Writing
How I think about
finding the lever.
Essays on AI leverage, business systems, and the places where a small, correct input moves the whole load. Functional medicine is the domain I've gone deepest in. For deep tactical how-to content, check out healthbiz.io.
AI Will Not Save Your Practice
An AI vendor's warning: most practices automate their busywork and call it transformation. The real work is choosing the right leverage point first.
The Auction You Don't Know You're In
Every patient in your city gets sold to whoever can bid the most to reach them. AI just raised your competitor's max bid. Here's how to compute yours.
Your Practice Is Worth Nothing
Ask any broker: a clinic that cannot run without its owner sells for almost nothing. Here is the audit and build order to fix that before you exit.
When Intelligence Is Free, What Are You Charging For?
Free AI gives patients competent health info at 2am. Here's how functional medicine practices reprice from minutes to outcomes before that kills them.
Your Schedule Is an Airline Flying Empty Seats
An empty appointment slot expires at zero value, just like an empty airline seat at takeoff. Here's the yield management system your practice is missing.
Your Next Referral Will Come From a Machine
Language models now decide who gets referred for mold toxicity, thyroid, and gut cases. Run the algorithmic-referral audit and fix what the machine reads.
As Information Goes to Zero, Judgment Goes to Infinity
AI made health information free. That's not the threat to your practice, it's the biggest pricing opportunity you've had in twenty years.
Stop Writing Blog Posts. Ship Instruments.
Content is table stakes now that AI writes it for free. What still proves you're the expert is an instrument the patient can operate. Here's how to build one.
You Are Not in the Medicine Business
A functional medicine practice sells belief before it sells treatment. Here is the four-belief pipeline that flips patients before they ever book.
Your Effective Hourly Rate Is $19
Most owner-doctors think they earn their consult rate. They don't. Here's the exact math to find your real blended rate and fix it.
Your Protocol Is Software Waiting to Be Compiled
A software engineer turned functional medicine founder explains why your clinical protocol is a hidden asset, and gives you the exact inventory to encode it.
The Hospital Has a Marketing Department. You Have Something Better.
Why AI just handed the solo practice its first real advantage over hospital systems, and the exact fights worth picking.
"If I Give It All Away, Why Would Anyone Pay Me?"
The objection to giving your knowledge away for free, steelmanned then dismantled. Why the free playbook is what proves you can do the work.
Will AI Make My Practice Feel Impersonal?
A functional medicine doctor's honest fear about AI, and a clear rule for what to automate versus what to keep human so care gets more personal, not less.
"My Patients Don't Use AI" (Yes They Do)
An honest look at the "my patients are older, they don't use AI" objection: who is actually searching for care, and how to check your own numbers.
"I Tried Marketing Before and It Didn't Work"
You tried SEO or an agency before and got burned. Here's how to run the post-mortem on exactly why it failed, before you write off the whole category.
"I Don't Have Time to Learn AI": The Honest Objection
The busiest doctors have the least time to fix their systems. Here's the one-hour rule that lets you start without becoming a tech person.
"AI Is Illegal Under HIPAA" Is Not True
HIPAA doesn't ban AI in your practice. It bans careless use with patient data. Here's the decision framework that separates safe from risky.
What AI Search Visibility Means for Your Functional Medicine Practice
Patients are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI who to see. If your practice isn't structured for AI retrieval, you're invisible in the fastest-growing search channel.
What Your Missed Calls Are Actually Costing You ($96K+ Per Year)
A worked model of what missed calls cost a functional medicine practice. The assumptions are stated so you can swap in your own numbers. Even the conservative version clears $96K a year.
The 3 Patients Searching for You Right Now (and Why You're Only Capturing 1)
Three types of patients are searching for functional medicine right now: the ready buyer, the researcher, and the explorer. Most practices only capture the first. Here's how to get all three.
Why Generic SEO Agencies Fail Functional Medicine Practices
Most functional medicine practitioners have been burned by an SEO agency. Here are the 5 specific reasons generic agencies fail healthcare, and what actually works.
How I Went From $0 to $500M as a Software Engineer (and Why I Left)
Mike Kohl's origin story: 20 years of enterprise software, a $500M application, a broken promotion, and the pivot into functional medicine marketing.
Why I Only Work With Functional Medicine Practices
Mike Kohl explains why Health Biz Scale works exclusively with functional medicine, naturopathic, and integrative health practices, and why niche focus produces better results than generalist agencies.
The Stack I Use to Grow Every Practice I Work With
The actual tools, frameworks, and technologies Mike Kohl uses to build patient acquisition systems for functional medicine practices. Full transparency on the stack.
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