In his work as co-CEO of Silicon Valley-based VSee Health — a technology company that provides telehealth services — Milton Chen said he traveled to around 50 countries to help bridge the affordable health-care gap.
Now, Chen has set his sights on the U.S. with a telemedicine service called Aimee in partnership with the Charles Koch-founded Stand Together, a philanthropic organization aimed at supporting communities and social entrepreneurs. Wichita is the service's first location for testing and promotions.
"Every time I would fly back to San Francisco, I would think that there's a big slice of America that also needs help," Chen said.
Stand Together Trust's health-care director, Leck Shannon, said the organization's partnership with VSee Health for the Aimee app started in February 2023 after Chen was introduced to the organization while working on the technology component of another project. Shannon said he was impressed by VSee Health's technology products as conversations started for Aimee.
"We have a lot of community-based organizations that we've been working with for a long time and those are serving the exact population that we're trying to reach with this product," Shannon said. "Leveraging our network of community organizations to try to take this product to people that it might help is why I think not only are we the financial partner but also a good partner."
Stand Together did not disclose its financial contribution to the product.
What is Aimee and how does it work?
Following VSee's work in affordable health care through telemedicine, Chen said Aimee is a technology service with mobile app and browser options. It will provide individuals access to health-care providers and services online for primary care, urgent care and medical weight loss. It will include services like doctor checkups and visits for allergies, diabetes and high blood pressure for primary care and prescription refills, ear pains and sinus problem check-ups for urgent care.
Chen said the purpose is to reduce the middleman — such as insurance, travel costs and physician and medical fees — to make it more convenient and affordable.
Chen said his research showed that middleman costs add $60 to $80 to every hospital visit. With his app, the total charges for a visit could be reduced to $10 per visit with a $5 monthly subscription fee for the service. While it is available for insured individuals, the service targets cash-based, uninsured patients and customers who will have easier access and affordability to health-care services.
According to Aimee's website, the service will charge $9.99 per urgent care visit, $29.99 per primary care visit and $299 per month for medical weight loss services.
With the cash-based system, Shannon said the Aimee service can help businesses like restaurants, where medical insurance is uncommon, to provide their part-time and hourly employees with some medical support.
"If you want a lower cost option that you could provide to your employees, this could be an ideal product where you are providing some access to medical care at a very low cost," he said.
Why Wichita?
Shannon said Wichita served as the prime location to launch the service for two reasons: Stand Together's presence and the need for the service in the city.
He said Stand Together has worked with a concentration of community organizations in the city that can "be a vessel" for the service to help marginalized, uninsured individuals in Wichita, and tackle the primary health-care service shortage in Kansas.
"It's a good size for a city to test out this product with and to see what kind of traction (we get)," he said.
The service had a soft launch at the Greater Wichita YMCA's North branch Famfest on July 13.
"They serve a whole variety of people, from different socioeconomic backgrounds and this is a product for all people," Shannon said of the YMCA.
Shannon said Stand Together's Wichita team is meeting with local community leaders and organizations like the YMCA to create partnerships that will help advertise the service.
What's next
Chen said the service is in its "actualization" phase. If all goes well in Wichita, he plans to launch the service nationwide. Along with Stand Together, the Aimee website says the service is also sponsored by Intel and Washington health-care company Premier. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., owned by billionaire Mark Cuban, is the service's prescription drug partner.
With marketing campaigns underway, Shannon said the challenge could be changing people's mindsets around health care and insurance.
"In some ways, this is a new way to access medical care ... Can we change the mindset that you don't have to have that insurance card ticket to get high-quality care?" he asked.
"We need to break that paradigm. Getting access to medical care should be as easy as going in and picking up a cup of coffee at Starbucks."
