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TWST: What is U.S. Preventive Medicine?
Mr. Fey: The business of U.S. Preventive Medicine is to provide our customers
with "More Good Years." We accomplish this by aggregating the best clinical
services available for preventive health care and individualized health
planning.
The backdrop in which U.S. Preventive Medicine operates is one in which nearly
50% - one out of two - of those who read this interview will likely have a
catastrophic event related to cardiovascular disease. In 2003 the American Heart
Association reported almost a million deaths from cardiovascular disease. The
likelihood of cancer or stroke are equally staggering. In a direct sense, the
monies spent on healthcare in 2005 were almost $2 trillion, without any
calculation of collateral expenses or losses. That annual healthcare bill is
projected to be $3.5 trillion within four years.
The US spends more than twice per capita on health care than any other country
in the world, but when analysis of the outcomes of health care and quality of
life are performed, surprisingly the US is literally just above Cuba in such
rankings.
The method of our healthcare system is the core issue that U.S. Preventive
Medicine addresses. Traditional medicine focuses on sick care - treating people
when they present with illness - at a time when the cost of treating them is the
highest and the outcomes are the lowest. This is the "market opportunity" that
U.S. Preventive Medicine has targeted. The need for preventive health care and
the benefits that it can bring to the healthcare industry shapes the business of
U.S. Preventive Medicine.
We've established a very clear mission that is to improve the quality of health
and longevity of the individual, and, most important, to achieve this by
partnering with physicians, hospitals and employers to organize and advance a
culture of prevention resulting in "more good years" for all.
Research indicates that this market already exists as individuals are spending
billions of dollars each year in pursuit of more good years - vitamins, exercise
equipment, and other means. Unfortunately, the health consumer has had to focus
on resources outside of hospitals, outside of physicians' offices, outside of
clinical medicine. They have turned to unproven strategies with largely no
clinical evidence to support approaches that proclaim to provide "more good
years." U.S. Preventive Medicine believes that the focus has to change; local
hospitals and physicians are in the best position to help consumer focus on
prevention and proactive healthcare. At U.S. Preventive Medicine, our objective
is to put physicians and hospitals at the core of delivering preventive medicine
to the US population.
We begin that process by providing the individual with a comprehensive baseline
diagnostic of their current health. Whether a senior citizen or a young adult,
the current state of health is one of the best predictors of how future health
and health issues will evolve. With a baseline diagnostic, every health consumer
can be viewed in one of three broad categories: first, fundamentally healthy
with minimal risk of health issues; second, some existing risk factors; or
third, they have an existing medical condition.
For the healthy with minimal risk, U.S. Preventive Medicine will provide
services to support their lifestyle choices. We want to encourage their health
choices to date, as well as provide them with a monitoring protocol that says as
they age, it is important to monitor certain aspects of their health relative to
their age and gender, and we will provide that protocol and those services.
Those who are healthy with some risk factors represent the group that should
receive very aggressive intervention - anything from behavior modification to
drug therapy, to surgery. Again, we would suggest a monitoring protocol that
follows them through the evolution of their life with appropriate monitoring and
testing procedures to ensure optimal health as they age.
And lastly, with existing conditions, we know that one of the biggest challenges
of the chronically ill is modifying their lifestyle and behaviors so that they
comply with their treatment and healthcare protocols. If they do those things,
they're likely to minimize the full impact of their existing disease. We're
looking at what types of services can be provided to help them adjust their
lifestyle, adhere to their treatment protocol and therefore minimize side
effects, or progression of their disease. Once again, we would suggest a
monitoring protocol to provide direction as they age so that we ensure optimal
health, and more good years..
At the broadest level, the business of U.S. Preventive Medicine is to address
this continuum for people who self-select, those who want to be proactive to do
more to ensure a higher quality of life and longer life. We will provide a
portfolio of services to them that provide "more good years." We will create and
deliver this portfolio of services through our hospital and physician partners.
Essentially, we are organizing and commercializing the prevention market by
bringing hospitals and physicians into this enormous market opportunity for
preventive services. At the end of the day, we are creating a national network -
the "US Prevention Network" - like minded hospitals and physicians across the
country that will be providing a common set of services, a common customer
experience, anywhere in the country.
Our beta site - where we constructed the business model and defined the customer
experience - is located at the St. Luke Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa, part of
the Iowa Health System. We are now rolling out the business model in markets
throughout the United States.
Tickers included in this excerpt: PVT
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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