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A referral is a medical decision, but the tools meant to support it often fall short. The shallow decision trees and the incomplete, inaccurate directories that should point a patient toward the right provider too often point them toward the wrong one: someone who doesn’t perform the procedure, doesn’t take the plan, or can’t see them for months. In our own work, we’ve found that roughly 70% of referral obstacles could have been prevented with better information available at the moment the referral was made. That’s the root cause we’re after. The information that prevents those obstacles is diverse: what a provider actually does, where they actually practice, what patients actually experience, whether they can actually be seen. So we’re building it one domain at a time, beginning with scope of practice.

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Grounded in practice, not principle

Our models exist to improve referrals for patients, and that purpose defines their boundaries. We’re not trying to determine whether a provider could perform a service in principle (whether their license or training permits it). We’re trying to determine whether a referral is appropriate in practice. A retina specialist is an ophthalmologist, and in principle is capable of cataract surgery; in practice, a routine cataract referral does not belong with them. Our methods are built to capture the second judgment, not the first. That framing also means we will sometimes not know the answer. For some services the data lets us confidently rule a provider out but not confidently rule them in. Where that asymmetry exists, we say so rather than guess.

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The modules

Each page details the methodological approach, how we validate it, and its known limitations. Click into any module to learn more.

Referral Scope Match

Open betaRoutine referral categories matched to what a provider actually does, derived from observed practice patterns.

Location & Affiliation Probability

Closed betaWhere a provider actually practices and who they’re affiliated with.

Patient Experience

Closed betaWhat patients actually report about access and experience.

Availability

In developmentWhether, and how soon, a provider can be seen.

In Network Probability

In developmentLikelihood that a provider will still be in network in the next 90 days.

More on the way

Coming soonWe’re building toward every piece of information that prevents a referral obstacle. Tell us what would help most.