What if you could book healthcare as easily as you can book a vacation home? What if instead of worrying about hidden out-of-pocket costs, insurance coverage, and access to medical records, you could book an appointment with the doctor of your choice in any location based on trusted reviews, know upfront what the cost will be, and be assured that your medical records will be accessible? The WELL telemedicine company is hoping to make those ideas a reality through its curated global network of healthcare providers. Just like Airbnb reshaped the way we travel, shifting the power away from large hotel chains and putting it in the hands of both travelers and individual hosts, WELL wants to change the marketplace for healthcare, shifting the power away from large insurance companies and into the hands of patients and individual providers. By following the Airbnb model, WELL is aiming to create greater transparency and more access, providing patients with real choice and allowing healthcare professionals to determine their own pricing.
At WELL, we believe it’s time we start questioning the system.
Whether you receive insurance through the government or through your employer, when it comes to healthcare, most people accept the system as it is, either without questioning its effectiveness, or without believing it can change. But the healthcare systems of most countries are broken — they’re overpriced, lack transparency, and lack choice. At WELL we believe it’s time we start questioning the system. WELL’s model creates a competitive marketplace for healthcare, addressing those problems and proposing real fixes.
Pricing: In many healthcare systems, prices are set between doctors and insurance companies, and patients don’t know the cost of services until they see the bill. But because the insurance companies play middleman, prices are inflated, with patients bearing the brunt of those costs. WELL seeks to eliminate the middleman, letting doctors determine their own prices, and giving patients access to those prices from the start. WELL believes that creating a marketplace for services will ultimately benefit both patients and providers.
Transparency: Most healthcare systems lack transparency in several areas. One is pricing, but another is medical records, which can be difficult for patients to obtain. As long as patients lack control over their data, they lack the ability to make fully-informed decisions. That’s why WELL is building its platform on blockchain technology, putting patient medical data back in the hands of the patients themselves. When patients have their data accessible, it makes getting the care they need easier, and makes switching doctors painless.
Choice: The biggest issue WELL’s model seeks to address is the lack of choice that most patients experience when it comes to healthcare. Without a central review system for healthcare providers, patients are often choosing doctors based on availability and location rather than on quality. And without proper vetting, most patients don’t know what they’re getting until they walk through the door. But you wouldn’t book a hotel without reading reviews first. So why is it that when it comes to healthcare, we accept the default choice? That’s why WELL’s user-generated reviews are so important. When you know what to expect, you can make an informed decision, before you book the appointment. And WELL believes your healthcare shouldn’t be limited by location, either. Due to the way health insurance works, most patients must choose doctors within their home country, and often times even within their own state. WELL believes that in a global society, patients not only deserve a choice of doctors, they also shouldn’t be limited by borders. That’s why WELL is building its network with a cryptocurrency-based economy. With the WELL network, you can see a doctor a state over, or an ocean away, without cross-border payment problems or pushback from an insurance provider.
At WELL we think it’s time to change how we look at healthcare, to disrupt the status quo, and to demand better. We believe that fair prices, transparency, and provider choice should be a right, not a privilege. Which is why we’re building WELL, to put you in control of your healthcare. To learn more about how you can take control of your healthcare, follow WELL on Telegram, https://t.me/joinwell