MDARX, a for-profit venture, grew out of the desire of Palazzotto and his partner, John Commandari, to find a cheaper way to provide medical evaluations. Through MMAPR, the two had discovered that the overhead costs of doctors' offices were so high that no doctor they approached could afford to give away more than four free patient evaluations a month. So just as some modern-day physicians are cutting corners by returning to old-fashioned house calls, Palazzotto and Commandari realized they could fashion a new financial structure by getting rid of the doctor's office entirely. "If we do it mobile, we have a lower cost of ownership," says Palazzotto. "I can offer a lower price, because it has a lower operating cost."
That means regular patients can get doctor's evaluations at the Airstream for $99 if they have paperwork and $125 if they don't have records, while those who qualify as indigent through the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) or MMAPR's own evaluation program get 20 to 50 percent off the former price. On top of that, MDARX is committed to providing one free indigent-patient evaluation a day.
While Palazzotto isn't familiar with Denver's current food-truck explosion, MDARX will be using many of the same techniques, like Twitter, Facebook, RSS and text updates, to spread the word about its services and report on its current location. And like the snazzy food trucks lately gracing Civic Center, MDARX will be turning heads with its retrofitted, metallic Airstream.
"I am very attached to Americana," says Palazzotto. "Whether it be a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or an Airstream, fifty years ago, things were made a lot better."
