Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP #237: Little Stars Pediatrics: Providing Comprehensive Care From Birth to 21

• Sophia Yvette

Share episode

What makes Dr. Prag and Lydia Brock with Little Stars Pediatrics good neighbors?

Dr. Prag and Lydia Brock are revolutionizing pediatric care at Little Stars Pediatrics in Prosper, Texas. Breaking away from the assembly-line model of medical care, they've created a practice where spending 45 minutes with a patient isn't just allowed—it's encouraged when necessary.

Located conveniently off Highway 380, Little Stars Pediatrics offers comprehensive care for children from birth through age 21, serving families across McKinney, Frisco, Prosper, Salina, Aubrey, and Denton. Their approach reimagines what pediatric practice can be: not just a place for sick visits, but a medical home where annual wellness checks track crucial developmental milestones, growth patterns, and behavioral changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

For newborns, the practice provides essential screenings, regular weight checks, lactation support, and specialized referrals when needed—truly a one-stop resource during those critical early days. But what truly sets Little Stars apart is the deeply personal philosophy behind the practice. Dr. Prag shares her compelling journey from practicing medicine in India to establishing her own clinic in Texas after facing the constraints of volume-focused healthcare. Her decision to prioritize quality over quantity has created a pediatric practice where families receive thorough, compassionate care without the rush.

Whether you're expecting a baby or looking for a new pediatric home for your children, explore what patient-centered care looks like at Little Stars Pediatrics. Visit their transparent website at littlestarspediatrics.com to view self-pay pricing, accepted insurances, and learn how they're changing pediatric care one unhurried appointment at a time.

To learn more about Little Stars Pediatrics go to:

https://www.littlestarspeds.com/

Little Stars Pediatrics

972-544-9455


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a pediatric center? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbors Dr Prague and Lydia Brock, with Little Stars Pediatrics. Dr Praag and Lydia, how are you doing today?

Speaker 3:

Doing very well, Sophia. How are you doing?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing well also. So, lydia and Dr Praag, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us a bit about your company.

Speaker 3:

Yes, so we are Little Stars Pediatrics. We are a primary care office who is currently operating in Prosper. We are on the roadside of 380, like behind Longo Toyota of Prosper. We are very accessible from 380. So we cover like a large surface area and we serve around like McKinney, frisco, prosper, salina, aubrey, dentonon, and it's a very convenient location. So ours is a pediatric primary care office where we offer both like annual checkups and as well as like for the sick visits too, and we do offer every day like same day sick appointments. We do other services like sports, physical and everything, and our primary care office cares from the newborn till 21 years of age, so we have a comprehensive care for the babies, adults, a baby's children, as well as like adolescent age group so, dr Praag, what is the comprehensive care for babies like for our listeners here?

Speaker 3:

Yes, the comprehensive care for babies is like when the baby is born. We do start seeing the babies right from the baby gets discharged from the hospital. So we do the all the screenings for the babies that is required after the baby is born. We do the all the wellness checks, the weight checks. If there is any other condition that needs to be treated for the babies, we do all those checks in our clinic by following the American Board of Pediatrics protocol.

Speaker 3:

We bring in the babies more frequently if they have any concerns and we check the babies for their growth, which is very, very important in the initial days of life. Or if we find anything abnormal, we do the referrals to the concerned or like to the specific specialities if needed. We also offer some lactation support to moms. In terms of referrals, we also offer any therapy services to parents if we find out anything in babies. So that is like a comprehensive care, like a one-stop place where the parents can come and express all their concerns for the babies so that, like, we can do the referral or we will do the needful if we can do it in our clinic.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm sure that's very important in those first years of life.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

So, dr Praag, what is the most common myth or misconception you typically come across in your industry?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so babies are seen regularly and once when the babies reach a certain age, parents always think that they use the primary care as like an urgent care center. They always think, oh, we need to go to the doctor only when our baby is sick. But no, that's a misconception. When our baby is sick. But no, that's a very that's a misconception. We always advise regular annual checkups, like a wellness check, for every kid, and we follow the schedule. Because the only reason is whenever we see a kid for a sick visit, let's say, a kid is coming for a cold, so we just see for the kid for a cold, we will just treat them for a cold or cough or any flu.

Speaker 3:

But like, we don't go over everything, like in terms whenever they come for a wellness check. Here we always go over, like how the kid is sleeping, how the kid is doing overall, how the kid's education is, how is. How are they doing in school, how are they having their other behaviors? So how is their growth chart? So we go overall everything, uh, when they come for a wellness check. So I I want the parents to know that like, yes, well, all the pediatric offices are not if they are primary care, uh, wellness check is very important because parents always have a misconception oh, pediatric office is for sick visits. No, we do care about our patients. That's why we give like same day sick visit appointments. But, like, wellness check is very important for the parents, for the kids, so that we know how the kid is growing along the chart, because we always trend their height, weight, bmi, so that if there is any changes in their minimal changes, so that we can address it early so that it won't be a big problem in future.

Speaker 2:

And so who are your target clients? It sounds like a very popular client for you are the little babies all the way up to the older kids.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yes, yes. So our clients is like all families. I will say families because the reason is baby is yes, babies are a very important and integral part of family, and also I love to treat them as a family because, like, for example, when a kid is coming with a cold, if it is just a viral infection, we have to teach family, we have to educate families like mom and dad, this is just a common cold, you don't have to worry. If you encounter another instance like that, you can wait and watch for a couple of days, you can do these measures and then, like, bring the kid back. So our target audience is, though we are like pediatric offices, like where we care for, like from the newborn, from zero day to, like, 21 years old.

Speaker 2:

We, our target audience is always families amazing, and did you have anything to that? Uh no, I think dr prague said it very well and, in terms of marketing, how do you attract your target clients?

Speaker 3:

yeah, so right now, uh, we are, um, we had a practice back in mckin. So we recently we, because I was in this business or like in this practice for about like three and a half years. So when I started the practice, I started in McKinney three years back and I moved to Prosper Currently I don't have the office in McKinney. Those of the patients followed us and right now our marketing is like done through, like word of mouth, and we are asking for reviews from patients whenever they visit us. So those two are the ones that we are doing now.

Speaker 2:

Let's switch gears for a second. Can either of you describe a hardship or life challenge you overcame and how it made you better and stronger women today, what comes to mind for you?

Speaker 3:

yes so, yes, I can say that, and then, like lydia, you can add to your hardship too. Yes, so this uh, starting the, this practice, like this practice of medicine, is like one uh thing. I'll tell you my story. I'm from india and I did my medical school in India and I did my post-graduation in pediatrics in India, and also I practiced in India, having my own practice in India, too, for about like five years before moving to United States. So I moved to United States, I did my training and I finished my training in 2020.

Speaker 3:

And then, like when I started to work for another clinic in the near neighborhood, I found, like the values of the pediatrics was not respected much and I couldn't practice in a way that I felt which is right, because, like there was so much of dominance in that. And then, like what I felt right was not implemented and was more of a business rather than like giving service or like a preventative care to patients. So when I went into that work and I expressed my concern, they just said, like you can leave because, though, with the notice period or anything, they just said like, oh, you can leave. I said, like I have to serve my notice period, so, but when I came out, um, and I was, and I was looking for a job for about like three to four months. I couldn't land in a job like in a, in a, in another job where, like, it gives me enough freedom. Uh, because everybody wanted their clinic to be run in a way where we have to like do whatever the patients asks, rather than just educating the parent or like telling them okay, this is what it is, we don't need any medication, we can still wait and watch. That is like a protocol.

Speaker 3:

So, like it was very hard for me to find a job that suited me for at least like three to four months, when I was just like randomly thinking, why can't I have my own practice? But it was like so hard for me moving from a different country, like where in India, india, we don't have any like an insurance or anything like that. It's just like pay for service method, where you come in, pay for the service and that's it. We don't have anything. But in this country. When I since I worked in another clinic, it was like a lot of like though I had residency, training and stuff, but the business point of view was very different for me compared to India.

Speaker 3:

So I was just thinking maybe I should start my own practice rather than looking into others, so that I can heartily practice my pediatric care right, like I can spend how much of a time I want with my patients if it is my clinic, rather than like, oh, you have to finish this patient in 10 minutes or 15 minutes, minutes, or this visit has to be only this much you can. You cannot combine both the sick visits and wellness visit in the same, because they'll say, oh, you have to make an another appointment. So it's like so much of like tactics. I thought no, because pediatrics is like, it's not like straightforward. It's always somebody speaks on behalf of children and we have to like combine a lot and sometimes we cannot say, oh, you have come only for wellness check, we cannot discuss anything about your rash here. It won't work like that, right, but it was so hard for me to just get into that rhythm.

Speaker 3:

So then I thought, okay, I don't think I'll be happy ever when I go into anybody else's practices. So I thought like, okay, I'm gonna take a step and then, whatever hardships it is, I'm going to face it and I'm going to start the clinic. And that is how this clinic little stars, pediatrics happened and if I though it was very hard for me in the first couple of years to learn about this country's rules, regulations and starting a business and stuff, now I will say I don't regret that now I'm practicing medicine to my fullest and heartiest because I can sit with the patient for 45 minutes and nobody's going to question me like, oh, why did you like, why did you spend that much time with the patient rather than you could have seen like two patients, right? Do you get the concept of it? Yes, yes, that's the best decision in my life I took and that's the hardship that I went through.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you for sharing that with us. And Lydia are you? Can you quickly share a hardship or life challenge you overcame?

Speaker 4:

I think mine is the same as Dr Pragg, with working where it's more of like how many patients can you see? And so you know, finding a place in a location that has the same values that I did was, like super important, and I think that's why we make a good team.

Speaker 3:

so, yeah, yeah that's amazing between us. So it is. It's very easy for us to work with somebody who has our own, who has same uh, mindset, not to run the numbers, just to run like at the end of the day, when you go home, you'll be like, oh, I'm feeling, good, I did, I did this for my patient, like I want that satisfaction, rather than making, oh, I made this much, or I made that much, or whatever it is right most definitely, and where can our listeners go to learn more about little stars pediatrics?

Speaker 3:

yes, they can stop in our clinic anytime and we have our website, which is like littlestarspediatricscom littlestarspedscom, where we have everything listed, including our self-pay pricing. We have all the pricings up front in the website so that they can see, like, how much does a wellness check cost? Because I want it to be transparent to all the parents so that we don't charge extra or less. So all the everything and the insurances we accept is there. If they don't find the insurances, they can just give us a call.

Speaker 2:

We are still getting credential with lot of insurances. Well, dr Pragan Lydia, I really appreciate you being on this show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Sophia, thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfriscocom. That's gnpfriscocom, or call 469-221-9345. 1, 9, 3, 4, 5.