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How are we free?

$0 to the patient. $0 to the doctor. The math, in public.

We don't charge for clinical visits, software, identity, the data vault, or the AI scribe. Not because we're philanthropy — because we monetize the parts of healthcare that were already monetized, just by people who weren't you. Researchers pay for de-identified, consented data. The chain settles every transaction in the network. The exchange takes a fee on trades that already happen. We get paid by the system. You don't.

See the math → Read the founder letter

The unit economics

We don't tax the bedside. We tax the system.

A patient encounter has four economic shadows: the data it produces, the prescriptions it triggers, the care it routes, and the trust it accrues. We monetize the shadows, not the encounter. That's the whole trick.

01 · Researchers

Marketplace fee

12%
on consented data sale

Pharma, academic, and public-health researchers pay HCC for cohort access. We take a 12% platform fee. Patients keep 88%. Nobody gets data without a signed, revocable consent on file.

02 · Exchange

Trading + custody

0.1–0.3%
per executed trade

hc.exchange charges a tier-laddered fee on HCR/HCC/USD-backed pairs — Treasury custody, KYC, FinCEN-registered MSB. Most patients never trade and pay nothing.

03 · Chain

Settlement margin

~0.4¢
avg settled transaction

chain.conceptualhealth settles every claim, refund, prescription, and disbursement in the network. We earn a thin margin between submitted-claim and adjudicated-claim — money that today goes to clearinghouses you've never heard of.

04 · Network

Mining + ops

12% gross
of clinic mining yield

Network Clinics that opt into mining earn HCC by attesting axis lifts and validating clinical events. We retain 12% of gross mining yield as operating margin. Clinics keep the other 88%.

Steady-state target

A picture of the whole company.

We're founder-funded and founder-held; this is the steady-state shape we're building toward — not a current report. Revenue is left, costs are right.

Revenue mix

Researcher fees44%
Exchange fees28%
Chain settlement18%
Mining / ops margin7%
Enterprise3%

Cost mix

Compute + AI inference32%
Engineering payroll28%
Clinical staff (free care)16%
Compliance + legal12%
Custody, audits, licenses6%
Reserves (HCR/HCC backing)5%
Target net operating margin ≈ 14%

Things we will, things we won't

The covenant, in two columns.

  • Clinical care will always cost the patient $0 at point-of-service. Any insurance reimbursement we receive flows to clinic operations — not to patient bills.
  • Patient software is always free. Guardian Orb™, the chart, the wallet, the AI concierge — no tier, no upsell, no premium account.
  • Data is the patient's. Always. We don't own the chart; we host it. Export-on-request returns full USCDI + raw FHIR.
  • Researchers can't see your data without your signed, per-study, revocable consent. You earn HCC; we take a 12% platform fee; nothing happens silently.
  • Doctors aren't billed by us. Network Clinics keep 100% of insurance reimbursement plus 88% of mining yield.
  • Token economics are public, audited, and reserve-backed. No off-balance-sheet deals, no related-party trades.

Things we won't do — ever.

  • Sell ads against your data. We don't run ad networks; we don't broker behavioral profiles; we don't pixel third parties.
  • Resell your data to insurers, employers, brokers, or data vendors. The marketplace requires IRB-approved, consented research uses only.
  • Charge a "premium" patient tier. There isn't a Pro plan. There never will be.
  • Take equity-style upside in clinics. Network Clinics keep their independence; we are not a private-equity rollup.
  • Touch patient escrow or reserve funds for company operations. Reserves are custodied separately under fiduciary trust.

How we compare

The other "free" isn't free.

Most "free" healthcare products monetize you somewhere — ads, data resale, surprise bills, in-network upsells, or shareholder pressure that becomes formulary pressure. Here's the table.

Dimension
Big-tech health
Insurer portal
Conceptual Health
Patient cost at point of service
$0 + co-pays + ads
$0 + co-pays + denials
$0. Period.
Who owns the data
The platform (TOS-bound)
The payer (HIPAA-shared)
The patient (cryptographically)
Ads / behavioral targeting
Yes (often integrated)
Sometimes (member portal)
Never. Not now, not later.
Data sold to researchers
Aggregated, no patient cut
Aggregated, no patient cut
Per-consent, 88% to patient
Doctor pays for the EHR
~$400–$1,200 / provider / mo
—
$0 in Network Clinics
Surprise bills
Out of scope
Routine
Architecturally impossible
Frameworks we operate under — current state on the compliance posture
SOC 2
Type II · annual
HITRUST
CSF · r2
HIPAA
Covered + BAA
FinCEN
MSB · MTL
FIPS 140-3
Validated crypto
WCAG 2.2
AA · annual audit

Each framework above has a per-control state of Architected, Active, or Audited on the compliance posture. We won't claim a credential here that the posture doesn't show as Active.

If the math is good, the rest is just discipline.

Create an account, watch the model run against your own contributions, decide for yourself whether the numbers add up.

Create your account → Read the manifesto The founders' letter