At the AAPA 2025 National Conference, CM&F Group hosted a powerful hands-on panel featuring a dynamic group of entrepreneurial PAs who are building businesses that challenge the status quo in healthcare. From launching tech-enabled startups to creating supportive communities and nutrition-driven platforms, these leaders shared honest insights into why—and how—they took the leap into business ownership.
Whether you’re a PA curious about starting a side hustle, launching a practice, or building a scalable business, here are some of the most impactful takeaways from the session, along with practical steps and advice you can apply today.
Meet the Panelists
Kevin Riddleberger, MBA, PA-C
Co-founder of DispatchHealth
A visionary in mobile urgent care, Kevin helped launch DispatchHealth to bring healthcare directly into patients’ homes—transforming how we think about convenience, access, and affordability in medicine. His entrepreneurial journey shows how clinical experience and a disruptive mindset can reshape healthcare delivery at scale.
Raquelle Akavan, DMSc, PA-C
President and Founder, PA Moms
Raquelle leads one of the most vibrant online communities for PAs balancing career and family. With a background in healthcare leadership and education, she’s a fierce advocate for PA visibility, work-life integration, and entrepreneurship, especially for women in medicine.
Caroline Hodge, MS, PA-C, MBA
CEO and Co-Founder, Dimer Health
Caroline blends clinical insight with business acumen to tackle one of healthcare’s biggest challenges: access to care. At Dimer Health, she’s leveraging telehealth and smart logistics to expand specialty access and optimize care delivery. Her path shows the power of innovation and systems thinking in PA-led ventures.
Kari Cao, PA-C, MHS, NFC
CEO and Founder, RenewRx
Kari Cao is a certified PA with a focus on nutrition, and is also a trained chef who is redefining prenatal wellness through innovation. As the founder of RenewRx, she created a first-of-its-kind digital platform that helps expecting mothers optimize their health between doctor’s visits—with tools like continuous glucose monitoring, AI-driven nutrition tracking, and real-time lifestyle coaching. Her unique blend of clinical expertise, culinary insight, and digital health innovation showcases how PAs can lead the charge in building holistic, tech-enabled wellness solutions.
Why PAs Are Becoming Entrepreneurs
Each panelist had their own unique origin story—but all were driven by the desire to solve persistent problems in healthcare. From burnout to broken workflows to underserved patient populations, these founders saw opportunities where others saw roadblocks.
Key motivators:
- Solving real-world gaps: From maternal support (PA Moms) to post-discharge care (Dimer Health), every idea started with “Why isn’t this better?”
- Autonomy and purpose: Each of the panelists spoke about wanting more control over their careers, schedules, and impact.
- Personal experience: Health challenges, family needs, and burnout led most of the speakers to reimagine how they could serve patients—and themselves—more effectively.
The Hardest Parts: Challenges of Starting a Business
Starting a business is not without risk. Panelists were candid about their biggest obstacles:
- Self-doubt and waiting for permission: Many struggled with impostor syndrome—feeling like they needed permission to “be” entrepreneurs.
- Navigating the unknown: From funding to finding collaborators to state-by-state legal hurdles, the logistics of launching can be overwhelming.
- Work-life balance: The leap from secure clinical roles to entrepreneurship can feel like free-fall—but a passionate mission makes the risk worthwhile.
Advice for Aspiring PA Founders
- Get focused: Start with your MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Don’t try to “boil the ocean,” as stated by Kari Kao, CEO of RenewRX. Solve one problem well first.
- What’s an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)?
A Minimum Viable Product is a streamlined version of your service or offering that allows you to test your idea with real clients, gather feedback, and iterate without investing too much upfront. For a PA, this might be starting with telehealth consults before opening a full brick-and-mortar clinic. It’s how you validate demand with minimal risk.
- Know your customer: Whether your user is a patient or provider, always understand who’s buying and why.
- Think lean: Start virtually if you can. Use tools like safe notes, bootstrapping, and friend/family rounds to get off the ground before approaching other funding sources like venture capital.
- Build partnerships: From supervising physicians (through platforms like Single Aim) to health tech collaborators, you don’t have to do it alone.
- Keep learning: Read books, follow other founders, and study your market. Your clinical knowledge gives you a head start—but business skills must be learned, too.
Where the Opportunity Is for PAs (2025 and Beyond)
All panelists agreed: This is the best time in history for PAs to launch businesses. Healthcare systems are hungry for innovation, and PAs are perfectly positioned to lead it.
Top areas for PA innovation:
- Tech-enabled care delivery (telehealth, remote monitoring)
- Nutrition and wellness coaching
- Community care and chronic condition management
- Perinatal and maternal support
- Education and content creation
- Virtual and mobile IV therapy
- Private practice in full-practice authority states
How to Get Started as a PA Entrepreneur
Want to take the first step? Here’s a simple checklist based on panel insights:
- Choose your business model – Start solo, then scale
You don’t need a full clinic or team to begin. Start as a sole proprietor or LLC offering telehealth, house calls, or consulting services. Once you gain traction, consider adding staff, specialties, or services. - Set up a HIPAA-compliant tech stack
Protecting patient privacy is both a legal and ethical obligation. Use platforms designed for HIPAA compliance and secure messaging tools to ensure you meet federal standards. - Understand your licensing requirements
Scope of practice and collaboration rules vary state by state. Know whether your state requires a collaborating physician and whether your services (especially in aesthetics or mental health) have additional licensing needs. - Secure the right insurance coverage
Beyond professional liability, look into business entity coverage, cyber protection, and general liability if you’re seeing patients in a physical space. Proper coverage isn’t just a safety net—it’s part of building trust with clients. - Start small—but stay compliant
Even if you’re just offering virtual consults one day a week, your business must follow the same rules as larger practices. That includes patient consent forms, documentation, and billing accuracy. Treat your side hustle like a real business from day one.
