Redefining healthcare as health and care through PeakMed
Jon Hernandez is on a lifelong mission to improve and innovate the experience and delivery of healthcare for individual patients and group employers alike.
“Ever since I was 19-years-old I’ve wanted to be part of redesigning healthcare,” said Hernandez, a software developer and healthcare entrepreneur. “By changing the economics of healthcare today and improving quality and access to care, we can overhaul the experience and redefine both health and care.”
That’s where PeakMed comes in. PeakMed is a new kind of family-practice medicine, known as direct primary care, that puts the doctor-patient relationship first, using an affordable, monthly-membership model that doesn’t bill insurance.
In 2014, Hernandez partnered with Dr. Mark Tomasulo, a former US Army Family Physician and ICU Hospitalist and the founder of PeakMed. Together, Hernandez and Tomasulo are working to develop PeakMed into a revolutionized healthcare model.
“We eliminate the insurance relationships, get rid of the contracts and do something more like Netflix for healthcare,” said Hernandez, who serves as Chief Executive Officer of PeakMed. “In essence, everyone can become a member of the program – starting at $79 per month, and then we have family-based pricing and other packages.”
Anyone who is a member of the Denver-based PeakMed network, which also operates throughout Colorado Springs has immediate access to their doctor as well as unlimited healthcare visits.
“They can show up anytime they need; we deliver more comprehensive medical services at a much better, price point than traditional fee-for-service practices,” Hernandez said. “This is true value – better care, better access, lower cost.”
In 2017, PeakMed was named a Colorado Company to Watch.
“It was an extremely proud moment for us,” Hernandez said. “CCTW is all about innovation and developing economic growth, and PeakMed has been thriving within that network by providing a better understanding of what it’s like to change healthcare.”
What started as a two-person vision to redefine the services of health and care for individuals and also cut healthcare costs to group employers has developed into a fast-growing movement that is gaining notoriety statewide and beyond.
“We started in Colorado Springs, and now we have three locations there and another in South Denver,” Hernandez said. “We serve the communities from Southern Colorado up to Monument, and we are opening another location in Littleton soon to really expand into the South Denver market.”
Today, PeakMed has 33 employees and plans to expand its mission and platform outside of Colorado, one member at a time. Hernandez said that the CCTW network has been invaluable for PeakMed’s continued growth and development.
“The CCTW award has brought us tremendous value and recognition,” he said. “We’ve actually earned the business of several of the employers in 2nd Stage Companies that are affiliated with CCTW, and our participation in the community has continued to cultivate relationships and partnerships that are helping to drive promotion for PeakMed.”
Hernandez said that messaging and education are PeakMed’s biggest growth challenges right now, but that their involvement with CCTW has helped to spread awareness and familiarity with their model, moving them forward.
“We are trying to completely change the way people think about healthcare. We’re trying to get the community to understand that having an insurance element has nothing to do with getting quality access to care,” he said. “That’s hard to do without support. Colorado Companies to Watch and the Entrepreneurs Consortium of Colorado are support systems that are helping to create a movement around our mission.”
Beyond the recognition that PeakMed has received from the CCTW Award, Hernandez said that being a part of the program has also been personally beneficial.
“I’ve learned a lot from the CCTW community, and I’ve met other leaders whom I wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for CCTW,” he said. “This community has helped me to redefine leadership as well as refine my understanding of what leadership means to me. It’s been a great honor.”