The constantly evolving health care industry strives to meet the shifting expectations and needs of patients.
Providing cost-effective, convenient and individualized patient care has become a higher priority. To meet those needs, providers and companies with innovative models of care have emerged — including some found in the Upstate.
Proactive MD, a Simpsonville-based health care company, partners with businesses to create employer-sponsored onsite or near-site health centers. Each health and wellness center provides advanced primary care services to employees and their families.
The company was founded in 2016 and currently operates more than 70 health centers located across 17 states. There are seven locations within the Upstate, four shared among employers and open for individuals who purchase memberships.
Jeremy VanderKnyff, Proactive MD’s chief integration and informatics officer, said Proactive MD uses an advanced primary-care model that focuses on:
- Prioritizing provider-patient relationships
- Addressing complex diagnoses
- Patient advocacy
- Utilizing data and analytics
“Our job really is to reunite providers and patients and provide the best primary-care experience on behalf of employees, our patients (and) their families,” VanderKnyff said. “We know that giving them the best health care experience possible — not coincidentally — is also less expensive for employers.”
Due to smaller patient panel sizes, Proactive MD guarantees wait times of less than five minutes at its centers.
Ember Modern Medicine, an independent primary-care practice in Greenville, uses a similar approach to health care. In 2021, Brian Blank founded the practice using a member-based, direct primary-care model.
“Direct primary care allows doctors to offer high-quality, comprehensive care for a low, flat monthly fee,” Blank said. “It’s a win-win for both doctors and patients.”
Monthly memberships for adults start at $199, and are $39 for children and teens 17 years old or younger. The practice also provides business membership packages for small- or medium-sized businesses. Some of the membership services include:
- Primary and urgent care
- Annual physicals
- Chronic disease management
- Body composition analysis
- Prescription program
- Discounted lab work
Blank explained that paying for a membership is a cost-effective way to receive care without any surprise fees or co-pays.
“It really eliminates a lot of the overhead I think that you have in a traditional medical practice,” Blank said. “We don’t have to hire billers or coders. We’re not constantly on the phone wrangling with insurance companies.”
As a smaller practice, Ember Modern Medicine focuses on accessibility and building one-on-one relationships with patients.
Vida Gynecology, an independent, faith-based practice in Greenville, also strives to build patient connections while providing innovative care. Founded by Kimberly Holloway and Denise Broderick, the practice emphasizes more individualized health care and creating a comfortable environment for its patients.
“We spend time listening to the patient and figuring out what is bothering them,” Broderick said. “A lot of patients may have gone elsewhere and come to us because they felt like they weren’t listened to.”
The two physicians decided to open their independent practice in 2016 after working together at the Greenville Health System — now part of Prisma Health.
Holloway explained a benefit of being an independent practice is not having a corporate body or a hierarchical structure dictating how they practice medicine. For example, Holloway and Broderick are able to implement state-of-the-art technologies like the MonaLisa Touch laser treatment into their practice.
“Denise and I can look at the data and we can make a decision and then get what we need instead of going through five committees and then having negative people on those committees trying to shoot you down,” Holloway said.
Vida Gynecology moved into a larger space in February.
“We enjoy women’s health and having time to spend with our patients and provide them with quality care,” Holloway said.
Innovative care
Advanced primary care: Focused on high-quality care instead of the volume of patients treated.
Direct primary care: Patients pay their provider for services through periodic payments instead of insurance billing.
Individualized care: Needs and preferences of patients are taken into account for treatment.
