A premier healthcare management and operations company delivering innovative services: Nutex Health Inc.

Nutex Health Inc. was founded in 2011 by Dr. Tom Vo, a seasoned emergency medicine physician who recognized inefficiencies in traditional healthcare. His vision was to create a more accessible, patient-centered approach to medicine. Witnessing the challenges patients faced—long wait times, limited time with doctors, and impersonal care—Dr. Vo introduced the concept of the micro-hospital. These smaller-scale hospitals offer the same essential services as larger facilities but focus on convenience, accessibility, and personalized care.

Nutex Health’s micro-hospitals are strategically located closer to communities, providing faster access to comprehensive medical care.

Since its inception, Nutex Health has opened over 20 micro-hospitals and ERs across ten states. These facilities offer a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, including 24/7 emergency care, adult and pediatric services, imaging, laboratory services, and various outpatient procedures. Nutex Health continues to deliver high-quality, compassionate care in a more intimate, patient-friendly environment.

In conversation with Tom Vo, CEO of Nutex Health Inc.

Q. Nutex Health operates a range of facilities from micro-hospitals to specialty hospitals and outpatient departments. How do you determine the optimal model for different healthcare settings and what factors influence these decisions?

All our locations will have a licensed micro-hospital as a starting point. As we need to grow in that geographical area, we can either open a smaller hospital outpatient department or we can open another fully licensed micro-hospital in that area. We partner with local physicians who are experts on their community’s demographics and needs, and then we fill the demands needed.

Q. With over 20 facilities across 10 states, what strategies does Nutex Health employ to maintain consistency in quality and patient care across its diverse locations?

Our robust in-house departments, consisting of Business Development and Marketing, Operations Coordination, Legal, Human Resources, Accounting, Billing, and Collections, have streamlined processes that have proven successful through experience with over two dozen prior locations. Our in-house teams onboard each facility with the same level of care and attention to detail, setting them up to succeed and operate the hospital like a well-oiled machine. On the local level, the team consists of expert-level physicians and highly skilled staff. It is a top priority to retain the best of the best in the field at each location we open and set up a financial and cultural alignment program so that everyone is on the same page. With monthly check-ins, various meetings, and a yearly conference, our hospital leaders are always connected, ensuring everyone strives towards the same mission and strategies to provide top-tier patient care. In addition, we use best practices from facilities all over the country to continuously learn and improve from one another. Lastly, we outsource hospital accreditation to a national CMS-certified body to ensure that we comply with all national hospital standards.

Q. The Population Health Management Division manages IPAs; can you discuss how this enhances patient care and operational efficiency?

Nutex’s population health management divisions work together synergistically to improve efficiency within the ER and hospitals. The IPAs are essentially a collection of outpatient clinics that send patients to our hospital for care and vice versa. Because both the hospital and the clinics are on the same team, patient care is coordinated and much better. In addition, the cost of care is lower due to better efficiency and alignment between the clinics and the hospitals.

We own and manage four IPAs in California, Miami, Houston, and Phoenix, and we have plans to open one to two IPAs per year to help complement our hospitals, including Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Smith, and Tulsa.

Q. In what ways has Nutex Health’s approach to emergency care and specialty hospitals differentiated it from competitors in the healthcare industry?

To our knowledge, we are the only company in the country executing this business model to this scale. Our hospital division and population health management division synergistically work together to create a coordinated, integrated, risk-bearing care delivery model. Our smaller hospital system offers patients 24/7/365 concierge-level care with more one-on-one time with a doctor who is dedicated to providing individualized care that meets patient needs, all in a comfortable and convenient environment without the wait. As a public company, we also facilitate and encourage our physicians and staff to own company shares. This ownership aligns and motivates everyone in the entire company.

Q. What are the most significant challenges Nutex Health faces in the current healthcare environment, and how is the company addressing these challenges?

Like many other healthcare companies, the 2022 No Surprises Act took a toll on our reimbursement and bottom line. Since then, we have enforced response strategies like creating an IDR team to accelerate resubmissions of claims, appealing additional payment of claims, targeting favorable contracts with new insurers, and lobbying on the state level.

As a leader in billing transparency, we never engaged in balanced billing to begin with, but we are proud of the way we have navigated the curveballs the NSA threw at the industry.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We are continuing to grow inpatient services and try to keep all our beds full. We are also piloting some new services in some of our hospitals, including behavioral health, personal injury, and wellness services.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

We are excited to see what the next few years have in store for Nutex Health. We believe in bringing accessible, compassionate health care to every community where there is a need. Our mission is to continue to expand our healthcare model all over the country. As the population becomes older, we believe there are multiple indicators that the increased demand for hospitals and emergency services is not slowing down any time soon. Demands for our services will only increase. We are in a good position to service our communities.

Meet the leader behind the success of Nutex Health Inc.

Tom Vo, CEO

Dr. Vo brings more than 30 years of expertise in the Business of Medicine to Nutex Health. He is residency trained in emergency medicine and has worked in busy hospitals and emergency centers throughout Texas. Additionally, he has been instrumental in the start-up and management of over 30 Specialty Hospitals and Emergency Centers throughout the US. He is recognized by his contemporaries as one of the pioneers and leaders in the field. In 2020, Dr. Vo received the prestigious EY Entrepreneur Of The Year^® award, where he went on to become the National Finalist.

Dr. Vo’s affinity for helping others inspired him to study medicine. He graduated from Kent State in 1992 and Northeastern Ohio University’s College of Medicine in 1996. In 1999, he completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. In 2004, Dr. Vo received an MBA from Rice University to learn more about the business side of medicine.

“As a leader in billing transparency, we never engaged in balanced billing to begin with, but we are proud of the way we have navigated the curveballs the NSA threw at the industry”