Mike Kohl — functional medicine marketing expert and founder of Health Biz

Software engineer turned healthcare marketer

Mike Kohl

I spent 20 years building software. Then I combined that with 15 years in functional medicine — as a patient, as a parent, and now as the person who helps these practices get found and grow.

Founder of Health Biz Scale. Creator of The SMART Practice System. Functional medicine advocate. Dad of three. Based in Denver, CO.

Get the Free Growth PlaybookWork With Me →

My story

Mike Kohl — 20 years in enterprise software before founding Health Biz

$0 → $500M

Last app built · 4 years

I spent 20 years as a software engineer and consultant. The last application I built — starting as a solo developer, then hiring and growing the team around it — went from $0 to $500 million in revenue within four years.

Then the promotion I'd been promised fell through. Politics. It was the kind of moment that either breaks you or redirects you.

I'd been dealing with my own health issues for 15 years. Issues that conventional medicine kept shrugging off. It was functional and naturopathic medicine that finally gave me answers — not just symptoms managed, but root causes addressed.

So when I decided to put my skills somewhere that mattered, the answer was clear. These practitioners — the ones who had actually helped me — were struggling to be found. They had the clinical results. They didn't have the systems.

That gap, between great care and the patients who need it, is exactly what I built Health Biz to close.

Why I believe in this medicine

It's not just professional. It's personal.

All three of my kids have had their lives changed by functional and naturopathic medicine. That's not something I say lightly.

My oldest son was born with a severe spit-up problem that had conventional doctors stumped. A chiropractor adjusted him at one month old. It resolved. That was the moment something shifted in how I thought about medicine entirely.

My daughter had a high fever and wouldn't stop crying at age three. A conventional doctor diagnosed her with swine flu and prescribed Tamiflu. She was teething. The system missed it completely.

My youngest had serious stomach issues from early on. The conventional path would have meant a lifetime of medication for ulcerative colitis. An incredible naturopathic doctor looked at it differently — removed the triggers, addressed the autoimmune root cause — and solved what drugs would have only managed. That's the difference.

I've had my own health journey through functional medicine too — issues that conventional care couldn't get to the bottom of for years, resolved once I found the right practitioners. But honestly, watching my kids thrive because of this medicine is what made it non-negotiable for me.

These practitioners do extraordinary work. The least I can do is make sure the people who need them can actually find them.

The framework

The SMART Practice System

Five modular phases that take a functional medicine practice from founding offer to lifetime patient loyalty. Sold as packages, not hourly services.

Phase 1

SETUP

Perfect Offer

Phase 2

SCALE

Authority

Phase 3

FLOW

Automation

Phase 4

CLOSE

Pre-Sell

Phase 5

GROW

Retention

See how the full system works →

How I put it together

20 years of engineering. A decade inside functional medicine as a patient and advocate. A genuine obsession with marketing that actually converts. Three disciplines — one niche.

⚡

Search + AI Visibility

Rank on Google. Show up in AI answers. When a patient asks ChatGPT or Perplexity who to see for mold toxicity or hormone imbalance in their city, your name should come up. The SCALE framework builds presence across all of it — site infrastructure, content engine, authority signals, rankings, and results you can actually measure.

🎯

The Patient Acquisition Funnel

Three patients are searching right now: one ready to book, one still researching symptoms, one who just discovered functional medicine exists. Most practices only capture the first. I build systems that meet all three where they are, follow up with anyone who didn't convert the first time, and block wasted spend before it happens.

🤖

AI for Healthcare

Documentation that writes itself. Specialty labs interpreted before you open the chart. Patient follow-through that catches drift before it becomes dropout. Built for functional and naturopathic medicine specifically — DUTCH panels, GI-MAP, organic acids, botanical protocols. HIPAA-compliant, runs locally. Not a general AI tool retrofitted for healthcare. A system built for your world.

Mike Kohl with functional medicine and naturopathic clients

Real wins

The problems that shaped how I work

Starting from zero in month one

One of my first clients had just separated from her business partner — no marketing systems, no online presence, nothing. Within the first month I had her showing up on Google Maps and her phone was ringing.

Outranking a competitor's tool in 3 months

A client kept referring her patients to a competitor's mold toxicity calculator — sending her own leads elsewhere. I used my programming background to build her a better one. Within three to four months, her calculator outranked the original that had held the top spot for years. She removed every reference to the competitor. Her doctor colleagues were so impressed they hired me to do the same for them.

Building niche software for clients is my edge against AI commoditization. A custom app that ranks and converts is something no generic marketing tool can replicate.

1mo

First Google Maps result

3–4mo

Outranked competitor

10x

Patient call increase

How I help

Health Biz Scale

Growth System

healthbizscale.com

Patient acquisition systems built for functional medicine — not adapted for it. SEO + AI visibility + Google Ads. +10 new patients monthly or you don't pay.

Health Biz Playbook

Practice Scan

healthbizplaybook.com

Free AI-powered practice growth analysis. 60-second scan that identifies revenue leaks and builds a specialty-specific growth roadmap.

Common questions

Who is Mike Kohl?

Mike Kohl is a software engineer with 20 years of experience who built his last application from $0 to $500 million in four years. After being passed over for a promised promotion due to internal politics, he combined his engineering background with 15 years as a functional medicine patient to build Health Biz Scale — a patient acquisition system built exclusively for functional medicine, naturopathic, and integrative health practices.

Why does Mike Kohl only work with functional medicine practices?

Mike has been in the functional medicine space personally for 15 years. His own health issues were resolved through functional medicine after conventional medicine failed him. All three of his kids have had their lives changed by functional, naturopathic, and integrative medicine — from a chiropractic adjustment at one month old, to resolving ulcerative colitis without a lifetime of drugs, to catching a misdiagnosis that conventional medicine missed entirely. The medicine is personal — which is why the marketing is niche.

What is Authority Hacking SEO?

Authority Hacking SEO is a proprietary patient acquisition methodology created by Mike Kohl. It's built specifically for the way functional medicine patients research and choose practitioners — building local search dominance, credibility signals that search engines reward, and AI-powered patient intake infrastructure. Not generic healthcare SEO. Built for a niche where patient trust is everything.

What makes Health Biz different from other healthcare marketing agencies?

Three things: niche depth (functional medicine only, not dentists and everyone else), software expertise (custom apps and tools that rank and convert), and a performance guarantee (+10 new patients monthly or clients don't pay). Mike's $0 to $500M software background means he can build things competitors' agencies can't.

How can I connect with Mike Kohl?

Start with the free Health Biz Playbook at healthbizplaybook.com — a 60-second AI-powered scan of your practice that identifies growth gaps. Or connect directly on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/mike-kohl or on X at x.com/mikekohl.

If you're a functional medicine practitioner who's tired of being invisible online

Start with the free playbook. 60 seconds, no credit card. You'll get a specific growth roadmap for your practice and specialty.

Get the Free PlaybookOr learn about the full system →