Talking health care delivery takes you down the road of terms that are used only in that world. Phrases like"capitation" — basically a fixed fee health care providers receive per patient regardless of the treatment required — and Medicare Advantage, sometimes called"Part C" , where private health insurance companies offer benefits through the government Medicare program plus some additional benefits, such as hearing, dental and vision care.
It's different when there's an acute need, but ongoing chronic conditions account for most of the overall expenditure, so we start with that. We also have a mobile van that we park in convenient places to where people spend their time. We announced a partnership with RiteAid, and that partnership is because in Michigan, where we launched, there's a lot of RiteAids and a lot of people use RiteAid to grocery shop. It's just the place you go.
The other part is, we know people in rural areas have a lower socioeconomic status — there are more hourly wage workers — and people are unlikely to give up a day's worth of work to travel three hours for a 15-minute visit for your hypertension when you don't really feel bad. Why would you do it? I'm not sure I would. People are making good, rational decisions, given the current set of circumstances.We do total capitation with the payer.
We've made a very conscious decision to build in a total capitation world because we know that they type of care we're going to need to provide would not be sustainable in a future service. Realigning the business economics here is as important as going into the market with the technology stack. it's a combination.How do you keep your costs low enough to maximize the window for profit? We can keep our overhead costs low.