Lon Hecht, Chief Revenue Officer
Q: What is Utilize Health?
A: We are a targeted care management program focusing on severe neurological conditions. Our focus is on optimizing patient outcomes and reducing costs for patients who have had a stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy.
Q: Who are your consumers and/or customers?
A: Our customer is any group that manages patients and is responsible for the payment – those that are at risk for the costs (e.g., health plans, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.).
Q: What have you learned from Startup Day Nashville and working with HHS?
A: After talking with Ed Simcox, deputy chief technology officer of HHS, we need to focus on the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation (CMMI) because they are looking for innovative, risk-based payment methods, and Utilize Health can help them with that.
Q: How much has the government impacted your business model?
A: Initially, we tested a model that has all different health plans across different lines of business, but now we are focusing our business model on Medicaid and Medicare, especially after speaking with Ed today. Our initial business wasn’t focused on that, but CMMI is going to be a major player for us going forward.
Q: What benefits have you seen from Nashville’s innovative health care community?
A: I live in New Jersey, and nothing compares to the Nashville health care community. Nashville’s health care community is similar to the rising tide mentality. Everyone wants to support each other and see each other be successful. It’s incredibly entrepreneur-focused and friendly. The community here is awesome, and I don’t think it matches anywhere else in the country.
Q: What does the future look like for Utilize Health?
A: Looking to the future, Utilize Health is going to grow very rapidly. We are continuing to build out our model to yield better results, and when you look down the line, we will have several payer contracts mixed through all the different lines of business. Our outcomes are going to be proved to the point where we have enough case studies to demonstrate the results of Utilize Health.