BowTie Medical

What BowTie Medical does

BowTie Medical is a private, founder-owned virtual Direct Primary Care company founded in 2014 by surgeon Dr. Firouz Daneshgari and headquartered in Broadview Heights, Ohio. Its core product, "Health Guardianship®," is a membership-based model that assigns each member a dedicated interdisciplinary team—physicians, care navigators, and health coaches—delivered virtually 12 hours/day with a 24/7 nurse triage line and supported by the Fold Care mobile app. The company pairs unlimited virtual primary care visits with a cash-pay pricing engine that secures labs, imaging, medications, and procedures at 50–90% below retail by bypassing insurance middlemen, and layers in "Care Journeys" for chronic-condition management along with a continuous risk-detection process ("BowTie Proven Process"). BowTie reports serving more than 150,000 members over a decade with physicians licensed in all 50 U.S. states and a 4.75/5 provider rating.

The business model is subscription-based at $27/month entry pricing for individuals and families, sold both direct-to-consumer through self-serve website enrollment and B2B through employers, brokers, and health plans/captive managers, with integrations into self-funded, fully insured, and health-sharing arrangements. The company monetizes cash-pay ancillary services through negotiated contracts rather than fee-for-service billing, and differentiates itself from hospital-employed primary care by operating independent of hospital-system referral incentives. Go-to-market combines a content-driven top-of-funnel (podcast, blog, social, founder-authored book) with inside and field sales for B2B channels, and the firm highlights a 20% healthcare-cost reduction for a U.S. steel manufacturer as an enterprise outcome.

BowTie appears bootstrapped with 11–50 employees, is HIPAA-compliant, and has no disclosed institutional funding. Its strategic posture is that of a small, vertically focused DPC operator seeking to scale by adding employer contracts and chronic-care modules on top of a national virtual primary-care footprint, while extending its brand through thought leadership (e.g., podcast featuring former Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta) and selective partnerships such as the alliance with Asserta Health on cash-pay solutions.

Name

BowTie Medical

Legal name

BowTie Medical

Website

https://bowtiemedical.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BowTie Medical is a private, founder-owned virtual Direct Primary Care company offering a subscription "Health Guardianship" membership with dedicated care teams, 24/7 access, and cash-pay pricing on ancillary services, serving individuals, families, employers, brokers, and health plans across all 50 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Virtual Direct Primary Care

NAICS

Ambulatory Health Care Services (621), Other Ambulatory Health Care Services (6219)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Primary Care & General Medicine Virtual Care (HLALAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Primary Care & General Medicine Virtual Care (Employer-Sponsored) (HLALADAA), Care Navigation, Advocacy & Benefits Guidance Platforms (HLALADAJ), Membership/Subscription Concierge Virtual Care (HLALAAAH)

Keywords

• Virtual primary care
• Direct primary care
• Care navigation services
• Cash-pay healthcare
• Employer health benefits

Headquarters

HQ city

Broadview Heights

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Health Guardianship Membership Fees: Monthly subscription fees for individuals and families providing unlimited virtual primary care visits, dedicated Health Guardian team access, care coordination, and negotiated cash-pay pricing for labs, imaging, and medications. Membership starts at $27 per month with no copays, no deductibles, and no surprise bills.
2. Employer-Sponsored Plans: B2B membership fees paid by employers for employee coverage, integrating with self-funded or fully insured plans and health-sharing networks. Provides same Health Guardianship benefits to enrolled employees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BowTie Medical offers a membership-based virtual Direct Primary Care service branded as Health Guardianship. Members pay a monthly fee starting at $27 to access unlimited virtual primary care visits with no copays, a dedicated interdisciplinary Health Guardian team (physicians, navigators, coaches) available 12 hours/day, 24/7 nurse triage, and negotiated cash-pay pricing for labs, imaging, and medications at 50-90% below retail. The service is delivered nationwide through a mobile app (Fold Care) and web portal, with physicians licensed in all 50 states.

Product overview

BowTie Medical offers a unified Health Guardianship® product—a membership-based virtual Direct Primary Care model. The core offering combines unlimited virtual primary care visits, a dedicated Health Guardian team, 24/7 access via text/video/app (Fold Care App), and negotiated cash-pay pricing for ancillary services. The company also provides educational content through its Health Guardianship Podcast and blog, and founder Dr. Firouz Daneshgari authored the book "Health Guardianship: The Remedy to the Sick Care System." Care Journeys offer specialized chronic condition management modules within the membership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Health Guardianship: The core service model offering proactive, preventive virtual Primary Care combined with care navigation and cash-pay solutions.
• Fold Care App

Products and services

• Health Guardianship® Membership A membership-based virtual Direct Primary Care product providing unlimited virtual primary care visits with no copays, a dedicated interdisciplinary Health Guardian team (physicians, care navigators, coaches), 24/7 nurse triage, care coordination, and negotiated cash-pay pricing for labs, imaging, and medications at 50-90% below retail. Available to individuals, families, and employer-sponsored groups nationally.
• Fold Care Mobile App A mobile application for iOS and Android that allows Health Guardianship members to message or chat with their care team, schedule appointments, access their health records, request e-prescriptions, and upload documents. Provides 24/7 access via text, video, or in-app communication.
• Employer-Sponsored Health Guardianship Plan A B2B subscription plan where employers pay per-employee membership fees for Health Guardianship coverage for their workforce. Integrates with existing self-funded or fully insured health plans and health-sharing networks, providing the same unlimited virtual primary care, dedicated Guardian team, and cash-pay pricing benefits to enrolled employees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50%+ reduction in employer stop-loss costs
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Asserta HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsserta Health co-founder Korb Matosich appears on the Health Guardianship Podcast discussing cash-pay healthcare solutions. Both companies share a mission to eliminate PPO network middlemen and provide transparent, cost-effective healthcare pricing. The partnership explores how Health Guardianship integrates with cash-pay payment models to deliver savings to employers and employees.
• Nationwide Network of Independent SpecialistscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEvery member of the BowTie Health Guardianship team has the backing of a nationwide network of independent specialists who provide condition-specific insight on the best treatment plans available. This network ensures members can access appropriate specialty care when needed without hospital system biases.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• One Medical (Amazon): Membership-based primary care platform (now owned by Amazon) offering virtual plus in-person primary care with a dedicated-provider model. Directly comparable to BowTie's Health Guardianship membership, though One Medical combines owned clinics with virtual care and operates at substantially greater scale.
• Forward Health: Membership-based preventive primary care combining tech-enabled virtual care with in-person visits. Comparable as a direct-to-consumer, subscription-priced primary care brand competing for the same anti-insurance, consumer-empowerment narrative.
• K Health: Virtual-first primary care and mental health provider serving consumers and enterprise partners. Comparable to BowTie's virtual primary care, chronic-condition management, and employer channel offering, with overlapping emphasis on transparent pricing and care navigation.
• Galileo: Multi-specialty virtual and in-home primary care platform serving employer and health plan clients with a dedicated care team model. Closely comparable to BowTie's Health Guardianship in the B2B (employer/payer) channel and interdisciplinary team design.
• 98point6: Text-based virtual primary care delivered via a subscription model to consumers and enterprise partners. Comparable to BowTie in the virtual-first, membership-priced primary care category, particularly on the employer-sponsored distribution motion.
• Crossover Health: Employer-sponsored primary care provider combining on-site/near-site clinics with virtual care for self-funded employers. Directly comparable to BowTie's employer-focused, care-coordination, stop-loss-reducing value proposition.
• Everside Health (Marathon Health): Employer-focused primary care and mental health provider operating on-site, near-site, and virtual clinics for self-funded employers. Comparable to BowTie's employer value proposition—reducing healthcare costs, stop-loss exposure, and care fragmentation for self-funded plans.
• Asserta Health: Cash-pay healthcare solutions partner referenced in BowTie's own podcast as a collaborator. Directly comparable in the cash-pay, transparent-pricing, employer-savings narrative that underpins Health Guardianship's cost-savings claims.
• Centivo: Employer-sponsored health plan provider focused on self-funded employers with a virtual primary care and care navigation layer. Comparable to BowTie's integration with self-funded employer plans and emphasis on coordinated primary care to reduce total cost of care.

Broad incumbents

• Premise Health: Large, established direct healthcare provider offering on-site, near-site, and virtual primary care to employer clients. Comparable in the employer-primary-care category, though Premise is far broader in scale and capability mix than BowTie.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBpNeeir1il7-s9qlYS1byw
• Facebookfacebook.com/BowTieMedicalOH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bowtie-medica
• Instagraminstagram.com/bowtiemedical

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BowTie Medical