physicians who know your child beyond the chart.
New families: 12 consult openings this month. Sick visits held daily until 10:30 a.m.
18,420
well-child visits completed since 2016
4.9★
average rating from 612 Austin families
91%
of sick requests seen same week in 2025
22
commercial insurance plans verified in-house
Care for every age
A pediatric home from day three through senior year.
Brightside schedules by age and visit type, so the newborn who needs a slow feeding check is not squeezed into the same template as a seventh-grader with headaches or a teen preparing for varsity sports.
Same week
Sick visits
Fever, ear pain, rash, cough, sore throat, abdominal pain, and quick testing when it changes the plan.
Ages 5 to 18
ADHD and behavior
Vanderbilt review, school letters, medication follow-up, sleep screening, and coordination with therapists.
Feeding support
Lactation, bottles, and growth checks
Weighted feeds, formula transitions, reflux review, tongue-tie referrals, and practical plans for returning to work.
Middle school and high school
Sports physicals
UIL forms, concussion history, menstrual health, asthma action plans, and return-to-play guidance.
Annual rhythm
Well-child visits and vaccines
Developmental screening, hearing and vision checks, vaccine counseling, school forms, and growth review.
Our approach
Calm guidance, specific plans, and no mystery handoffs.
Parents usually arrive with three questions and leave remembering one. Brightside visits are structured around the plan you need at home: what to watch tonight, what changes the decision tree, and who to call if the story changes.
New-patient visits are scheduled for 30 minutes. Well checks include developmental screening, vaccine counseling, family history updates, and one practical priority chosen with the parent.
- 30 minnew-family consults for history, concerns, and care preferences.
- 10:30daily sick-visit hold time before the schedule opens to routine care.
- 1 daytarget turnaround for school forms and camp medication forms.
The visit is not finished until a parent knows exactly what the next 24 hours should look like.
Your physicians
Three doctors, one shared chart, and a small-practice memory.
Every Brightside physician is board-certified in pediatrics and sees newborns, school-age children, and adolescents. Families can choose a primary doctor while still getting same-week access when illness does not wait.
Maya Desai, MD
FAAP, newborn care leadDr. Desai focuses on early infancy, feeding decisions, jaundice follow-up, and helping first-time parents distinguish normal newborn noise from symptoms that need a same-day plan.
Request with Dr. Desai
Caroline Mercer, DO
Adolescent medicine and mental healthDr. Mercer works closely with teens on headaches, menstrual health, anxiety screening, ADHD medication follow-up, and parent-teen conversations that need privacy and clarity.
Request with Dr. Mercer
Julian Alvarez, MD
Sports, asthma, and acute careDr. Alvarez leads Brightside's sports clearance and asthma protocols, with a practical eye for return-to-play decisions, inhaler use, and keeping school nurses in the loop.
Request with Dr. Alvarez
Parent notes
Families remember the follow-through.
Parents talk about the details that change a hard week: a clearer dose schedule, a fast form turnaround, a physician who remembers the previous visit, and a child who feels seen.
“My 6-week-old was not gaining enough weight. Dr. Desai did a weighted feed, changed the bottle plan, and called two days later. We had numbers, not guesses.”
“The portal reply after our son’s asthma flare included the exact inhaler schedule for school and home. His nurse had the form before lunch.”
“Our daughter’s ADHD visit felt careful instead of rushed. Dr. Mercer reviewed teacher forms, sleep, appetite, and what to change before touching the dose.”
Getting started
Insurance checked in-house, intake finished before the visit.
Brightside verifies benefits within 1 business day for new families and sends age-specific intake forms through the patient portal. For established families, same-week sick appointments are released every weekday morning.
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- UnitedHealthcare
- Aetna
- Cigna
- Oscar
- Sendero
- Seton Health Plan
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Choose the right visit
New family consult, annual well check, same-week sick visit, medication follow-up, or sports physical.
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Upload records once
Vaccine records, prior growth charts, school forms, and medication lists are reviewed before arrival.
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Leave with the plan
Your after-visit summary includes red flags, dosing, school notes, and the next follow-up date.
Book the visit your child actually needs.
Call the front desk or request a portal invitation. New-family consults are usually scheduled within 8 to 14 days.