The Future Is Now: Anthony Capone Of DocGo On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
The reality is that what is best for other people is also in your best interest. That’s the connection that most people don’t take the leap on. They just are focused on right now, “I can benefit by cheating, by lying, by stealing, by not caring about others — that’s what’s beneficial for me now.” But that lacks foresight and an understanding of the interdependence of the world. After even one interaction, you may very quickly become interdependent on the person you could have helped. It’s a very shortsighted approach. What is good is good for you.
As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anthony Capone.
Anthony Capone has served DocGo’s (Nasdaq: DCGO) executive team since 2017; previously as CTO and CPO, currently as president, and as of 1/1/23, DocGo’s CEO. His sterling record of entrepreneurial excellence includes leading three companies from start to successful exit. In addition to his roles at DocGo, Mr. Capone is a member of the Forbes Tech Council, writing on topics at the intersection of healthcare and AI.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Six or seven years ago, I’d just received a job offer from a multinational technology company and had only 24 hours to accept or reject the offer. At that time, there were two components I was searching for in the next part of my career. First was that I was able to help some portion of society in some way. And the second was that I would be intellectually stimulated the entire time. You’re lucky to have one of the two, but it’s very rare to have both.
I ran into Stan Vashovsky, DocGo’s CEO, and we struck up a conversation. He shared this idea he had to revolutionize the ambulance industry. I was fascinated. He told me if I was really interested in the company, I should fly to Los Angeles and see what was going on firsthand. So, only hours after meeting Stan, I was on a flight to LA.
When I got into that dispatch center, it was a wild scene. I sat down and I was like, “Yup, this is for me.” The benefits to society were obvious. The intellectual part — you’re solving a computer science problem, commonly referred to as the travelling salesman problem, which is one of the most elemental challenges you learn in computer science. It’s a resource allocation challenge. Every day, I’d get to solve one of the hardest problems in computer science to efficiently allocate resources.
I think I was in LA for less than 60 minutes before I called the other company and told them I didn’t want the offer. It was probably the best decision I’ve made in my entire life.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In the second year of the company, we switched nearly every single employee to a large bonus program. They were getting compensated not only for an hourly rate, but they were also receiving a very significant amount of compensation on a per-transport basis. Because of that, we had individuals that went from making minimum wage to making $60-$70+ thousand a year. And I remember one of them coming to speak with me.
He came in and said, “I’ve done it. I finally moved out of my parents’ house. I have my wife and my two kids, and we couldn’t afford our own place, so we had to live with my parents.” And he told me, “I didn’t feel like I could be a breadwinner, like I could support my family. Now I do. You gave me the ability to feel like I was valuable enough to warrant having a family.” He had tears in his eyes, tears of appreciation, it was a massively impactful event in my history here.
I’ve had that many times, and again, actually, just a week ago. I was riding the elevator and making conversation with a clinician, “Hey, how are you, what project are you working on, what are you up to?” And she goes, “Are you Anthony? Anthony Capone?” When I said yeah, and she asked if she could hug me.
She said, “I want to tell you thank you. This is the best job I’ve ever had in my entire life. I make more money than I ever have, plus I have a company that cares about me.” That was worth the world to me.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Remote patient monitoring (RPM), paired with DocGo On-Demand, truly reinvents the way that healthcare is thought about and delivered in America. We move from reactive situations being dealt with in expensive institutions to proactive situations within the comfort of the patient’s own home.
Everybody who is diabetic monitors their glucose, right? But having your glucose monitored and transmitted to a clinician who is looking at it in real-time can allow you to understand that maybe you have contraindications with some of your other medications and that those medications may need to be titrated relative to the trending analysis of your glucose levels. There’s a tremendous difference between monitoring your glucose and having a trained clinician look at it.
Today, we offer both ER readmission avoidance and RPM with a non-profit partner in Southern California. Because of our RPM and Treat On-Scene solutions, we reduced their year-over-year hospital readmissions rate by 20%.
How do you think this might change the world?
The largest portion of cost, and the area in which it is the most impactful to quality of life, is unnecessary hospitalizations. If we can only utilize hospitals when they’re needed and avoid them when they’re not, we can dramatically lower the cost of healthcare in the United States while also significantly improving health outcomes.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks of this technology that people should think more deeply about?
You cannot underestimate the importance of cyber security. Thankfully, I come from a computer science background and have a specialized view on the impact of technology and data. Information about the real-time vitals and real-time health of an individual has potential to be used for nefarious practices in the wrong hands.
Companies should be investing a considerable percentage of the income generated from these services into its cyber security practices. That’s why DocGo invests a significant sum into general cyber security practices and routine penetration testing. We also spent years obtaining our ISO 27001 certification to ensure that we’re held to the highest international security standards.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
DocGo is extraordinarily data-driven. After years of looking at our ambulance transportation data, it became obvious that a majority of the patients being transported could have been treated in their homes if there were better mechanisms to diagnose issues and provide on-site care. That motivated us to develop a solution that could safely and reliably keep people from escalating care due to acute decompensation.
RPM can help move people from a reactive health practice to a more proactive one. Part of the importance of integrating technology into the status quo of healthcare delivery is how significant these types of preventive measures can improve quality of life for patients.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We need to educate the providers who are responsible for managing the patient population so that they understand this technology and its efficacy. Ideally, all patients will be enrolled and onboarded to these solutions through a trusted provider’s recommendation.
RPM technology can only be successful if a patient is also engaged in their own health strategy. We need to educate patients about the efficacy of RPM and giving both patient and provider real-time access to the data received by these devices. Education is the only path to widespread adoption.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We partner with some of the largest sub-specialty organizations that manage polychronic patients. When someone can offer a solution that genuinely works for their patients, like the synergy we’ve found with our RPM and DocGo On-Demand mobile care, word spreads. Regarding innovative marketing, we’re focused on delivering a high quality, consistent care experience across all consumer touchpoints and producing positive results over and over and over again.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yes, Stan Vashovsky. I cannot overstate the importance of Stan in my life and the adventure I’ve been on with him in the last six or seven years. I’ve had the fortune of shadowing him, partnering with him and learning from him. I owe an enormous amount, all of my success, to Stan.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
The two most important things at DocGo are to provide is high-quality healthcare for the underserved and to ensure that our employees are compensated relative to their enormous contribution to society. Every day, I try to use my skills and knowledge to further those two goals.
What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“What is good is good for you.”
That’s something that took me a long time to believe. It took me about five years to get out of my Ayn Rand phase in life and move towards realizing that actually what she said is true, you should always be selfish.
The reality is that what is best for other people is also in your best interest. That’s the connection that most people don’t take the leap on. They just are focused on right now, “I can benefit by cheating, by lying, by stealing, by not caring about others — that’s what’s beneficial for me now.” But that lacks foresight and an understanding of the interdependence of the world. After even one interaction, you may very quickly become interdependent on the person you could have helped. It’s a very shortsighted approach. What is good is good for you.
Understanding not only that we are truly nothing but products of our own circumstance, but that we have free will to control that circumstance, is a critical part of building habits that are beneficial to your life.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I am active on LinkedIn and always happy to connect with new people.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Future Is Now: Anthony Capone Of DocGo On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
