That was the climate when Dils took over RMD/Patti from his father. Under his leadership, the company would lean even harder into its wellness offerings, because it was what they did that nobody else was doing. So the next step was opening a health clinic exclusively for their clients.
“We write your benefits, all built into back-end, employees use facility for free, no copay no deductible,” Dils explains. “We can be your primary care, acute urgent center, meds, labs, doctors visit, all covered without cost to employees.”
The success of Healthworks may have had as much to do with the unique healthcare market in Richmond, which Dils describes as “dominated” by a single hospital system with little incentive to negotiate prices, as it did with the ingenuity of the business model. If the lack of competitive care options contributed to the success of Healthworks, then the next differentiation project was a no-brainer: a free-standing imaging facility.
ROS helped Dils select a GE LightSpeed VCT CT scanner
Enlisting a radiology insider
It is commonly understood that hospitals charge more for an imaging exam than a free-standing imaging center. In some cases, (emergencies and complex cases, for example) patients may be better served by a hospital and its extensive resources, but in the majority of cases, a free-standing imaging center is a more affordable means to an end.
Insurers like Anthem and Cigna understand this, and in recent years have written policies to steer their policyholders toward the more economical scanning alternative. Since Richmond did not have a freestanding diagnostic imaging facility, Dils saw an opportunity.
Until now, each strategic investment by RMD/Patti took place in familiar territory. As a fitness enthusiast, Dils understood gyms, as an insurer, he understood health clinics. In both cases, he had contacts inside the industry to help him solve problems along the way. Medical Imaging, however, is a technologically advanced industry and he had little experience in it, so he set out to find an advisor.
“One company looked promising but it wasn’t very responsive, maybe because I was just a small guy and they didn’t care to take the initiative,” recalls Dils. “It was like, sign here, commit here, send us the check and we’ll send the machine to you. Well, I don’t know what to do when the machine gets here.”
