Our provider search feature is one way we’re creating an intuitive, connected employee benefits experience.
It allows our healthcare concierge team to find users high-quality, fairly-priced healthcare just when they need it.
First, imagine the old way of doing things: when you need a new healthcare provider, you might do your own Google search, ask your friends and family, and maybe turn to a tool on your insurance company’s website.
It could take days to land on an option, and even then, your preferred provider might be miles away. What’s more, your search likely missed something important. You probably won’t compare the cost of services between one provider and another, for example, or look deep into patient ratings. I certainly don’t.
Now, we’d like to introduce you to the HealthJoy provider search way. This process involves all the steps above and so much more. It looks the same whether members are searching for a provider, a place to plan an upcoming procedure, or a testing facility. In every case, HealthJoy does the heavy lifting and finds the best available option.
So, let’s dig into exactly how a HealthJoy provider search works.
For this exercise, let’s say I’m looking for a new primary care provider. I start by opening the HealthJoy app, navigating to the menu, and tapping “Find a Provider.” From there, our virtual assistant, JOY, will start a chat to guide me through a set of questions.
JOY will start by verifying my insurance details and giving me an overview of the process. She’ll confirm who the search is for and ask about my preferences for the type of provider I’m seeking. Then, she’ll ask for specifics. I need someone in-network and close to my home. I could also specify other preferences, like gender or specialty, at this step. JOY takes all my information and preferences, bundles them together, and passes the ball to our healthcare concierge team.
Once the concierge team receives my HealthJoy provider search request, they get to work. This process can take hours, but those are hours I’ve saved. Here’s a peek into the process:
Our healthcare concierge team starts their search with details. They research my specific health insurance plan and note any special programs in which I’ve enrolled. Then, they use my insurance network’s search tools to find nearby options. This step ensures I only get in-network suggestions.
Once they’ve narrowed their list to in-network providers, the healthcare concierge turns to a search engine to check their patient ratings and reviews. Their searches cross various third-party rating services, insurance websites, and facility websites. In other words, they dig deep to make sure my provider is well-loved by other patients. Typically, the healthcare concierge team will only recommend providers who average four stars or higher across these sites.
Our team members wait as long as it takes to reach a real person, and with them on the line, verify one more time that they are in-network, seeing new patients, meet any additional preferences, and are open for appointments soon. They’ll only recommend a provider if they meet all the criteria on this final list.
The healthcare concierge will create a detailed explanation of their recommendation, including provider’s name, facility name, address and distance from my home or work, phone numbers, provider ratings, medical schooling, and residency, and a short section about the reasoning behind their recommendations. They also include my insurance coverage amounts.
All the details above arrive in my HealthJoy inbox. I can check out the provider they recommended and alternative options, save the cards for later, or move on to book an appointment.
I’m short on time, so I decide to let my healthcare concierge schedule a meeting for me. When they’ve set an appointment at my preferred time, I get another notification. I could do this myself, but honestly, why would I? For our users, allowing our concierge team to make the call closes the loop and makes following through on a high-quality, low-cost provider recommendation more likely.
We know that there’s a disconnect between what healthcare users want—high-quality care at a fair price—and their ability to find it. That disconnect can lead to high medical bills, hours lost to searching, dissatisfaction, and billing questions for HR. By recommending the best healthcare services for our members, we get ahead of these mounting issues.
With the help of HealthJoy provider search and our healthcare concierge team, employees leave their HealthJoy experience feeling supported and confident in their healthcare choices.