After moving to
Tampa, Florida in 1982, Patel began his practice as a cardiologist. In 1985, he started a physicians practice ownership and management company, which quickly expanded to 14 practices including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and cardiology. In 1992, Patel became chairman of the board of Well Care HMO, INC. which under his leadership became this 5th largest Medicaid HMO in the United States. In 1999, he acquired 55% of Kingston N.Y.-based WellCare Management Group Inc, which managed two HMO's in Connecticut and New York. In 2002, he sold majority share in the WellCare Management Group, at which point WellCare Management was providing services to over 400,000 members. In 2007, Patel started a new insurance holding company called America's 1st Choice Holdings of Florida and acquired two Tampa Bay based Medicare Advantage Health Plans, Freedom Health and Optimum Health. He grew these companies to over 115,000 members and over $1 billion in revenue, at which point he sold to Anthem in April 2019. In 2018, Patel invested $60 million in the medical device company Concept Medical. He committed to gift $50 million and an additional $150 million towards real estate and facility expansion in the medical education complex that will be part of NSU’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus, in Clearwater. == Medical insurance ==