WISE (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) is a women’s business center dedicated to empowering CNY’s women entrepreneurs in all stages of business, funded in part by the US Small Business Administration and hosted by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.
Tina Chee is the Owner and Founder of Updesign Primary Care, LLC, a direct primary care medical practice in Central New York. The practice offers affordable and comprehensive healthcare services to patients of all ages with tiered pricing based on age, and a flat monthly subscription fee to access unlimited appointments and communicate directly with your physician. Since opening in July 2022, Updesign has attracted patients from all income levels seeking personalized and cost-effective healthcare. Tina’s passion for being a physician stems from her interest in physiology and biology. Her desire to help people live their healthiest lives possible led her to primary care, where she can guide her patients on their journeys to make health improvements over time. Tina received her medical degree from NYU and has an MPA in Health Policy & Management. Her experience in the healthcare system during her medical school years illuminated the challenges people face in accessing affordable healthcare, which led her to explore the direct primary care model.
As the child of immigrants, Tina is acutely aware of how this lack of appropriate access to care impacts the most vulnerable populations of people. Operating a direct primary care model allows Tina the freedom to treat patients in a way that makes good sense to her, instead of having to adhere to the paperwork and headaches that insurance can bring to both patients and providers. While Tina has always been passionate about helping people, she has faced several challenges as a business owner. Starting a business requires a different skill set than practicing medicine. She notes that you have to think about all of the processes that were already built by the organizations that employed you before. Realizing that it’s on you now can be daunting.
Tina has found support in resources like WISE Women’s Business Center and WBOC. Having a WISE business coach has been particularly helpful for her, providing different perspectives on business validation and giving her a sounding board for her ideas. The challenge is her favorite part of business ownership so far, and she enjoys learning new business skills. One of her favorite business tasks is getting creative and putting together social media posts for Updesign. Before operating her own business, Tina held a variety of roles in the medical field, as a physician in a hospital, as an educator for residents and medical students, and as the medical director of a community health center. Dr. Tina Chee is constantly moving in her pursuit of solutions to help her patience and community improve their well-being. She is always looking for ways to help her patients and community improve their well-being. Future goals include planning a group walk and holding educational webinars to help patients build accountability and make tangible changes together. Additionally, she wants to hold educational webinars that are open to anyone and will provide an opportunity for broader education to the community. Tina believes this model of direct primary care is the future, and expects to continue expanding her practice.