Handpicked Health exists because PBGH, Purchaser Business Group on Health, repeatedly heard from purchasers that the market wasn’t meeting their needs: better, independent primary care, integrated behavioral health, intelligence on the best-fit specialists and COEs, and an engagement methodology that actually succeeded in getting members to care, fast.
Rather than simply listening, PBGH took action, assembling a committed purchaser and an experienced founding team that could build and launch the right solution quickly.
Neil Smithline joined as Chief Medical Officer and co-founder after authoring two full career arcs, first as a practicing nephrologist, second as an advisor to purchasers on healthcare strategy. In his second act, he helped build the very first COEs, in partnership with Lowe’s. He helped build Boeing’s ACO program. He co-founded ECEN with PBGH and launched a revolutionary COE model for purchasers. At Handpicked Health, Neil is the brains behind finding the very best doctors and clinical partners for our purchasers and their families.
I joined as CEO and co-founder after building a business, Markit Medical, with a similar mission. That business found the best independent primary care practices and integrated them into their referral operations to deliver useful information to patients and PCPs the moment it was needed. When a referral was ordered, a patient could see their in-network provider options, and make a choice based on their preferences like quality, convenience, or cost. Patients didn’t need a self-serve app. And they didn’t need redirection. Patients simply self-selected high-value providers and did so 85% of the time.
While patients, PCPs and high-value specialists raved about the solution, the business struggled. Insurers took notice that Markit Medical had found a way to bend the cost curve while improving the patient experience. They agreed to run pilots, which showed great results. Unfortunately, after endless conversations, none of the insurers agreed to move forward. The team was dumbfounded until an insurance executive took us aside and filled us in: The insurers are doing just fine in the current system. As healthcare spending increases, so do their profits. The solution simply put that at risk.
It's an important moment for healthcare in this country. Costs borne by purchasers and their families are out of control. Wait times to see a PCP have become so long that the only options for sick patients are the ER, urgent care, or simply suffering. And don’t even think about seeing a dermatologist within 9 months of calling. Handpicked Health was founded to help purchasers fight back. With one contract, a purchaser can give their families high-value, accessible, advanced primary care, and the fastest path to the best specialists and surgical COEs in the country. We’d love for employers who are focused on these same qualities to join us in providing the highest value healthcare to their members.
Dane Guarino, CEO
