Dr. Hertz
Dr. Hertz's Leap: Reinventing Pediatric Care Through Direct Models
"Healthcare should prioritize patients - not systems," says Dr. Drew Hertz, pediatrician and founder of the Zest Pediatric Network. His journey from a corporate health executive to a direct care pioneer is a compelling example of how bold leadership can reshape the future of children's health.
A Pivotal Shift: Departing the System
Dr. Hertz's path into healthcare innovation is rooted in decades of experience within the very structure that many direct care advocates are seeking to transform. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Hertz worked in a large academic health system. He began as a general pediatrician managing a community-based practice and gradually climbed the administrative ranks.
Despite his senior position, Dr. Hertz felt a growing misalignment between his values and the direction of academic medical centers. Increasingly, these systems prioritized institutional goals over patient care. What had always brought him joy, supporting doctors in caring for patients, was no longer central to his work. This realization led him to leave his executive role and explore consulting.
Discovering the Direct Care Model
Shortly after his transition, Dr. Hertz began consulting with a pediatric practice that had recently shifted to a direct care model. This practice was among the earliest to adopt this approach in pediatrics and was the first of its kind in the Cleveland area.
Through this experience, Dr. Hertz became deeply familiar with the mechanics and philosophy of direct care. He saw in it the potential to resolve some of the systemic challenges he had encountered throughout his career. The transparency, accessibility, and patient-first mindset of direct care struck a chord.
Building the Zest Pediatric Network Vision
Inspired by the potential of direct care, Dr. Hertz set out to create something larger than a single practice: a sustainable ecosystem for pediatricians. This vision materialized as the Zest Pediatric Network, a platform designed to reduce the logistical and financial hurdles of launching a direct pediatric care practice.
Understanding that not every physician aspires to be a solo entrepreneur, Dr. Hertz structured Zest as a Management Services Organization (MSO). The MSO model supports clinicians by offloading business operations such as IT, marketing, legal, HR, accounting, inventory procurement, office setup, and lease negotiations.
Holistic Services for Comprehensive Pediatric Support
Zest goes beyond supporting physicians, it supports families with wraparound services. The network offers lactation consulting, dietitian access, sleep coaching, parent coaching, and psychologist consultations.
Future plans include expanding into maternal mental health, physical therapy, and developmental play therapy. Zest also works to integrate its care with schools, childcare providers, and therapy centers, creating a seamless network of support for children and their families.
Serving All Families: The Medicaid Initiative
One of Zest's most groundbreaking efforts is its Medicaid program. The network directly contracts with a Medicaid plan to offer services to families across the economic spectrum. This initiative has dual aims: providing equitable access to high-quality care and gathering data to demonstrate the model's effectiveness.
Through the Medicaid partnership, Zest is working to empirically validate the model by measuring its impact on emergency room visits, urgent care use, well-child visits, and chronic disease management.
Clarifying Identity: Direct Pediatric Care vs. Direct Primary Care
To distinguish its model, the network uses the term Direct Pediatric Care (DPC) instead of the more generic Direct Primary Care. Key distinctions include home visits (a majority of pediatric DPC physicians conduct home visits), vaccinations (pediatric DPC practices prioritize vaccination access), wraparound services, more frequent visits especially during the first year, and specialized training.
Currently, the Zest Pediatric Network includes six offices across Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Weston. Each physician in the network operates as an independent LLC, offering business and tax flexibility.