So, $19 per visit or $39 if ad-free, and “Over time, ideally our pricing model will get cheaper as ads will subsidize patient costs”, says the founder.

Ads are already subsidising $20 per visit, with a single 30” video ad. Am I really the only one not on dope? There is no way anybody can charge $ 20,000 CPM for a video ad ($20 per visit, multiplied by 1,000 visits).

Oh, and there’s also no way a visit by a doctor can cost only $39 in the US. These people have hundreds of thousands of dollars of Med school to pay back. Wake up, people!

As one of the founders, I understand the assumption that our service might work like Google or Bing. However, the $39 option is simply a premium choice for those who prefer not to wait through the ad. The actual cost of the visit is still lower than the $19 our patients pay. We encourage patients to use the ad-supported option, as it helps us attract more advertisers and grow our platform.

Our long-term goal is to expand and offer additional services, while keeping our core offering—quick doctor visits—at $19, or ideally even lower in the future. Our three founding doctors aim to make healthcare actually affordable and our future advertisers will subsidize the cost. That is our hypothesis for this startup.

There are numerous telehealth platforms that are on a subscription basis with similar pricing, so it's not unrealistic to have prices such as a $19 visit.

We've been live for a few months, and our 400+ patients have responded positively to the $19 doctor visits.

For instance, please see our happy customers in both respective App Stores:

iOS - 23 Ratings at 4.8 Stars https://apps.apple.com/us/app/instacured/id1665112009

Android - 7 Ratings at 5 Stars https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instacured...

If you'd like to grab a cup of coffee and speak with one of our founders to know we're legit, we'd be happy to accommodate that for you.

Looks like we got flagged after your comment, any ideas how to help us with this?

Hi, I am sorry you got flagged. It was not me directly and, unfortunately, I have no idea about how to help you.

Regarding the business:

- How can you charge only $19 per visit? How short is the visit?

- How much do you expect to charge per thousand ads (CPM)?

Great questions.

1) Our visits are all text-based visits done asynchronously. These visits are easily handled in parallel unlike video-based visits. Generally visits lasts anywhere between 2 to 20 minutes.

2) Ad revenues depend on the industry. For instance, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health insurances will all have different monthly pricing where their ad will be shown for every visit.

Hi, OK for point 1). I think you should explain better on your website the kind of medical visit or advice patients will get. It will help your credibility.

Regarding point 2) OK for different pricing for different advertisers, but nobody is going to pay $ 20,000 CPM — the amount you would need to discount 1,000 patients who’d like 1,000 short visits at $19 instead of $39. It’s just impossible.

We have a novel proprietary model as we scale. I'm sorry I cannot divulge further.

There's plenty of examples where profitable companies today were misunderstood startups in the early days. Here are some examples:

1) Uber - Whose is going to ride in some random person's car?

2) AirBnB - Whose is going to want to show their own bedroom on the internet?

3) Amazon - Bezos was mocked selling books. He built the logistic infrastructure which was the long-term model

Three household names were first underdogs with their own challenges.

On our best day of conversions, being only two months in, if that conversion rate was consistent we would already break even. This is all without even having an advertiser yet.

Uber and Airbnb are both illegal and unprofitable. They also raised billions to muscle their way to where they are. Good luck!

Thank you

What’s the benefit of this over first stop health, or the difference between your offering and theirs? I know of FSH through a former employer, which makes me think FSH targets a different customer base (businesses). I also have no clue what they charge since it was a paid work benefit.

Is the differentiator the audience your targeting?

Separately, how is it feasible for this service to charge so little?

Btw, I love the idea, and I love the pricing. I’m a huge fan of things that make health care more accessible and affordable.

I'm not familiar with First Stop Health. There's plenty of telehealth companies, many require insurance or subscriptions, that's how we are different.

Over time, ideally our pricing model will get cheaper as ads will subsidize patient costs, so patients win in the end and our patients data is also never shared.

I’m confused:

> What’s the Price? > > Our ad supported visit is $19 per visit. Your data is confidential, never shared, and HIPAA compliant.

Why and how is this ad-supported?

I’m one of the co-founders. Our visits are ad-supported to help reduce the cost of a doctor’s visit. While most telehealth services charge $40 to $200 per visit, we keep our costs lower. Your data isn’t used to show you ads; instead, everyone sees the same ad from our internal network. We do not use any third-party ad networks, so your data remains private and is not shared.

Great question, before your visit starts there is a 30 second video ad. Right now we're new so the only ad you see is an InstaCured ad.

We adhere to strict HIPAA compliance so your patient information is never shared with advertisers, now or in the future.

If you'd like an Ad free experience, the price is $39 per visit.

Before anyone gets too far into trying to use this… FAQ states “You must be at least 18 years old and be in California, Florida, or Michigan. No insurance coverage is required.”

That's correct, we'd love to expand to more states soon!

Is this better than Dr Gupta? The chat gpt doctor?

If you're sick and need a prescription and value the convenience of avoiding long wait lists to see the doctor; not having to commute to an in-person visit or you do not have insurance - that's where InstaCured may be an option for you.