Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/633033
19 FINANCE HEALTH IT application program interface and acts as a "web broker," enabling consumers to order insurance like they would if they applied us- ing the official federal exchange site. HoneyInsured aims to take the guesswork and confusion out of the process for the millions of consumers signing up for healthcare coverage through Health- Care.gov by intaking their information and making unique plan recommendations, offering data visualization and personalized options based on user input. 7. Hospital IQ (Newton, Mass.). As hospitals grapple to find the right tools for analyzing large amounts of data, the best solutions are likely those that work using the IT systems currently in place and data that's already on hand. Hospital IQ is one of those solutions. e company aims to bring an end to cluttered spreadsheets and overly technical data points by designing methods of data analysis stemming from accessible operations science. "e company's data-driven solutions apply proven operations research to systematically optimize capacity, schedules and staffing at hospitals," says Rich Krueger, founder, president and CEO of Hospital IQ. In 2015, the startup signed on customers like Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and now has active pilot programs at hospitals in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee. 8. CrowdMed (San Francisco). Crowdsourcing a diagnosis may sound risky at first — unless the crowd you query is made up of physicians. Jared Heyman, founder and CEO of CrowdMed, found this to be true aer his sister had the rare opportunity to meet with a large team of medical experts who helped solve a mystery condition that plagued her for years and cost more than $100,000. CrowdMed, which links patients whose conditions elude diagnosis with a team of medical detectives who seek an- swers from experts, was Mr. Heyman's idea to provide a similar opportunity for people wrestling with chronic mystery conditions who may not have the same opportunity his sister did. rough CrowdMed, patients submit their cases for a flat fee — $149 for a "standard" package, $249 for "premium" and $349 for "priority" — and receive their money back if the company can't deliver an ac- curate result. Experts earn points for cases they help solve, which translate to improved ranking, recognition and in some instances financial compensation. "Earlier this year we carried out a crowd- funding campaign on Indiegogo for patients who can't afford a CrowdMed case," says CrowdMed founder and CEO, Mr. Hey- man. "Our goal is for every person in the world with an unsolved medical condition to have access to CrowdMed's services." 9. Zest Health (Chicago). An increased drive toward patient engagement due to increasing consumer costs and higher expec- tations for quality care experiences might rally patients' concerns about their health, but it doesn't necessarily provide them with the tools to make informed decisions. Smart Concierge, an app- based solution designed by Zest Health, aims to provide patients with those tools. e app offers the expertise of RNs who are on demand to offer personalized guidance, allows users to find and book appointments with in-network providers and includes sim- plified benefits information. "We wanted to give folks the access, guidance and information they needed to be more intelligent healthcare consumers," Shawn Ellis, president of Zest Health, told Becker's Hospital Review in an October interview. "Hence our motto: 'Be Smarter, Buy Better.'" Mr. Ellis views Smart Concierge as a "human-powered technology," which gives users the tools to better understand and take control of their care. 10. SmartScheduling (Boston). Not all hackathons produce winning ideas that blossom into successful startups. But in 2012, a hackathon hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo- gy did just that. It was there that Chris Moses would overhear an exchange between two physicians that crystallized a problem many others wanted solved: Patient no-shows. He founded Smart Scheduling in 2012. e company, which he now heads as CEO, teamed up with athenahealth's More Disruption Please program quickly thereaer, raised over $1.1 million to date and established a network of more than 600 providers across 25 states who use its algorithms to better schedule patients. Remarkably, the company has done all this with just eight employees. "e biggest next step for us is that athenahealth is beginning to bundle Smart Schedul- ing into new customer implementations," Mr. Moses told Becker's Hospital Review in a November interview. "Certain providers will have [the platform] integrated into their EHR." n