About Chuck Kinney
Healthcare has been my career. Helping people navigate it has become my purpose.
I've spent more than three decades working across healthcare — from emergency medicine and oncology to care coordination and population health. I've seen extraordinary medicine delivered by extraordinary people. I've also seen how complicated healthcare can become for the person on the other side of it — expected to understand insurance, medications, referrals, treatment options, and major decisions, often while facing the hardest moments of their lives. I believe we can make that easier. That's why I created SynquUp™. From the Front Lines: I began my career in EMS in the early 1990s in rural East Tennessee, teaching ACLS, BLS, PALS, PHTLS, and BTLS as a Paramedic Instructor. From 1994 to 2004, I worked as a paramedic in a hospital emergency department, functioning with the scope similar to a RN — learning from some of the best physicians, PAs, nurses, and pharmacists across nearly every specialty, including how to perform IVs and critical procedures on pediatric, newborn, cancer, and sickle cell patients. I later worked as a paramedic and field supervisor in one of the busiest EMS systems in the country.
In 2006, I deployed to Iraq as a subcontracted medic, functioning with the scope similar to a Physician Assistant. After returning in 2007, I began working alongside an oncologist/hematologist in rural Georgia, whose practice also treated infectious disease patients. My role there was both clinical and operational — direct patient care alongside referrals, reauthorizations, and billing oversight. That practice was later acquired by a larger health system, and I stayed on through the transition, eventually leading thirteen years of full operations across an ambulatory oncology network, including through COVID-19. I later served as Senior Director of Care Coordination, overseeing referrals, community outreach, social services, and care coordination programs for people living with HIV. I've held the Paramedic credential since 1991. But some of the most important lessons I've learned about healthcare didn't come from being a healthcare professional. They came from being a son.
When Healthcare Became Personal
When my parents, Chuck and Sue Kinney, faced serious illness, I experienced healthcare from a very different seat. I knew the system — and still found it difficult to navigate for my own family. If it's hard for me, I can't imagine how difficult it must be for people without that experience behind them.That question stayed with me: what were they supposed to do?
Why I Created SynquUp™
SynquUp grew from a simple belief: people make better decisions when they have better information, better organization, and a clearer path forward. Healthcare information exists almost everywhere. The problem is finding the right information, understanding what it means, knowing which questions to ask, and figuring out what to do next. That's the gap I built SynquUp™ to close. SynquUp™ brings together practical tools and resources forreal-life healthcare challenges - finding financial assistance, understanding insurance, preparing for emergencies, coordinating care, and planning ahead. I've also built the Emergency Life Binder™ system and written guides for situations I've encountered both in my career and in my own life. The goal was never to make decisions for people. It's to help them make informed decisions for themselves: Understand what you're facing. Know what questions to ask. Find the resources available to you. Get organized before you need to be. Be Proactive. Not Reactive. If you've seen my videos, you've heard me say it before -because it's the principle behind everything I build. Everything I've created comes down to one thing: I want to help people not give up, and to become their own best advocate.
Experience Across the Continuum of Care: Emergency Medicine · Oncology & Hematology · InfectiousDisease · Care Coordination Population Health · Occupational Health ·Healthcare Operations · Hospice & End-of-Life Care
