Next|Health is a health optimization and longevity company that currently has five locations—three in Los Angeles, one in New York, and one at the Four Seasons Maui. The company’s mission is to take health to the next level with the core belief that health is not the absence of disease but the abundance of vitality. As such, its mission is to empower people to achieve optimal vitality and longevity through a personalized, data-driven approach to health optimization. Each location offers a variety of cutting-edge therapies, including biomarker testing, IV therapy, vitamin shots, cryotherapy, infrared treatments, a hyperbaric chamber, ozone therapy, NAD+ services, peptide therapy, hormone optimization, aesthetic services, and more.
Led by co-founders Kevin Peake, an entrepreneur with an extensive operations background and proven track record in successfully scaling brands, and Darshan Shah, M.D., a renowned surgeon, published author, tech entrepreneur, and health and wellness specialist, the state-of-the-art high-design clinics are staffed by medical and wellness professionals that guide patients along their path to health and wellness optimization.
Here, Peake talks about the origins of the brand, its focus, and its exciting future.
When did Next|Health get its start?
Our first location opened in West Hollywood about five years ago. It was a small space we used as our test concept. We felt the time was right for this idea. We self-funded the whole thing, and it was our experiment to see if people would be receptive to it. Thankfully, it was very well received. We had a lot of organic press, PR, celebrities, influencers, and more. We got some great momentum behind the brand, we raised some money, we started scaling, and about two years ago, we maxed out capacity on that first small location, so we opened our new flagship on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood in January of 2020. Now we have five locations.
Where did you come up with the idea?
My business partner, Dr. Shaw, started an accelerated medical program at the age of 15 and graduated from med school at 21 as one of the youngest physicians in California. He’s been a surgeon for almost 30 years now and has done over 10,000 surgeries and scaled his own business to have surgery centers throughout California. But he was very disenfranchised with what he was doing as physician and with the healthcare system. Most of us would agree our healthcare system is a is a broken, antiquated model. Its focus is disease management. It’s not actually doing anything to keep people healthy. And I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire life and have built and scaled a handful of businesses. He and I have been best friends for 15 years and have dabbled in a couple of businesses, so we got together and started talking about this idea of really flipping the model upside down. This takes the current healthcare model and flips it on its head.
What is the difference between what you are doing at Next|Health and a more traditional healthcare model?
We are reimagining the entire experience. Our whole goal is to fast-track the advancements in science, medicine, technology, and diagnostic capabilities in a way that people actually have access to them. We’ve learned more in the last five years than we’ve known in all of human history about the human body. Yet traditional healthcare is doing pretty much the same thing it was doing 20 years ago—it evolves at a snail’s pace. We’re living longer because we’re learning to manage chronic disease better. But we’re not living healthier. We believe health is not the absence of disease. Health is the abundance of vitality, and that’s really the fundamental difference between Next|Health and healthcare.
With traditional healthcare, you go to the doctor once a year. They can run a battery of tests, and if you have no checkmarks and you don’t have any chronic diseases, you’re healthy. And if you do, you go into the system, and they manage that disease. But what if you don’t feel healthy? What if your energy isn’t what it used to be? What if your body isn’t what you want it to be? What if you’re not confident? What if you have migraines? Yet, you don’t have chronic disease, so they don’t do anything for you. Here, we do extensive diagnostic biomarker testing and diagnostic testing, and we look at that data based on optimal levels, not based on your age or whether or not you have chronic disease. We’re going to work with you based on when and at what point in your life your levels were optimal, where you felt you were at your peak performance. We want to measure your levels based on that optimal state and help you get back there, so we’re measuring your health based on your vitality and how good you feel. We don’t treat or diagnose any disease. Everything we do is preventive and proactive. We have primary care specialty partners we work with, so when someone does have a chronic condition, we’ll refer them there, and they can come to us for all their health-optimization treatments. That is the vision behind Next|Health. We felt this needed to happen, and that our healthcare model needs to be disrupted. We want to revolutionize the way people interact with their health and redefine what it means to be healthy.
What sort of services do you offer?
Typically, how the process works is that you come into Next|Health, and we draw your blood. We measure thousands of biomarkers—genetics, food sensitivities, micronutrients, hormones, telomere, thyroid, gut health—you name it, and we test it so we can see exactly what’s going on. The results come in, and you’ll meet with our nurse practitioner who’s going to interpret all the results. You will also talk about your health goals and your health concerns, and we will use all that information to create a custom wellness program for you so that you can take your health to the next level.
At that point, the journey just is just beginning with us. After that consultation, you have access to stem cells, exosomes, ozone therapy, hormone replacement therapy, IV therapy, NAD infusions, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, infrared, and cryotherapy. We have our full beauty division, where we do advanced non-invasive aesthetic services like lasers, fillers, Botox, PRP—all the beautification treatments that can help you look as good as you feel. So, it’s a very comprehensive suite of services that we offer all under one roof in a high-design, premium, accessible environment. Previously, if you wanted to get stem cells, it was a whole process. Some people were flying to Panama, spending a week and $30,000. You can come here, and in an hour, spend about $10,000, and be on your way. It’s revolutionary to deliver these services in a very convenient fashion, yet in a fully fledged medical environment, so you know everything is safe. There’s efficacy to everything that we’re doing, so a big part of the treatment is the trust in the entire process.
How do you select the most state-of-the art therapies and equipment?
We have a team of medical advisory board members, and we vet everything on the market and constantly make decisions on what to bring in. We’re very intentional in what we do. We want to fast track things, but we only want to bring them in once they’re tried, true, and tested. We look at published studies, so we know for a fact we’re not bringing fads or trends that aren’t going to have a benefit. We’re bringing options that are going to make a positive impact on our clients’ lives.
How does your membership model and payment model work?
All our services are available through membership or a la carte. Our memberships are a great value, and we have three membership models. Our Optimize Membership ($199) includes a baseline test, an annual in-body scan, and 10 optimums, which are tokens that you can use interchangeably for all the technology items, so that gives you access to hyperbaric oxygen chambers, sauna, LED, and cryotherapy. The Premier Membership ($299) includes the same plus two IV drips and two vitamin shots monthly. That’s the most popular membership because you get about $1,300 worth of services. Finally, we have the Hormone Membership ($299 per month plus $700 enrollment). It includes 10 optimums plus bioidentical pellets that we insert every three to four months or testosterone injections. Then, with all these memberships, you get discounts on additional services. Everything is also available a la carte. We have a lot of customers who travel to see us once a month or once a quarter, and they will do the full gamut over one day. They prefer that because there’s no Next|Health in their area.
What are the most popular treatments?
IV therapy is really the cornerstone of Next|Health and where we have the highest volume. That’s what customers are coming in very consistently for. We also have a high volume for services like cryotherapy, infrared, and hyperbaric. Our beauty division is also busy, as are the advanced wellness services, so it’s pretty evenly split between those segments of the business.
How would you describe your audience and your clientele?
Our client base is evenly split between men and women, with age ranges between 30 and 60. It’s individuals who want to improve the way they look and feel, and they’re willing to make the investment into their health preventatively and proactively before there’s a problem, so it’s pretty broad. We appeal to the masses. Anyone who wants to feel better and look better and is willing to put in the investment of time of coming in a couple of times a month to make those preventative improvements is really the Next|Health customer. It’s interesting, if COVID-19 did anything good, it fast-tracked the mindset around how important it is to take charge of your health and to work on your immunity and the overall status of your wellbeing.
I really see Next|Health like the gym but for your internal health. Everyone knows you can’t go to the gym once a year and be fit. You’ve got to the gym consistently a couple of times a week. Why do people think that they can address their health on an annual basis just by running some checks and that they’re going to be healthy long term? We want people to live a long, healthy life. You have to address your health consistently, and if you do, this is the best investment you can make, because you’re gaining extra quality years to your life in the long term. And you’ll feel a lot better in the interim. The best testimonials we have from our clients are about how life changing it is when they start engaging with their health on a deeper level. It pays off tenfold.
How about partnerships? Aside from the Four Seasons in Maui, do you see yourself partnering with any other wellness brands?
We have a lot of partnerships with other premium like-minded brands out there, and we are open to it in the future. We’re very mindful of who we partner and attach our branding. For example, we have a partnership with Soho House and perform IV services on-site for their members. We also have a home division and can send our medical staff to homes, businesses, or events, where we can perform IVs and even do an informational session about wellness.
Are you getting to a point where you’ll be able to work with insurance companies?
Not yet, unfortunately. That’s one of the markers of success, long term, that we’re working towards. I find it so backwards that insurance doesn’t kick in until you have an actual problem. They don’t do anything to keep you from getting those problems. We’re committed to making and seeing that change. I think it’s going to take a couple of years, but as we continue to scale up and make this concept of health optimization and longevity more commonplace and the demand continues to grow, insurance providers will have no option but to start getting involved. We’re already seeing little glimmers of hope, and I know for a fact it’ll change.
Growth-wise, where do you see Next|Health going?
We have a road map to open 50 locations over the next four years. California is our primary market, so we plan to have locations from the Bay Area in San Francisco all the way down to San Diego and have earmarked about 15 locations there. In New York, we’ve identified six to eight locations that will be primarily in New York City. We will also have a few in the suburbs, as well. Other areas we have identified are South Florida, Texas, Chicago, Colorado, Seattle—all the major metropolitan markets.
