Business Talk
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Business Talk
Price Transparency in Healthcare: Dr. Vaz's Revolutionary Approach at Vitality Medical
What happens when a doctor trades a comfortable $250,000 salary for a mission to revolutionize healthcare? Dr. Vaz reveals his bold journey from traditional medicine to founding Vitality Medical, where every patient gets his cell phone number and pays just $50 per visit – no surprise bills, no collections, just straightforward care.
Born into a family with medical roots (his father was a paramedic), Dr. Vaz carried forward that healing tradition but eventually found himself frustrated by corporate healthcare's constraints. Around 2005-2006, he witnessed what he calls "the Gucci shoes and Prada belt takeover of medicine" – a fundamental shift where insurance companies began acquiring hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, creating monopolistic structures that prioritize profits over patients. This transformation relegated doctors to employee status with diminishing control over cost and access.
The heart of Dr. Vaz's vision lies in his Vast Care Clinic, which he describes not as a business but as a "movement" with moral principles at its core. Operating with minimal staff and sharing responsibilities with his psychologist wife, he's built a practice that deliberately challenges healthcare norms. When patients receive his personal number on a sticky note, their surprise reveals how conditioned we've become to barriers between doctors and patients. The transparency extends to his services, which range from primary care to psychological counseling, autism testing, and treatment for various conditions.
For entrepreneurs in any field, Dr. Vaz offers a powerful three-ingredient recipe: self-belief, grit, and consistency. "If bad times persuade you to quit," he notes, "it wasn't your dream." These principles have enabled him to thrive despite competing with massive healthcare systems. As he puts it, when you walk through doorways of those large facilities, "nobody can tell you how much you're going to pay or when you'll be seen – it's like a magic trick." At Vitality Medical, he's determined to show exactly how the tiger disappears.
Ready to experience healthcare as it should be? Visit Vitality Medical at 3206 Cove Bend Drive in Tampa, Florida, or search for direct primary care providers who prioritize transparency in your area. Your health deserves nothing less.
Welcome back everyone to Business Talk, the show, where we dive deep into the industries that keep our world moving forward. I'm your host, didier, and in today's episode I'm speaking with Dr Vaz. He's the owner of Vitality Medical. How are you doing, dr Vaz? Doing good, doing good, having a great afternoon, listeners? Each episode, we sit down with experts, innovators and business owners to uncover the real stories and insider knowledge. Plus, we will discuss some important topics as it relates to their industry, and if you enjoy the content and want to hear more, please be sure to hit the subscribe button like comment. You know all those good things to help us continue to push this out in the YouTube algorithm. With that being said, I want to kind of allow Dr Vaz to kind of share with everybody our listeners his background. Dr Vaz.
Speaker 2:Good to be here, didier. I mean, my background is this is three words passion for medicine. That's my background Since I was very little. I had a knack for healing my dad paramedic by trade and I took it to the next step in medicine. So, generationally, I was able to achieve that growth and that evolution and, you know, came into medicine as an internist and ringside physician at 2013. I started my career in 2002 in med school, but graduated and entered the real world in 2013.
Speaker 1:As everybody says right.
Speaker 2:The real world. Yeah, people say no, no, no. I've been a doctor for X amount of time. I started in med school. No, no, no, no, no. When you graduate, you have your license and you form your first LLC or you sign your first contract with a company. That's your genesis, that's right.
Speaker 2:That's day zero. That's day zero, right there. So in 2013, I started work for a company for the better part of the first six or seven years of that that beginning in medicine, and then I decided to turn to entrepreneurship and to really change the paradigm and inject my personality into medicine. As you know, when having a brand yourself, when you sign on the dotted line, a contract as a physician, you have thousands of hours and blood, sweat and tears, nights, lost, birthdays, missed family members, family members that pass away and you're not able to say goodbye just to get the craft. But as soon as you sign for blank, blank hospital, you're representing them and you cease to be the person that gave all that blood, sweat and tear to achieve the career.
Speaker 2:I decided to stop doing that and start representing myself and start building a unique brand and delivery of healthcare a different way. So I've been doing that for the better part of the last four years and I absolutely love it. I would have done it earlier, but I realized that experience needed to come and I needed to stumble and, to you know, be called in by some CEOs or COOs because they didn't like a Facebook post that I made and they reminded me hey, we're paying you and you have to represent us. And I'm like, oh, I know what I need to do.
Speaker 1:And I like what you said, the two words I got out of. That is, I got out of a lot of what you said, but the the words you said unique brand that's pretty powerful. Man, right, as a business owner, we all want to create that unique brand that continues to move, you know, for decades to come. Yeah, so that's a that's interesting. So where has that led you today? And I know again, you, being the owner of Vitality Medical, you offer so many different services, from regenerative medicine to bioidentical hormone treatment, food allergy testing, anti-aging, any of those you want to kind of pick up on and talk about.
Speaker 2:And I'll tell you what's near and dear to my heart right now Vast Care Clinic right is my brick and mortar, and what I would say that it's the most important thing for me is access to health care. Right now, the paradigm and this is the most important thing that I'm going to discuss today We'll talk about some other stuff, but this is the message I want to give Right now, healthcare has been taken over by corporate America. Right 9-11 happened and a lot of people said, well, investment is unstable. We need an industry that has solid footing, that never suffers through war or through recession. What industry is it?
Speaker 2:Healthcare, and the hostile takeover or the Gucci shoes and Prada belt takeover of medicine started around, you know, around 2005, 2006, with the acquisition of hospitals and insurances slowly but surely creeping up their involvement in health care, from merging pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, from buying pharmacies to buying clinics and having doctors working for insurances, which is a paradigm that I would never understand. How it's legal, but they started being healthcare, so healthcare insurances started being healthcare. Imagine if car insurances would start buying tire shops or auto parts. People would deem it illegal. And what's the word I'm looking for? A monopoly, a monopoly right. People would be like how can you be Geico and own tire shops Right, being a monopoly. But it was allowed for health care insurances to slowly but surely be the only game in town, owning urgent care, hospitals and all that good stuff. So doctors are relegated as employees and all that good stuff. So doctors are relegated as employees and as employees, we have no say in cost of care or access to care.
Speaker 2:I decided to break with my $250,000 a year salary and say you know what? We'll start from zero, okay, and a visit in my clinic, the Vascular Clinic, is going to be $50 flat. That's a flat fee. My friends, other doctors, said that's crazy. Okay, you're shooting yourself on the foot, you're being crazy, it's not going to work and you need to be employed and you need to go back to the model that works and make X amount of money, work in your 401k, but that has no vision and that has no spice in life, right. And if you're dedicated, if you dedicated your career to helping people but you sold out to a big corporation, not that that's bad, right In practice. Right In practice. Morally not the best thing to do.
Speaker 2:So I decided to take control and everybody that walks through my doors, has price transparency. There's no outgoing bills, there's no outgoing collections. In some instances patients say, hey, I just have $40. Can I be seen? I'm like, step in, I got you. Wow, I create a culture of showing that healthcare can be delivered in a different way, with a different paradigm. Of course, it takes other things to allow that. Right, we have to run a skeleton crew. I do a lot of the work and and, uh, you know my wife, who's a huge part of this, she's a psychologist, dr hernandez, and um, we divide the cost and we run, uh, a, a, not a mom and pop. That that seems. That seems unfitting, but we run a grassroots healthcare clinic.
Speaker 2:And not a clinic, a movement Movement. Okay, I like that Because it has a moral principle behind it, okay, and the growth it has shown. It has shown me that if all doctors and this is a very bold, this is a very bold, very inflammatory remark If all doctors today okay, 4-21-2025, all doctors say we're not going to mess around with insurance, we're going to only do cash pay if the insurances want anything to do with us, we'll see you tomorrow at the negotiating table. Everything screeches to a halt faster than you know, one government tariffing another government, so you know how many stocks would go and just completely crash. We have that power. It's that elephant that you know. There's this story about the elephant that gets the tie to the neck and wear that elephant.
Speaker 2:Some of us have already pulled that chain from the floor. I'm doing it just so other people follow us and do the same, and then we create an environment where there's competition and there's alternatives for healthcare. So that's the beauty of it and that's my main message.
Speaker 1:That's the beauty of it and that's my main message on how grateful they are. Or thank you, you know, Dr Vaz, for helping my family, helping me. Anything you want to share, that kind of stands out. Maybe one or two, no names, but yeah yeah, absolutely the first thing.
Speaker 2:All my patients have my cell phone, which is something that, again, like other peers that have that are doctors like you're insane. You're going to get flooded with calls. I don't People get surprised. I would say the anecdote that I see it every day happen. You know, I have a new patient that you know I do very little promoting. If I do my job well, a patient brings me two or three patients, correct, but I have to do my job well. Every time I sit down with them and they're like I give them a sticky note. I'm OG, I'm old school, I have presentation cards and all that stuff. I like sticky notes. I'm like all right, here's my cell phone. Anything happens, give me a call, shoot me a text, it's you, your phone. I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like are you serious? Are you serious, dr Vag?
Speaker 2:Are you really a doctor? I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you can look me up in the websites and all that stuff. Yeah, they have this look of about them. I'm like the older people appreciated more and they because they still remember 20 year olds have never lived in a world that that exists. I saw my younger patients. You know they have their, but like the 60 year olds and 70 year olds, they're like. They're like again I have it again. Okay, thank you. They grab this thing, youolds. They're like ah, again I have it again. Okay, thank you. They grab the sticky note and they're very grateful for it.
Speaker 2:But if nobody crosses that line and I've been known to be a habitual line stepper all my life If nobody crosses that line, we don't make change. And this is the line that needs to be crossed. For healthcare to become affordable, we don't need fancy commercials. We don't need fancy commercials. We don't need, you know, the three-floor clinics. In some instances we do right, but that can't be the norm. Right, we need guys that are energetic.
Speaker 2:You need to be bold and proud of what you achieve, because being a doctor, my father-in-law told me once and he has passed since but he's like a doctor is not only a doctor. Doctor is an agent of change in society. If you're not doing that and you're clocking in and you're clocking out and you're getting your check from from acme hospital company and you're showing up to the to the christmas party on your suit and you're towing the company line which is not bad, I would just go ahead say say that's you, that's you. If you're towing the company line, I feel for you you because you're missing that essence, that deliciousness of medicine.
Speaker 1:You're missing change. You're missing the paradigm shift. Yes, that's basically what you're doing. You're creating a new paradigm shift, like industries have done in the past. You're revolutionizing your industry by, you know, looking at where it's at, and you're a visionary and you're actually taking that and making it better for not only other doctors if they choose to move forward in that realm but for your patients, and I think that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, yeah, it's incredible, and we've had Spectrum News show up a couple times in the office and we've been blessed to be on here in your podcast, but we've been blessed to be on Joe Rogan and Jason podcast, like the Tinfoil Hat podcast, and the American podcast.
Speaker 2:We've graced great platforms like El Nuevo Dia. That's podcast. We've done the big, big things with that and expanding our brand and our presence, which leads to more people being taken care of. It's not just emboldening ourselves and growing and being this cool kind of hippie movement clinic. No, it gives access to care. Because people listen, they're like oh, I didn't know I could get seen for this, much you know I like your stance as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:You mentioned that in the beginning. Right, we're all business owners. We're working towards, you know, trying to bring our brand out you. So it has legs, it has movement. So let's talk about there are listeners here that are maybe aspiring entrepreneurs, maybe they wanna get into your industry in the medical field. Maybe they are stuck right now trying to move that needle forward in their business. Any advice since you're well-versed that you can give, or pointers that you can give to our listeners about keeping that needle moving forward?
Speaker 2:yeah, we're starting it first of all, you, you have to believe in what you do right. If it's health care, if it's psychology, if it's you know construction, if it's you know meal prep, whatever it is it is, you got to believe in what you do and you got to do it well. When you have and have that self-belief, there's a lot of limiting beliefs in entrepreneurship and you have to be go beyond that. And big, big, big corporations are intimidating because when you do something, you're there's somebody that is doing it right now. Bigger, Undoubtedly, Undoubtedly, Somebody is doing if you want to do something, somebody is doing millions of dollars doing something like that or adjacent to what you want to do. Don't let that unmotivate you. Right, I have. You know, my clinic is a small clinic, 1,700 square feet, five rooms in there, Small. We have psychology and we have healthcare in there. And you know, there's in the same plaza there's clinics that are double my space. Or you know, you drive further down the road and there is there's a. You know, I don't want to mention any brands, but there's brand new hospitals that are thousands and thousands of square feet and stacked from top to bottom, but when you go through the door nobody can tell you how much you're going to pay when you're going to be seen. It's like a magic trick. You go to a David Copperfield show. He's not going to show you how he made that tiger disappear In my clinic. I'll show you right off the bat. Hey, this is how I made my tiger disappear. Come on in, Sit down. You want a coffee? I got you. You have to believe in what you do. Whatever you do, if you have self-belief.
Speaker 2:The second ingredient that I want on this recipe is grit. You have to have grit. You're going to have bad days, You're going to have bad weeks, You're going to have bad months and, as an entrepreneur, you're going to have bad quarters. But that can't persuade you from. If it persuades you, it wasn't your dream. If that persuades you, it wasn't your dream. So you have to believe what you do. You have to have grit and with those two ingredients consistency, the last one. If you're consistent, you're going to see the results. Consistency, the last one, If you're consistent, you're going to see the results. Those three you put them together and that's the perfect recipe to do whatever you want to do in the entrepreneurship realm.
Speaker 1:I love it. Recipe for success. Well, Dr Vaz, anything else you want to kind of share with our audience before we wrap this up? Share with our audience before we wrap this up.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. When you're thinking about healthcare, I won't tell you, come to Vascare Clinic, right? If you get to me, I'll show you what healthcare is, what it's meant to be. But let's say you're shopping and you're not, because I'm in Tampa, florida. Let's say you're not in Tampa, you're in Miami, which, by the way, so many people in Miami I mean so far.
Speaker 2:But if you're looking for a healthcare provider, you have to look for someone that is that one listens to you. Always ask for credentials, Talk to the person If the person is in a computer and is not looking at you, you know that that's not your forever doctor and ask for price up front and ask what happens if I can't make that fee? Right, do I have an alternative? Those are the questions that you have to make. There's far and few in between. But there's great doctors that are in the direct. What I do is called direct primary care. Slash concierge, right, concierge is a little bit pricier and a little bit bougier, but direct primary care. There's great doctors in that space that get flooded by the advertisement for the big players in the industry. Yeah, correct. So look for the hidden gems. They're worth it and if you're in Tampa, I got you.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about that. Can you provide our listeners with a phone number as well as a website? Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'm old school. I'm on 3206 Cove Bend Drive. It's a fantastic office. We have psychological staff in there. We have a licensed health mental LMHC. So licensed mental health. But they say, is it coach or counselors? Licensed mental health counselors my wife is here too Awesome, she's verifying that. I don't say anything. So we have licensed mental health counselors that are phenomenal, that handle anything from pediatric cases in the psychological realm to family counseling, to couples therapy, to individual therapy for depression, anxiety. We do testing for neuropsychometric diseases like autism and ADHD. So we have a test that Dr Hernandez takes care of that.
Speaker 2:So we have those services and in the office, of course, you'll have old school internal medicine with me and we do take some insurances. We're a hybrid office. We take Cigna, aetna, medicare, humana, tricare, those. But for the people that don't have insurance, which are one of the demographics I most care for, your visits are always flat. It's $50. You want to come in for a toothache? You want to come in to get some antibiotics. You want to come in because you need a refill for your high blood pressure medicine. You want to come in because you have some chest pain? The fee is going to always be exactly the same. So I dare you to try it and see the difference.
Speaker 1:Dr Vaz, it's been such a pleasure, you know, being able for you to share your vision. What you're currently doing for your patients and future patients as well, and the business model that you and your wife have set up is very it's a good model and I just want to thank you so much for being part of this and hopefully we can have you back in the near future again. Love to Thank you so much.