From Google Cache (was going to link to it, but the text-only version has a lot of over-laid text and is hard to read):
> We work with you and your doctor to figure out how advances in medical science apply to your personal health needs. Our team of researchers will do in-depth, personalized analysis to find new technologies, read scientific journals, talk to experts, and separate real medical breakthroughs from media hype. Whether it’s testing, prevention, treatment, or nutrition, if you have medical questions, we can help inform you about what the options are and what a rushed, ten-minute appointment might have overlooked.
The Sample Concierge report is interesting. Though from an admittedly quick skim I'm not sure how much of it is truly personalized. There's a lot statistics in there, which I guess is unavoidable.
http://www.metamed.com/static/Meta_Gout.pdf
In any case, I like the basic idea of this a LOT. It's an interesting direction to go in, bringing this kind of thing to semi-mass market.
By the way, the line "Our doctors are here to listen" in the call-or-chat box is brilliant. The couple of people I know who have problems they would need to take to this level are completely fed up with doctors that they feel aren't listening to them. This is the market. People who are in strong need of personal level attention.
No kidding. For three pages, effectively (with lots of whitespace).
In fact, for $5,000, your actionable items on the subject of "Difficulty Sleeping" are:
1. Get tested for sleep apnea.
2. Take melatonin.
3. Reduce caffeine intake.
Seriously? The first item is "get tested for thing you are complaining about"?
http://www.medicinenet.com/insomnia/article.htm - I typed in "Difficulty sleeping" into Google, and got this result as the first. It included all three items from the report and took somewhere under sixty seconds to find.
Don't get me wrong - this, and essentially anything medical - is ripe for innovation (I'm working on a almost polar opposite idea myself), and there are some good advances in expert systems for diagnosis that I've seen.
But if you're attempting to get $5,000 to $50,000 out of someone, the sample report you're showing isn't selling it, at all.
Sorry about that, you're totally right - that was an older draft version that got uploaded by mistake (I work for MetaMed). We'll have the new one up in a day or so when the launch chaos has died down.
(I can send you a bunch of our more current research tonight if you're interested in this particular subject - email me at avance@metamed.com)
Insurance providers will spend a lot of money telling you, advertising aimed at "taking better care of yourself" (that they should "need" to do so is a different, though sad, indictment).
Go ahead, then. Tell 90% of insurance carriers that you have committed to, documented yoga, gym attendance, walks every day. Ask them what premium reduction they're prepared to offer as a result. Be ready to hold the phone away from your ear as they laugh.
Ask them how much they'll contribute to your weight loss efforts.
Then ask how much they'll cover of your gastric bypass surgery.
The problem with health insurance in this country is that it's not "insurance" at all. It's amortized healthcare. And surprisingly enough, most insurance providers are not charities. They make a profit off of what you are charged.
Pre-existing conditions are a fun one. Actuaries have spend countless hours analyzing and modeling segments of the populace. Along comes John Smith. He's seeking healthcare. He happens to have a pre-existing condition, say, gout. But he's young, in his thirties. He gets a gout flare-up once, maybe twice a year, and a dose of OTC NSAIDs is enough to take care of it. He knows that in time, his condition is likely to worsen, and that he'll need more active management.
But right now? He doesn't care. He's not seeking out health insurance as a result of his condition. He's just looking out for his general health.
The preponderance of a population to have this condition, and ergo this average healthcare cost, hasn't increased by virtue of him wanting insurance. But you watch, as a carrier will deny him (or at least subject him to extensive waitlisting).
> Go ahead, then. Tell 90% of insurance carriers that you have committed to, documented yoga, gym attendance, walks every day. Ask them what premium reduction they're prepared to offer as a result. Be ready to hold the phone away from your ear as they laugh.
I don't know how widespread it is, but the two major insurance carriers in my area (Rochester, NY) both have plans where can earn credits (up to ~$500) for healthy behaviour - gym memberships, yoga, etc.
> The preponderance of a population to have this condition, and ergo this average healthcare cost, hasn't increased by virtue of him wanting insurance. But you watch, as a carrier will deny him (or at least subject him to extensive waitlisting).
This, definitely. I know at least one person denied health insurance due to seeing a therapist for three months while having a rough spot in high school. It was nearly a decade ago and the therapist wrote a letter along the lines of "situational, no ongoing issue, no condition remains". No dice.
> We work with you and your doctor to figure out how advances in medical science apply to your personal health needs. Our team of researchers will do in-depth, personalized analysis to find new technologies, read scientific journals, talk to experts, and separate real medical breakthroughs from media hype. Whether it’s testing, prevention, treatment, or nutrition, if you have medical questions, we can help inform you about what the options are and what a rushed, ten-minute appointment might have overlooked.
Pricing:
> $5,000 (Surface); $25,000 (Depth); $250,000 (Comprehensive); $1,000,000 (Original Research)