Dr. Lauren Hughes is a pediatrician and founder of Bloom Pediatrics, a practice reimagining pediatric care through a direct primary care model centered on access, trust, and time. Her work challenges the assumptions of insurance-driven medicine by asking what becomes possible when care is designed around relationships rather than volume.
Lauren’s approach is shaped by both personal history and professional experience. Raised in a small-town medical family, she grew up observing a form of care grounded in community, continuity, and responsibility. During residency, she encountered a healthcare system that often limited clinicians’ ability to provide the care patients needed—an experience that prompted her to explore alternative models. A pivotal moment came when she was reprimanded for spending additional time ensuring a child’s safety because the care was not billable.
Bloom Pediatrics operates outside the insurance system using a flat monthly membership, allowing families unlimited visits, direct communication, and proactive care without copays or prior authorizations. This model enables earlier interventions, reduces unnecessary emergency visits, and strengthens long-term relationships between families and clinicians.
In addition to pediatrics, Lauren integrates breastfeeding medicine into primary care. She is actively engaged in the national direct primary care community, collaborating with peers to share resources and expand access to sustainable, relationship-based care.
