Weight-loss coaching startup Prescribe Fit Inc. signed its first patient in January 2020. Three months later, hopes for rapid expansion were dashed when nonessential healthcare shut down in the pandemic.
But that pause allowed the company to refine the product through focus on that single patient, CEO Brock Leonti said. Along with other pivots over its five years, the company has become more valuable – revenue has doubled so far this year.
"What we really saw (in 2020) was that remote care can work," Leonti told Columbus Inno. "(Physician clients) needed that validation.
"The beginning of this year it was: Let’s go!"
One of Columbus Inno's "Startups to Watch" for 2022, Prescribe Fit has grown to 40 employees and plans to add about two dozen the rest of the year – while other U.S. tech companies are retrenching and shrinking. It has an expanded dedicated office inside the 401 W. Town St. co-working space in Franklinton.
"We’re being mindful in the moves we make, hiring up in ways that advance growth," Leonti said. "We have the opportunity to land-grab a lot. There's no other direct competitor for us at this point."
David Plummer, the Fairfield County resident who started in January 2020, by that August had lost 40 pounds and was feeling more energetic, according to a testimonial video.
Since then, he and other patients of New Albany-based JIS Orthopedics have lost a collective 5,400 pounds.
"It was a surprising number that shows it’s effective and we’re accomplishing our goals," said Dr. Keith Berend, JIS surgeon and partner. Excess weight adds stress to the joints, he said, so a knee or hip replacement could wear out faster.
The startup raised $1 million in 2019, and a regulatory filing this June indicated another $1.4 million raised toward a $4 million goal. Leonti said he could not comment on funding, which is standard when a round is still open.
This year Prescribe Fit turned its focus solely to orthopedic practices instead of a wider array of primary care and specialties, relaunching its website this month.
It does not disclose the number of clients and patients in Ohio and other states, but average weight loss is about 15 pounds, and long-term some have achieved 100 pounds.
"We as orthopedic surgeons tend to concentrate on the procedural aspects," Berend said. "This is a way for us to integrate a wellness and lifestyle program into our practice very easily – with excellent monitoring, excellent reporting, and excellent management. It’s really expanding what is good medicine."
How does the Prescribe Fit work?
Leonti, who previously owned a home health agency and started a career college for healthcare professions, joined Prescribe Fit as CEO shortly after it was founded in 2017.
At first the startup built partnerships with fitness centers to help patients follow through. Leonti envisioned a customizable software platform for physicians to upload their own wellness and weight-loss protocols.
But practices said they could not take on the administrative burden. They wanted a full program. Prescribe Fit now has a team of nurses leading care coordinators who meet remotely with patients and "edit" their daily routines so the behavior changes stick.
"When Prescribe Fit came to us, it was a package that had already been formulated and well thought out," Berend said.
Patients snap photos of their dinner plates, for example, and the coach suggests ways to control portions or change ingredients and preparation to make it healthier. Coaches suggest ways to increase daily exercise through activities the patient already enjoys.
Several patients have said it's the only program that has worked for them, Leonti said. The startup's goal is to shift lifestyles to a proactive approach to wellness instead of reacting to weight gain with prepared foods or a point system. They also don't have to go to in-office appointments with a nutritionist.
"It's nothing we try to change overnight, and that's why they're with us for a year," Leonti said. "The patient has a support system right there when they need it, in their pocket."
Practices bill insurers for remote patient monitoring and chronic disease management, and pay a management fee to the startup.
Within five years, Leonti said, he wants the orthopedics specialty to adopt obesity management as a standard of care, and Prescribe Fit to employ more than 500 care coordinators.
Recently Prescribe Fit issued equity incentives to all employees.
"They're all owners now," Leonti said. "I wanted to be sure everybody felt very close and honest in how they’re building things. That contribution is then rewarded."
