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In business health care downtown doctor takes a fresh approach to health care By Joe Schoenmann staff writer Joining an army of people lured downtown to try something new, Zubin Damania will try a model that represents a different approach to primary care in Las Vegas. "The current system is blind to the truth that in order to take care of people, we must prevent disease and promote wellness," he said. "The hope is to get people really engaged with health and fitness more than their current system, where they have 10 minutes with a doctor and they're out the door." Clinic patients, Damania said, will pay a flat fee that entitles them to a series of services. Those will include unlimited primary care access, access to health coaches and classes for nutrition, cooking and yoga. He also is considering other wellness-related amenities, such as a gym. Prices haven't been set, but he said the per-month cost would vary depending on services used. Damania speculates that 80 percent of health care can be delivered at the "The hope is to get people really engaged with health and fitness more than their current system, where they have 10 minutes with a doctor and they're out the door." — dr. zubin damania primary care level. Improving care at that level can cut into the cost of more expensive chronic and catastrophic care, saving money for patients and employers. In turn, he said, employers might pass savings onto employees by cutting the cost of their insurance premiums. Here's how it might work: You pay a "membership" fee likely under $100 per month, which gives you access to all the clinic's services. The clinic provides primary care; if specialists are needed, the clinic coordinates referrals and, Damania said, "maintains an active supervisory role." Typically, high-deductible insurance covers the specialty and hospital care if needed. So the clinic wouldn't eliminate the need for traditional insurance, but it is 4 expected to bend the cost curve downwards and decrease the cost of backup insurance plans. Self-insured companies like Zappos or government agencies would be a perfect fit because they would be able to reduce their expenses for downstream specialty and hospital care. "If (employers) look at their metrics and see health care costs are going down, they can create a hybrid plan — maybe cutting premiums as they see health expenses dwindle — that melds our flat fee/ primary care plan with a catastrophic plan," Damania said. "It puts primary care at the apex of care; primary care physicians are then accountable for the welfare of the customer, and if customers are unhappy, they're going to walk." Another important aspect to this clin- ic, he said, is that "it keeps the money for insurance premiums here in the community instead of going out to some national insurance company," he said. "Normally, insurance is taking a piece of the action as the middleman." The clinic is expected to open in a few months in a building purchased by Downtown Project partners at Bridger Avenue and Seventh Street. Damania and his wife, Margaret, both physicians, moved to Las Vegas last spring, drawn here by the siren call of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who met Margaret Damania at Harvard University about 20 years ago. Before moving here, Margaret Damania was on the radiology faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine; Zubin Damania practiced internal medicine. Both had successful careers. But Zubin Damania wasn't happy. "I like dealing with people, talking to them, helping them work through things, but I didn't really have the time to do that anymore," he said. "I felt like I was a cog in the machine." Minimum number of best news website awards a media company should win before you log on. Leach, Kats, Chareunsy, Coolican, Brewer, Velotta, Spotleson, Bern tune in at 7 a.m. mondays on KunV 91.5 for the latest in gaming, tourism and real estate news. Visit Vegasinc.com for past episodes and more business news. Pulitzer | Dupont | EPPY | General Excellence 12 | 07515_VINC_RadioHouse_AD_c2.indd 1 20130128_VI12_F.indd 12 28 JANUARY 2013 | VEGASINC RADIO 8/29/12 9:10 AM 1/24/13 2:38:32 PM