Purnima I. Rao
Physician · OB-GYN
15+ years of experience
Menopause Society Certified Practitioner
About Kelsey-Seybold Clinic
Dr. Rao is an OB/GYN at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, a large Houston multispecialty group, and she is one of only a handful of its providers whose profile carries a Menopause Care specialty tag next to OB/GYN. She trained at Baylor, where she was chief resident, and she sees patients in English and Hindi. She still runs a full obstetric and gynecologic practice rather than a menopause only one. Her menopause work covers hot flashes, bone loss, bladder symptoms and pain during sex, and she also does minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. She sees patients at the Rice Village OB/GYN office and the Downtown Clinic, and operates at the Berthelsen Main Campus surgery center. Care is booked through the group's own round the clock scheduling line or its patient portal, and her profile shows her open to new patients.
Care
Treats
- Perimenopause
- Menopause
- Hot flashes
- Sleep problems
- Mood & anxiety
- Brain fog
- Vaginal dryness
- Low libido
- Irregular periods
Prescribes
- Hormone therapy
- Vaginal estrogen
- Non-hormonal medication
- Gyn procedures
Particular focus
- Bone health
- Bladder & UTIs
Cost and insurance
Insurance
Aetna
Anthem
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program
Cigna
UnitedHealthcare
WellCare
MultiPlan
First Health
Medicare Advantage
KelseyCare Advantage
KelseyCare Aetna
KelseyCare powered by Cigna (HMO)
Kelsey Plan
Coupe Health plan
Health Select of Texas - ERS
TRS-ActiveCare Primary, Primary+, HD and 2
UT Select
HealthSmart PPO
Private Healthcare Systems PPO (PHCS)
Allied Benefit Systems/NGBS
Great West Healthcare (also known as Cigna-GWH)
Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) nationwide options including APWU, GEHA, NALC and SAMBA
Aetna HMO and HNO plans, including Aetna QPOS, not accepted
BCBSTX Blue Premier and Blue High-Performance network not accepted
BCBSTX Marketplace plans (My Blue Health / Blue Advantage HMO) not accepted
BCBS Medicare Advantage not accepted
Cigna Medicare Advantage not accepted
Traditional Medicare not accepted since January 1, 2009
Doesn’t accept Medicare
Self-pay
Not confirmed — ask the office what a visit costs.
The accepted-plan list on her profile is Kelsey-Seybold Clinic's enterprise roster, rendered identically on every provider page rather than published by her own office, and the clinic has not accepted traditional Medicare since January 1, 2009 although several Medicare Advantage plans are taken.
Verified October 2026. Coverage depends on your plan — confirm with your insurer before your visit.
Qualifications
MD, FACOG, MSCP
