One Medical Concierge

The average American waits three weeks for a doctor's appointment. They see the doctor for eight minutes. The practice is already booked, already stressed. In 2002, Tom Lee saw inefficiency in primary care. He built one medical as concierge medicine for healthy people, flat annual fee. Same day appointments, text your doctor directly, 30 minute visits instead of eight. The unit economics worked because patient selection mattered enormously. One medical enrolled mostly young, successful professionals with health insurance who paid annual fees. These patients were low risk and rarely required expensive interventions. Hospital systems treated everyone, including uninsured patients and chronic disease cases. One medical treated a self-selected slice of the market where profitability was easier.