BetterDoctor, a San-Francisco-based startup, announced Monday that it will partner with the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to improve Washington Healthplanfinder, the state’s individual health insurance marketplace.
BetterDoctor helps health plans collect and verify data on health providers, like doctors, which can then be accessed through the company’s API.
In its partnership with the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, the company is helping health plans keep doctor information accurate and up to date to help consumers on Washington’s individual insurance marketplace.
“Our tools make it significantly easier for providers to update their information online. Providers can expect to be reached out to on a quarterly basis as data changes quickly,” a BetterDoctor spokesperson told GeekWire via email.
BetterDoctor’s tools will fuel the exchange’s new website, which launches in November of 2017. There, customers can access an accurate database of doctor information while shopping for individual health plans.
“Partnering with BetterDoctor achieves our goal of connecting Washington Healthplanfinder consumers with the most accurate provider directory information available,” Washington Health Benefit Exchange Senior Plan Manager Paul Winder said in a press release. “BetterDoctor’s online portal allows us to easily update provider data, which ultimately enhances Washingtonians’ access to quality care.”
The company aims to replace a system that relies on a mishmash of phone, fax, paper and online records to track doctor data.
“We’re a group of Silicon Valley nerds disrupting the old and inefficient processes with an eye and ear to what consumers want to see and how providers want their information used,” BetterDoctor Head of Platform Andrew Kobylinski said in the release. “We are dramatically improving communication between health plans and providers. Ultimately, having accurate provider information and directories help the consumer have a better online insurance ‘shopping’ experience. The BetterDoctor team wants to make sure consumers can always find a doctor when they need one.”
BetterDoctor was co-founded by CEO Ari Tulla and CTO Tapio Tolvanen in 2011. Both Tulla and Tolvanen are Nokia vets: Tolvanen worked at the Finnish smartphone company for ten years, most recently serving as its head of technology, and Tulla worked there for five years, most recently heading the company’s app studio.
