Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Alana.
Hi Dr. Alana, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey into medicine began when I was 16 years old and knew I wanted to be a pediatrician. In all honesty, the road was very hard. As a 22-year-old SMU graduate and mother of two young children, I received my medical degree from UT in San Antonio, which is also where I met my husband, Dean, who was an internal medicine resident at the time.
After completing my pediatrics residency at Tulane and a pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, and two more children later, I spent five years as an attending physician on the bone marrow transplant unit at Texas Children’s Hospital. While I loved caring for incredibly complex and amazing children in the hospital, I missed taking care of the “whole” patient, long before they needed an oncologist. At the same time, I also dreaded going to the pediatrician’s office myself – long waits felt interminable and I always left feeling like we were just a number. I decided that there must be a better way to treat patients, understand them well and provide the highest level of care possible!
Thus, PurePediatrics was created from a very personal place. As both a pediatrician and a mother, I saw firsthand how frustrating and impersonal healthcare could feel for families. Long waits, rushed appointments and limited access to your doctor had become the norm. I wanted to build a practice where families felt truly known, cared for and supported—not just during sick visits, but in every stage of their child’s growth and development. When I started PurePediatrics in 2013, it became the first pediatric concierge practice in Houston, and one of a handful in the country. We are changing the way medicine is practiced!
As PurePediatrics began to grow, my happiness as a doctor and parent increased dramatically. I started adding more great pediatricians who shared the same passion and values that I did – to be part of a movement that medicine should be personalized and efficient and comprehensive. Our motto is “Happy doctors practice great medicine!” And we do!!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road was long and hard, with a few bumps along the way! My greatest challenge, without question, was launching a pediatric practice that did not accept insurance. While concierge medicine was already well established in adult medicine, a membership-based pediatric model was still relatively new—especially in Houston. Introducing families to a different way of accessing care required both education and trust.
From the beginning, I was intentional about keeping our patient panel small enough to deliver an exceptional level of service. That meant offering same-day visits, direct access by phone, email, and text, and truly knowing each child and family beyond the chart. Our patients range from healthy newborns to children with complex chronic conditions, as well as teenagers and young adults navigating a wide variety of medical and social challenges.
To support that level of care, I also built a strong network of respected pediatric subspecialists across Houston. These close, collegial relationships allow us to make thoughtful referrals and ensure seamless communication between providers, so families receive highly coordinated, personalized care at every step.
Over the past six years, we have expanded to three offices across Houston – Bellaire, Memorial and River Oaks – and added five awesome pediatricians! In addition, we now offer adult concierge medicine in our River Oaks location and are actively expanding our adult program, PureLife MD.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about PurePediatrics?
At its heart, PurePediatrics is a concierge pediatric practice built on relationships. We operate on a membership model, which allows us to keep our patient panel smaller and provide a much higher level of personalized care. That means longer visits, same-day or next-day appointments, direct access to the doctor by phone, text, or email, and the time to really understand each child and family. We care for everyone from healthy newborns to children with more complex medical needs, and we pride ourselves on being accessible, responsive and deeply invested in the families we serve.
When I started the practice, it was a very solo adventure. As the organization grew clear intentions, time and self-funding, “I” became “we,” with six additional amazing and exceptional doctors. Our team now includes a Chief Executive Officer (me), a Chief Operating Officer and a leadership team of six talented individuals, all dedicated to improving the way our practice (and medicine, in general) is practiced. We run on an “Entrepreneurial Operating System” called EOS, which has allowed us to continue to grow in a structured, organized and focused way. Our core values are to “Be Positive, Get it Done, Do the Right Thing, With Mutual Respect and we live by those core values every day.
What sets us apart is not just the services we offer, but the way we care. We focus strongly on prevention, wellness and whole-child health, while also making care more convenient through things like house calls and in-office services such as EKGs, body composition analysis, full laboratory services, functional medicine testing and infant/toddler vision screenings. More than anything, I want readers to know that PurePediatrics was built with the belief that healthcare can feel different—more thoughtful, more connected and more human. When families have a trusted relationship with their doctor, everything works better.
What makes you happy?
What brings me the most professional happiness is building close, lasting relationships with my patients and their families. There is something incredibly meaningful about being part of a child’s journey—watching them grow, supporting them through different stages of life, and earning the trust of both the child and their parents over time.
I also find deep fulfillment in creating a model of care that truly works for everyone involved, both patients and physicians. For me, that includes recognizing the importance of caring for myself as a doctor, too. When physicians have the time, balance and support they need, they are able to be more present, more thoughtful and more connected in the care they provide. Ultimately, that leads to a better experience—and better outcomes—for patients and families. Happy doctors practice great medicine!
What brings me the most personal happiness is parenthood – it has been the most rewarding experience of my life and we have raised four amazing children and enjoyed every minute of it (even the not so great minutes!) And I am able to bring that parenting experience to work with me every day!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://purepediatrics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purepediatrics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purePEDIATRICS/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/purepediatrics/
- Other: https://www.superdoctors.com/texas/doctor/Alana-A-Kennedy-Nasser/22c83956-fb65-45c9-b3ff-704c2855d26f.html
