Over the past few years, the wellness industry has exploded in popularity. Starting with simple apps, such as those that play soothing sounds to aid with sleep, it's quickly ballooned into a huge chunk of the economy with seemingly endless options. One of the more attractive elements of this is the "telehealth" movement. While it's useful for COVID-19 and the ensuing isolation, it also is cutting costs for practitioners and patients. It's eliminating the drive to the doctor's office for the patient, and the provider is often paid more for his or her time.

However, there are some limits to this system. For example, it's generally unlawful for doctors to prescribe higher-level controlled substances. Unfortunately, this includes medications commonly used for common conditions, such as ADHD and chronic pain. Patients with these disorders will still need to see a doctor in-person to obtain their prescriptions. However, many conditions don't require controlled medication. This unique startup takes advantage of this, along with a few other perks, to help paint a more optimistic picture of holistic men's health.

A Unique "Blended" Approach

The company, called "Vault", is planning to operate as a "blurred" company. In other words, while it will have medical staff and be able to prescribe medication, it doesn't stop there. The company is interested in other, non-traditional forms of therapy. The whole theme is that it will offer men holistic health. Plenty of startups have targeted men's health through telemedicine, but no startup has combined telemedicine with this holistic approach before.

What Services Will Vault Provide?

Vault has to deal with the notorious issue of men being far less likely than women to seek healthcare, often to their own detriment. After coming up with a marketing model that will appeal to enough men, they have a unique model. Rather than offer only telemedicine, they will have doctors and nurse practitioners visit men for a variety of male-related issues, such as performance issues. These doctors can do in-home labwork, taking the "office visit" factor out.

From there, men will be able to see their lab results and come up with a holistic plan with a licensed practitioner in their state. This practitioner will have the ability to prescribe technically any medication, since they have seen the man in person. However, the company does not plan on prescribing state or federal-level controlled medications due to liability risks.

These can also be in the form of injections, depending on the specific health concern. In this case, the doctor or nurse practitioner will issue a formal prescription and provide the IV service as part of the package.

How Much Will This Cost?

As most telemedicine companies, with a few exceptions, try to do, Vault is trying to convince employers that providing this service en masse to employees will help them in the long run. For example, they will likely use the fact that women are much more likely to seek health assistance when they need it from traditional sources, while men are more likely to try to "tough it out". This doesn't help anyone, and it usually ends up with the man missing out on major career milestones, which could have been avoided.

There will also be a "personal" package for those whose employers won't cover the expense or who work as freelancers. Vault is planning on using social media to market ads to individual men to sign up for their service. Since the company is still in its infancy, it has not established a pricing scheme just yet. The only mention of its pricing thus far has been that it will be based on the number of customers. It's planning on using a "network" of patients to lower contracted rates with practitioners but emphasizes that it is not a health insurance company.

Is This Service Right for a Loved One or Me?

Vault's offerings are certainly intriguing. In stark contrast to many healthcare startups, it's trying to combine holistic wellness ideas with traditional medicine. Most startups provide one or the other. The main difficulty will be convincing men, a traditionally non-responsive cohort to this type of medicine, that it's worth it in the long run.

If you or a loved one spends too many hours cooped up in an office, a service like this may work out well. Make sure to keep a pulse on the company's progress if you're interested.