A Heart for Service
In 2024, David White operated All Hearts Cardiology (AHC) from a cramped second-floor medical office with no elevator. Before David opened the doors to AHC in 2022, he’d worked as a cardiac nurse practitioner in another cardiology center. “I kept noticing patients falling through the cracks,” David said. “Unfortunately, those patients kept looking like me.” David says that as he began to build his own business, he learned that race wasn’t the only reason patients were falling through the cracks: socioeconomic status was a barrier between patients and the care they needed. Although David achieved the goal of serving those in need of care, his office space limited some patients’ access to services and hindered the growth of his business.
Eager to expand his services, David reached out to the LUL Center for Entrepreneurship. In June of 2023, David began to work with Chris Scott, a business coach at LUL. Together, they clarified David’s vision and goals, helping David recognize his potential for expansion. “Chris helped me focus my energy,” David said. “Patient care was not the problem.I love doing that. It was the business part I needed help with. Talking with Chris helped me answer questions I didn’t even know to ask.”
With Chris’s coaching, David focused on streamlining AHC’s operations, identifying tasks that could be outsourced or automated. Each answered question freed David up to concentrate on patient care and business development. David redirected his energy toward building relationships with new patients and enhancing his services. He expanded his team by hiring two employees, enabling him to provide more comprehensive care and improve patient experiences.
Through business coaching, David has been able to navigate around a hurdle that is outside of his control. According to the National Institute of Health, physicians are paid 30-50% less than their usual fees by both Medicare and Medicaid. Although many of his clients have commercial insurance, and although Medicare pays significantly more than Medicaid, David’s struggles with the challenges of building a business on (partially) indeterminate funds. “The key is volume,” David says. “I’m never going to turn away patients with state-funded insurance. The Medicaid, Passport… that’s my people. That’s where I came from. So I’m blessed and thankful that I can do something different. It doesn’t make sense for me to take the knowledge that I’ve gained and go give it to other people. I can’t just leave behind people from the environment I came from.”
Coaching helped David expand his clientele to serve his people while getting expense covered. “The key is volume,” David said. The impact of their collaboration was transformative. David still plans to transition to a newer, patient-friendly location. Right now, he is expanding clientele and providing home visits to patients who can’t access his space. He has expanded his team by hiring two employees, enabling him to provide more comprehensive care and improve patient experiences. “I’m not always just a provider,” David said. He recalls sitting with patients who feel lonely in senior care facilities. “Sometimes, we just talk.” David’s heart for patient care, coupled with Chris’s strategic guidance, has positioned him to meet the needs of his community effectively. With a solid foundation in place, he is well on his way to becoming a leading cardiology provider in the area.
