A doctor in Denver, Colorado is betting his retirement savings on a new kind of healthcare clinic — one he says could change the way patients experience emergency and urgent care.
Dr. Noah Kaufman left the emergency room after 25 years to open KaufCare, a direct acute care clinic he describes as a hybrid between an urgent care and an emergency room, without the financial shock that often follows a visit.
“Nobody is doing this — nobody has done a direct acute care yet. We’re basically inventing the category,” Kaufman said.
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The model is designed to address what Kaufman calls a broken healthcare system — one where patients avoid seeking care because of cost and uncertainty.
“We gave an oath to first do no harm when we’re in med school and graduated. And then we’re part of this system that people will avoid going to the ER when they’re having a heart attack, literally, because they know it’s going to be a 10-thousand dollar bill and they’re going to get bill after bill and they don’t know what the prices are and it’s a 6-hour wait,” Kaufman said.
At KaufCare, the clinic writes and fills its own prescriptions. Kaufman has invested everything into making it work.
“I’m literally working 100 hours a week at KaufCare. I liquidated my retirement for KaufCare, so I’m all in,” Kaufman said.
His motivation goes beyond building a business. Kaufman said he felt he could no longer be part of a system he believes harms the very patients it is meant to serve.
“I want to be part of the solution and I couldn’t really live with myself being part of this gross system that is extracting value out of every healthcare dollar for myself, as a patient, for my family and all patients,” Kaufman said.
Outside the clinic, Kaufman hosts a podcast focused on healthcare reform.
“What went wrong, what went south and what we could do to make healthcare better,” Kaufman said of the show’s focus.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
This story was originally published by Mike Castellucci with the Scripps News Group station in Denver.
