Care delivery in all 50 states? No longer as common as it used to be

It used to be the norm for digital health companies to raise large venture capital rounds and immediately set up a structure to operate in all 50 states. The reason? They needed to operate that way to sell into jumbo employers with scattered workforces and the largest national health plans. Consider it a very expensive buy-in to play at the high-stakes table—potentially opening up large contracts over time. Capital used to be far more abundant, so this strategy seemed like a no brainer.

Now, I’m seeing signs that startups are taking a different, more targeted approach to save costs and to develop tight relationships with payers and/or anchor provider partners where there’s the opportunity to renegotiate rates by proving ROI.

There’s are benefits and drawbacks to both strategies — let’s discuss.