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Now let’s say you’re one of the 300 patients who’ve so far signed up to be part of Hello Health’s practice, for a basic "enrollment" fee of $35 a month. You’ve also developed a fever and wheezing that haven’t gone away for several days. You could send Dr. Khozin an IM over the Hello Health network describing your symptoms and asking him for advice. A quick e-mail from Dr. Khozin would be free, but if a "cyber-visit" like this takes longer, that will be $50 to $100, please. If you need to come in to the office for a consultation, you’re guaranteed one within twenty-four hours. For as little as $150, a doctor will even come and see you at your home. Generic medications for acute problems, as well as lab tests that can be done in the clinic’s offices, are free.
In effect, Hello Health is operating as a kind of "concierge" practice. Health insurers typically don’t pay for "visits" over the Internet, which is just one reason the practice does not accept health insurance (although patients are free to submit bills to their insurers on their own). Opened in August 2008, Hello Health is less than a year old, so there’s no guarantee that this business model of a primary care practice will succeed. But clearly many patients and doctors alike are betting that this type of practice is the way to practice medicine. More than 300 patients have already enrolled, and demand has been so brisk that the practice opened its second office, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, in February 2009.
