Long standing family friends Guru Charan, investment banker and established businessman, and internal medicine physician  Dr. Sonanni always strived to make a difference within their community. Constantly overwhelmed by expensive healthcare bringing challenges for the elderly population to access, they saw the perfect opportunity to make change by helping seniors get the services they need and deserve. Mr. Charan owns and  operates primary care and specialty physician clinics under the brand name of Valley Oaks Medical Group,  a company striving to redefine preventative care and healthcare services for 65+ year old Medicare eligible seniors in the Las Vegas area. 

Seeking to change how service is provided to the senior population, Mr. Charan details the need for his businesses. “I acquired two medical clinics in Las Vegas in August of last year with the plan to acquire more clinics over the next three years, like some of the larger healthcare groups such as Cano Health, Oak Street Health, VillageMD, Iora Health, etc”. His clinics offer a variety of services such as remote monitoring, diagnostic imaging and x-rays, joint pain management and injections, family wellness, chronic health conditions, skin health screening, IV infusions and more. 

Healthcare costs are rising, unsustainable, and getting out of control, making it a challenge that is impacting seniors everywhere. Healthcare spending in the U.S. has reached an all time high, outranking any other country in the world. Expenditures are mainly concentrated to the Medicare-eligible population, due to the frequency of chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, lupus, etc. To solve these problems Valley Oaks Med moves to implement programs and structures to control costs while providing high quality value based medical services. Mr. Charan currently is developing a program involving direct contracting with Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs to benefit Medicare eligible seniors.

Valley Oaks Med focuses on acquiring physician clinics that are currently serving high volumes of Medicare patients and introducing programs and procedures that will streamline the operations and further the care coordination aspect of healthcare at these clinics. Mr. Charan is expecting to put in place direct contracting with Medicare as well as Medicare Advantage capitation plans with commercial providers which will enable value-based payments. This business model aligns incentives as it improves health and financial outcomes for both payers and patients.

When asked about the challenges he’s faced Mr. Charan explains, “There is stiff competition from large companies to target and buy Primary Care clinics. There are also a few small regional  well-funded groups that are acquiring physician practices as well.” But despite the challenges he and his company have remained successful. Mr. Charan has garnered 20 years of large enterprise and small business management experience through his work owning and operating Primary Care and specialty physicians under brand Valley Oaks Medical Group. “I’ve managed up to ninety employees, while growing clinic revenue and forging alliances within the hospital systems, medical imaging, national pharma distributors and suppliers/vendors. I oversee the day-today operations including managing and coordinating resources to provide effective care and treatment to patients, and create standardized protocols to prioritize accountability and performance management at the clinics.”

Expanding fast, Mr. Charan continues to provide access to all. “We have three clinics currently, but will be acquiring four clinics within the next month or so all in the Las Vegas area. We are currently serving about 3,000 Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients.” Mr. Charan states, “ I have also signed agreements to acquire two clinics in Texas, one in Fort Worth and one in Houston.” With honorable goals Mr. Charan is optimistic about his future in healthcare looking to own and operate a total of 50 clinics and servicing 50,000 patients he’s definitely on the right track. Mr. Charan has developed strategies for growth. “We intend to increase patient enrollment within the existing clinics through external referrals, senior living partnerships, marketing and advertising and payor referrals all in efforts to provide coordinated care and support multiple specialties. We also plan to add more clinics to the Las Vegas market to provide full access to seniors in need.We also plan to optimize the clinics by plan to add more services such as hyperbaric chamber, radiology, hospice and so much more so that we are fully equipped to provide patients with whatever treatment necessary to aid in bettering their well being ”.