Natalia Cano

Updated March 2026

Limited access to pediatric care has a cost

In many parts of Latin America, families struggle to access pediatric healthcare due to geographical, monetary or systemic barriers. Worried parents cannot get the support they need to know whether their child’s illness requires timely medical attention or simply rest at home. 

The resulting uncertainty leads to many unnecessary trips to the emergency room. This stressful situation has a cost, in travel expenses and missed work, as well as putting pressure on the local healthcare system. The reverse is true too — sometimes a child needs urgent medical support and every minute counts, but time is lost while their parents deliberate.

Colombian pediatrician Natalia Cano was frequently contacted by people in her extended social network for advice about their children’s health. The floods of frantic messages she sometimes received from friends of friends drove home the appreciation that not everyone has the luxury of easy access to a pediatrician. There was no particular lightbulb moment, just a gradual realization that if she could multiply her impact via a website or mobile application, she could help thousands more parents — and build a business around it. 

From this realization came Docokids, “the pediatrician in your pocket.”

“The pediatrician in your pocket” transforms healthcare access for parents

Launched in Colombia in 2022, Docokids provides 24/7 pediatric support across Latin America, connecting parents with specialist doctors for real-time reassurance and guidance. 

Its secure, tailor-made platform integrates with mobile messaging application WhatsApp, the most widely used communication tool in Latin America. Users pay affordable monthly or annual fees — around $15 USD per month, compared with roughly $40 USD for a single visit to an in-person clinic.

Alternatively, they receive membership through their employer, educational institution or health provider to receive instant access to trusted care whenever they need it, eliminating the geographic, economic and time barriers that block many from accessing timely support.

This solution is made possible by use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. Every chat is answered by a human doctor, but behind the scenes a wealth of technology enables them to work incredibly efficiently, including AI-powered summaries of concerns combined with analysis of previous chat histories. The AI models are trained on localized, Spanish-language data to ensure its care is tailored to Latin American culture. 

For many, using Docokids saves time, money and stress. However, some rural parts of Colombia have no pediatricians at all and a remote service is the only way they can receive specialist care, instead of making long journeys to overcrowded emergency rooms or overwhelmed general practitioners. Currently, 35% of Docokids users are from rural or underserved regions, and this number is growing. Operating via WhatsApp is particularly appealing to this group as it works well even with limited internet access. Through partnerships with non-governmental organizations, public programs and insurers, Natalia aims to grow this to 50%.

Hundreds of thousands of parents empowered through expert support

Since its inception, Docokids has driven a 91% reduction in unnecessary emergency room visits among its users and its pediatricians have answered more than 450,000 questions across 90% of Colombia and in 39 additional countries. 

In the years to come, Natalia plans to scale Docokids significantly, with help from a suite of specialist breastfeeding and newborn health generative AI tools currently in production. These are built by pediatricians and thoroughly tested using Docokids’ own proprietary user data. They offer families reliable, culturally adapted support instantly and can identify warning signs where escalation to a remote pediatrician or an in-person doctor is necessary. By leveraging AI for common queries, Docokids frees up its network of pediatricians to handle more complex cases.

In the meantime, its pediatricians continue to provide a lifeline to thousands of concerned caregivers. This includes Natalia, who takes weekly shifts on the platform to stay connected with its users and the core of the Docokids mission.