As weird as it may sound, it turns out those boring, confusing insurance claims are great source of crowd for health information. They can give you any information you need in a whim. They know how frequently an obstetrician-gynecologist does a Cesarean section or whether an orthopedic surgeon is really experienced at performing hip replacements.
Health News reported that an app, Amino, a new consumer-targeted health care app, digs insurance claims from 188 million people to count these trends. There are at least 3.9 billion claims filed by every practicing physician in the country since 2012. After de-identifying personal details, the app spits out information that can help people choose a doctor with more accurately. You can ask the app to find you an orthopedic surgeon in your area and the app will give you a list to choose from. If you want to know more about the doctor, all you have to do is to click on the name and it will provide you with more information, example how many internal fixations or manual manipulation he has done.
If you have a not-so-common condition, Amino can help find doctors close to you who have treated similar patients, says Amino's founder David Vivero. We're using the data to avoid making the same mistake 188 million people and their doctors did over the course of the last few years. This app was developed so people can have a glimpse of what happens in the doctor's office, the clinic and the lab. Vivero added.
People can get Amino's first service in finding doctors for free. Hospitals, insurers and employers may sign up to license the data, which Amino will further customize. Employers may want to know, for example, which health care fees (like heart-related services) are costing them the most, with this app; they can create programs to deal with those conditions and bring costs down.
Vivero explained that for almost every disease or condition you can follow through the journey from diagnosis to the treatment because that diagnosis produces a profile of what's happening in doctor's offices and hospitals across America. That may help you to make sense of your own alternatives when discussing your health with your doctor.
