HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – On the mall level at Ala Moana Shopping Center, a new healthcare startup is charting a fresh course.
NIU HEALTH offers membership-based medical care programs.
“We’re using a completely different structure for you to pay for your care,” Dr. Tony Trpkovski said.
Trpkovski co-founded Doctors of Waikiki. For years, he served as a physician with Hawaii Pacific Health. NIU HEALTH is his new model for delivering healthcare to the uninsured and anyone who puts off their doctor’s visits because of cost.
“I wanted to make it super affordable so that nobody would say, ‘No, I can’t afford my medicine. I can’t afford being seen. I can’t afford getting my labs.’ We’ve lowered the cost as much as we can,” he said.
For $9.99 a month, NIU HEALTH promises patients unlimited telehealth visits, and in-person appointments if necessary.
“Patients are then directed into the clinics or the hubs if they need physical care, or we need to collect blood samples or run any laboratory testing,” said Clinical Nurse Specialist Paul Okada-Coelho.
The first week is free and there are options for six-month and one-year memberships. Members receive access to doctors round-the-clock, plus lab tests and medications at low cost.
“Antibiotics can be $2.99 to $3.99, blood pressure medications around $2.99 to $3.99. Very inexpensive,” Trpkovski said.
To offset operating expenses, Trpkovski hopes to attract businesses who will buy advertising
“Just like when you go to the doctor you go in a waiting room. Online you go to a waiting room, and in this digital waiting room you have to watch ads for about five minutes,” he said.
On Monday NIU HEALTH officially opened to subscribers statewide.
“All my life I’ve wanted to help people. And I wanted to come up with a way to do it so it’s low cost,” Trpkovski said.
NIU HEALTH has health hubs at Ala Moana and in Hawaii Kai. Trpkovski plans to open three more on Oahu before branching out to the neighbor islands.
To learn more about this new healthcare service go to niuhealth.com.
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