The First Customer - Breaking the Healthcare Mold with CEO and Co-Founder Timothy Poore

[00:00:27] Jay: Hi everyone. Welcome to The First Customer podcast. My name is Jay Aigner today. I am lucky enough to be joined by Tim Poore. He's the founder and CEO of ATP healthcare. He's got something else that, he's going to talk to us about, co founding as well. But, Tim, how are you, buddy?

[00:00:40] Timothy: I'm doing great. How you doing today?

[00:00:43] Jay: I'm good. Good. It's a snowy day here in Philadelphia.

I don't think it's snowing down where you are,

no, a little chilly this morning. I got Yeah, what's chilly down there? They're like 50s, 60s.

[00:00:53] Timothy: 72,

me up here. see my breath

[00:00:59] Jay: almost. Yeah, I don't think so. all right. Well, where did you grow up and did that have any impact on you being an entrepreneur later in life?

[00:01:05] Timothy: a little bit. Yeah. so I grew up in a group in central Florida, moved away and came back. And so it's very rare. but, my, my parents were actually, they started their own company and, I think that was probably a pretty. Pretty big influence, on, you know, decided to go out and have the confidence to go out there and go, you know, be your own boss type deal.

[00:01:25] Jay: Now, did you, do you remember, you know, what are, what is kind of the biggest thing you've taken from watching your parents do it and then doing it yourself, you know, lessons you've learned along the way from that?

[00:01:35] Timothy: Oh, yeah, well, my dad was,really one of the things he did really well, phenomenally well is,he put his head down and he worked his butt off. You know, and he just had a, he had a tremendous work ethic and, you know, all the way up to the very end. he was, you know, he was a hard worker.

You weren't going to outwork him. And that's really kind of, that's, I think that's really key. if you're going to be going out and doing something to have that kind of like being that stubborn and just relentless, not giving in, you know, so. So I think that was really key for, to pick up on that.

[00:02:03] Jay: yeah, but we'll, let's touch back on that. what is ATP healthcare? What do you guys do? and who do you serve today?

[00:02:09] Timothy: Yeah. So, we,we were in the healthcare arena, obviously, we work with,hospitals, patients, and families and finding, post acute care placement options for very challenging patients. We'll work with families individually. but no, our probably most of our work is actually with hospitals or,or state agencies will contact us.

And we work on mitigating the issues that's preventing the safe. The safe and effective transfer of a patient to the next level of care.it,

[00:02:35] Jay: What does post acute mean for us that are not in the

medical 

[00:02:38] Timothy: so, so acute is going to be your hospital stay. And, and that, that's a, and really the hospital is just basically they're just a triage and get you stabilized.

and then, and, Begin to point you into your new direction or new normal, and then you have post acute, which is all the care that happens outside, essentially outside the hospital. And, that, that can be kind of a hang up. Sometimes, pair issues, criminal background, social issues. you know, those are most common clinical complexity.

we also see that, see that quite a bit, be able to match services up. And, you know, it's pretty complex, so there's a lot of things in there that can,lead, lead to the outcome of the word. we're not wanting, you don't want to be in a hospital for too long is essentially nothing.

Nothing good happens in a hospital after 20 days. This 

[00:03:25] Jay: Okay. And where did ATP come from? Where'd you, how'd you guys start that?

[00:03:30] Timothy: well, that really kind of goes to that, that first customer. So, I, my background was in post acute care,I worked in, areas like such as hospice, home health, I worked for a skilled nursing provider and actually worked for an investment group that we purchased skilled nursing facilities, and so had, had experience in what you have to do to make sure there's a, you know, that these issues are sort of resolved and getting your patients into a building.

I left that, but I kept having hospitals call me saying, Hey, could you come and take a look at this patient? This patient's been here a while. Let us know what you think type deal can help us out. And then finally, you know, there was a case. Individual had a criminal background is pretty serious and, yeah, I've been in a hospital for quite a while.

And at the end of the day, it's, taxpayers. I end up and folks with commercial insurance end up paying for that. But,he ended up finding, we ended up finding a placement option for him after he'd been in the hospital for about a hundred days. And that actually turns into nothing. A hundred days is nothing.

We just worked with a client that had been in the hospital for almost two years.

[00:04:27] Jay: Wow.

[00:04:28] Timothy: You know, just like as we go through mitigating, you know, work through like, what are the issues as to get, we have to do to get that patient out. And, we got them into a safe discharge of, and, and all the situations so, that our discharge options aren't a bus stop or, you know, something like that.

It's like, you know, what's clinically appropriate for that patient. And so the, our first customer said, you know, you should charge for this. And, you know, and I was like, I think we'll, I think we'll work on a way to figure that out. And, you know, it took a little while, but we got a package together and hospitals started, started using us.

And, and that kind of led into our second company. because, you know, this is a very, very, Manual task, we said, well, there has to be a way in which you can develop a machine to go do this for you because it's, it's a lot of it's very repetitive. It's the same thing again and again, at least parts of it and, start working with this, group, potential analytics and, and we've, co founded a company that,has an AI platform that, transitions patients from the acute to post acute care setting.

And,it fills in all the little sections. All the little details in between to make sure that handoff is, nice. And, it takes place well, and that resulted in another first customer. So, and that's how we, you know, through one of the clients we had with ATP healthcare that resulted in, you know, that, that resulted in our next first customer as well.

So, and that, that's, that's been a relationship that we've been developing and we're expanding that relationship now, but very actively.

[00:05:54] Jay: So is it, is it that, a facility or something can't take or doesn't want to take people with a criminal background? Is that what you mean by,

[00:06:01] Timothy: It's not just criminal background. It could be any number of issues of criminal background. You do have to think of the safety of the staff, the patient, and the residents and visitors that come into that facility. there's certain things you have to be aware of, but there's also, you know, clinical complexity, you know, if, you know, who's the pair going to be and does that match?

so if you have insurance, you may say, well, our insurance has all these, Facilities and network or his providers and network, but the reality of it is they really aren't if it's not being at a if they're not being reimbursed at a rate that's that they can afford. And so, there's issues with that.

And so let's say, for example, you know, patient needs respiratory care. They can't breathe on their own anymore. Due to a car accident or whatever it may be, you know, they insurance may say, yeah, we have a contract with a facility and, in Omaha or whatever it may be. And, that the facility in Omaha says, yeah, we can't afford to pay for the care for that patient at 200 a day.

That's just not going to cut it. That's costing us 400 a day. Just for that patient, just for us to care for that patient. So they lose their ass, you know, and so you have to work on mitigating those types of issues. A lot of times it's just communication and just not keeping up with things. But that's what we, that's what we did,for years.

We still do. So yeah, it, you would think it would have like all this stuff figured out and that, but the turnover rate, and healthcare is so high. and plus, You know, if you have a,if a hospital is sending out referrals to a facility, that facility is receiving referrals from multiple hospitals, and they're receiving anywhere from 50 to 100 referrals a day.

Okay. And this person has to read and give back an answer. Usually one or two people in the building that have to read and get back an answer to that hospital. Usually within a few minutes, they're not going into massive amounts of detail on these patients. So you're basically looking through to says, okay, which one is the best payer?

you know, no criminal background. And then which one looks like it's going to be the easiest for one for us to take care of. And they really don't. and they try to say, okay, no expensive medications, right. and then that's kind of like their criteria for admission. And then they go back through and kind of fill in the rest of the can.

So, you know, it can be a bit of a challenge, for, for hospitals, patients and providers to get, to, to get the services needed. we see it all the time where. And I'm sorry, I know I'm drawn on by this answer, but we see all the, we see all the time though, where, you know, a facility is not taking a patient and there's plenty of opportunity for the facility.

If they just document correctly that they're going to be able to do well and deliver the services for that patient that's going to that's going to work for everybody involved. So, but it was just, there's just too much volume that they can't person can't deal with it.

[00:08:52] Jay: Interesting. if you had to kind of start over from, you know, square one, with all the stuff you learned so far, what would be step one, to start ATP over again?

[00:09:04] Timothy: Not doing this. No, I didn't. 

[00:09:09] Jay: The first time I've heard that answer, I think that's 

[00:09:11] Timothy: which I wake up in the morning saying, you know, I'm going to go find a placement option for a space. But I mean, it is, I'm really kind of. Pissed off that our service is actually kind of needed. It's really embarrassing. healthcare should work, much more smoothly than this, but it is what it is.

And this is the situation that we're in. and, you know, we try to do the very best that we can. So, going back in time, I would definitely say,be a little more patient with the, with the providers and the groups that you're working with. you know, and because they got stresses to, You know, and then, you know, we got started and then, you know, about a year later, cobit started and then everything really did change.

you know, and it was, you know, we were working with hospitals. I'm not just finding placement options for patients, but also, you know, nationwide search for ICU beds and, you know, and it really kind of, We had a focus and we still have a focus now, and mainly of educating individuals and folks on how healthcare works in America.

so that they're, they have, they can make more enlightened decisions on their own. And I think that's probably the direction we would have gone in.

[00:10:21] Jay: And do you guys do, any traditional marketing kind of sales stuff? Or are you, is it just such a referral based thing that you don't do that? how do you guys get new customers?

[00:10:31] Timothy: they,they, and with hospitals, it's typically they find our phone number on a bit on a bathroom wall somewhere,that's part of it. It's mainly word of mouth. And then, there's, we do have a website, but we don't actively promote it or anything like that. but we stay pretty busy.

we get a lot of, a lot of referrals, from post acute care providers, hospitals, post acute care providers, they get contacted by a hospital and they can't take this patient, but the hospital saying, well, don't you know, somebody that can, and then we get, we'll get a phone call often that way. and that, that helps.

and, you know, it's. We also work with hospitals and providers and saying, Hey, there's a real need for, bariatric beds, for example, in the South Carolina Greenville area. And so we work with a post acute care provider,and they developed a bariatric unit for a time and boy, we filled it up quick.

So bariatrics, people who are overweight and during COVID,it was very difficult to get surgeries and stuff and folks that were overweight, they weren't getting bariatric surgery, surgeries or stomach reduction surgeries. and so that was becoming a challenge. And so, we were having to place these individuals, you know, someplace safe, you know, in the meantime.

And so there was facilities. Bariatric unit facilities popping up here and there kind of help with the overflow work. And we're not talking like, you know, two, 300 pounds and stuff like we're talking like six, seven, 800 pound individuals.

[00:11:53] Jay: Wow.

[00:11:54] Timothy: You know, it was just, it was very, it was very stressful.

We're still gonna, we're gonna feel a lot of ripple effects from the, for years to come.

[00:12:02] Jay: Ihow big is your team?

[00:12:05] Timothy: so there's five on the ATP healthcare side. And then when we joined forces with potential analytics, we, we more than quadruple our size. We're like closer to 30 at that point.

[00:12:14] Jay: Okay.

And how is, what's the difference from a business perspective, running a business perspective between your first and your second, like what is the kind of, is it a completely different world now that you're working on a, it's a product, right? Your second

platform or your second business of product, right?

And

[00:12:30] Timothy: Yeah. So it's, you know, it's more, it's pipeline generation. Maintaining your pipeline and then, you know, cause we think we have a pretty good service to figure it out. And then, you know, at that point, is that conversion of pipeline? but you have to be able to be maintaining and developing a pipeline, continuously.

So you have to also be speaking with customers, constantly and anybody who you think there may be a customer. And, you know, we have a pretty broad reach, so you have to be a very good listener and just let people, you know, Just unload on you, right? There's talk about what their frustrations are and just be a good listener.

and, you know, can, you know, you may not be able to help them, but you know, at least you listened nine times out of 10, that's all they need. But some, there's a lot of those people though. you can grab ideas and grab solutions for them. But yeah, you gotta,it's pipeline.

So I work with LinkedIn a lot and I'll reach out to, you know, any connection I have and I just, and I asked them, you know, basic questions. I don't try to sell them. It's not some basic questions like, you know, Hey, why are you here? You're here to network. you know, you have questions about length of stay, you know, or is there somebody I can introduce you to?

You know, like type deal, not selling them anything. Right. And then, and then, you know, that, you know, cause you have to give a shit about people, you know, you have to understand like, what's going on with them. what are they, you know, what are they here for? And then, you know, work on helping them with that problem.

[00:13:55] Jay: a good, do you have good conversion from, LinkedIn?

[00:13:59] Timothy: Not bad. bad at all.

[00:14:02] Jay: So, I mean, that's a big, it's a very nebulous place.

[00:14:07] Timothy: Yeah. 

[00:14:07] Jay: LinkedIn. It's so big, it's so big. And it's, there's so many people there. How, how do you just wrangle it? how are you going after specific types of people? Are you connecting with specific types? Are they connecting with you? Like, how are you using LinkedIn to fill that pipeline?

[00:14:21] Timothy: So at LinkedIn, once you get over 500 connections, right, you're pretty much, you're going to be, people are gonna be connecting with you. Right. And it's usually like, you know, you know, you know,some name that's obviously not in the United States and they're like, yeah, we can solve your, you know, we can outsource your needs here.

You know, like, there's plenty of those guys. Right. but there's certain individuals that you want to like, you know, you just want to disconnect with. Right. That's going to build your network out quickly. and then from there you can kind of like delve in a little bit deeper. So like, you know, who's going to be like a good person?

Well, realtor is going to make that person right. realtor is a very good person to connect with. They're going to have a pretty broad network and it's going to be at different market levels. and you know, it can kind of like work, work from there, you know, figure it out.

So. Obviously with, you know, with our services, you know, we're interested in speaking with folks when, you know, in the hospitals, on the directors and, you know, executive side of hospitals, but we're also we're, but we're pretty open to speak with anybody. LinkedIn polls is always was always really a powerful tool.

They've changed the algorithm on that recently. So it's got to sharpen it up a little bit. But just random, just connecting with people and then just, you know, just keeping that message going with them, you know, that, that really helps. and you're really building, you're building a real connection with that individual, even though it's through a keyboard, much more than saying, Hey, let's go schedule a meeting as quickly as possible.

It's bullshit. Keep the momentum going. let's go chat for a

[00:15:47] Jay: How do you, mean, healthcare is a dry, you know, Scary industry. How do you keep yourself motivated just in general, from a day to day perspective? How are you really, you know, waking up every day and trying to attack things with the vigor that you have to as a CEO? All

[00:16:06] Timothy: I'm pissed that we have to do it.I, this is the longest I've gone today without cursing.I go to church, I go to church right across the street, pretty a couple of times a day. And I mean, just about, cause it's just like, I mean, you're just like. F and bleep, bleep,

[00:16:23] Jay: right.

[00:16:24] Timothy: and, you know, you have to kind of understand though, it is not, there's really not evil people in this, 99.

99 percent of the people wake up every single morning trying to do the best damn job that they can to go care for somebody who's had the worst day of their life. Right. I mean, and it doesn't matter if you're somebody who is an executive in a hospital or if you're a clinician or if you're in central services or if you're on the insurance side, there's Everybody's trying to do the best they can, but these machines are, have a lot of momentum and it's very difficult to get these machines to turn in the direction that's, you know, all pointing in the same direction.

It's tough, you know, and so, you know, you kind of got to realize that and, you know, they're going to make decisions that are, you know, and their training and their understanding beneficial for them and the patient. Right. and sometimes it may say, Hey, we're going to pass on this patient because it's not beneficial because we're how we're going to deliver the care, but that's, I mean, but that's part of it.

[00:17:25] Jay: all right. Last question. If you non business related, if you could do anything on earth and you knew you couldn't fail.

[00:17:34] Timothy: I'll get my file. Yeah. Yeah,

[00:17:37] Jay: to just to break it up a little bit,

[00:17:39] Timothy: that's fine. Yeah. I get that. I get 

[00:17:41] Jay: give you a little bit of a break from it for five seconds.

[00:17:44] Timothy: Oh, I was, you know, before we, before this company, I started,I was going to take flying lessons and,I wanted it. I was in post acute care. I was like, I want to go work for an airline or even a cargo company or something, commercial airlines or something like that. And I was kind of ready to go.

why sits down next to me? You know, we have a hospital that's saying, Hey, we'll pay you for this. And then, you know, and then my wife tells me that, you know, we're pregnant with our second child. And I'm like, maybe aviation isn't the best time. That's the timing. So I

[00:18:18] Jay: that. I'm a student pilot. So I love,

[00:18:21] Timothy: was so envious.

[00:18:22] Jay: I love it. Well,

I was so close to getting everything wrapped up and then we had our 5th child. And I knew if I didn't get it done before she was born that I was gonna have to hold off which I did For about a year, so i'm still in limbo.

But yes, I go do it man There's no reason why not to do it. You know, it's

[00:18:37] Timothy: I mean,it's a different story now. Now I'm gonna think like, yeah, like, you know, we're just a few years out, like, and then go get that pilot license. And I sort of, my co founder, he's a pilot and I was like, I don't even want, I don't even want to talk to you about like what you did over the weekend.

[00:18:49] Jay: Yeah, don't don't tell me where you flew and

all the fun stuff you did. 

[00:18:53] Timothy: to hear about the a hundred dollar hamburger.

[00:18:55] Jay: Right, right all the great, airline food,

or airport food all right. Well if you want to find you tim, or atp, how do they do that?

[00:19:02] Timothy: Yeah. right now it's atphealthcare. com. That's the easiest way. and, yeah, do not put patient information on our form. if you're a hospital, just. Just give us a call. We'll give you a secure fax line that you can use. Yeah, that's, yeah, just kind of, you know, let everybody know about that, but yeah, just, reach out to us, give us a call and,we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

[00:19:23] Jay: Beautiful Well, you feel I feel like you're a very genuine guy and you're out there doing good in a really shitty, place So, keep up the good work brother and we'll talk again soon. All right. Thanks tim.

[00:19:32] Timothy: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Have a wonderful day.

[00:19:34] Jay: You too, man. See ya 

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