“We’re exhausting primary care providers. They have large panels and they have very limited time with you as a provider. What’s happening is you’re not getting care, you’re being triaged and you’re just being pushed through the system.”
Nick Beiras has been in the local healthcare industry for 40 years and is the co-founder and operator of a series of businesses providing physical therapy, outpatient surgery, urgent care and diagnostics. His current businesses include Bedford Outpatient Surgery Center, ExpressMed and Apple Therapy Services. His brother, Dr. Jim Beiras, a recently retired orthopedic surgeon, is also his business partner.
His latest projects include a local sports memorabilia display at Apple Therapy in downtown Manchester and a primary care subscription service.
This article is an excerpt from NH Business Review’s “Down to Business Podcast.”
Q. Can you briefly tell us about some of the businesses you have helped set up over the years?
A. It started 40 years ago as Amoskeag Physical Therapy, which was acquired by HealthSouth, which had a presence in the area for about 10-12 years. The result is Apple Therapy. We have a number of Apple physical therapy services in southern New Hampshire, as well as sports and rehab physical therapy. Those are entities that I still oversee. We also have ExpressMED and a couple of outpatient surgery centers. We have Nashua Ambulatory Surgical Center and Orchard Surgical Center in Salem. We also have diagnostic centers in Salem Market, BASC Imaging (Bedford) and Orchard Imaging.
There’s a reason for my madness. I started my business because I wanted to make healthcare more affordable. Healthcare is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy. It’s so bad that I’m surprised there isn’t a bigger outcry. I’ve seen families who weren’t necessarily poor until someone in the family got seriously ill.
Q. Apple Therapy is planning some changes, including bringing sports memorabilia to downtown Manchester.
A. We have had a practice in downtown Manchester for almost 40 years, currently located at Apple Therapy and ExpressMED. For many years, New Hampshire Orthopedic Group was also located downtown. My brother Jim was also located downtown when he first returned to the community to open his practice.
We have a very strong sports medicine presence downtown. We have a clinic that is free for all kids, regardless of their ability to pay. And we want to inspire. For many years, great athletes have been treated here and gone on to achieve even greater feats. And that goes back literally 40 years.
“We’ve had great athletes like (former major league baseball player) Chris Carpenter and many other great athletes overcome this challenge. We’ve reached out to the historical society and gotten photos of these athletes. We want to display these photos in the clinic to inspire young athletes who are injured to know that with the right treatment, they can overcome it and come back.”
Q. What are your future plans?
A. Following on from that theme of access and affordability, I’m launching an enhanced primary care program and an enhanced orthopedic program, basically to allow you to spend more time with your health care providers.
Right now, primary care providers are overwhelmed. They have large panels and very little time to see patients as providers. What’s happening is patients aren’t getting care, they’re being triaged and they’re just being pushed through the system. Physicians feel guilty about practicing medicine like that. That’s not why they started practicing medicine.
In July, I am launching Delphi Enhanced Primary Care, and we are working to improve access and affordability while preserving primary care practices and allowing physicians to have a good work-life balance.
To make that happen, we have an access fee. This is not insurance. It’s an access fee to allow doctors and providers to spend time with you and have access to you at any time, and it costs $100 a month.
We bill your insurance company, but we also help you navigate the health care system and connect you to lower-cost providers to help you save money. You can easily save $1,200 a year in access fees just by going to the right MRI facility, the right physical therapy facility, or the right surgery center.
To hear the full interview, check out Episode 197 of NH Business Review’s Down to Business podcast.
