Need a Buoy? Buoy Health Launches the Future of Personalized Care with a Digital Health Marketplace

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30 Jun, 2022, 08:00 ET

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Buoy Health Officially Launches Its Healthcare Marketplace Offering to Centralize and Streamline Digital Health Access; Match to Best Care Path

Buoy brings virtual care to consumers through a cost-effective marketplace model

BOSTON, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AI-powered health platform Buoy Health (Buoy) today announced the official launch of its healthcare marketplace. Currently, the marketplace includes more than three dozen care solutions that span comprehensive physical, mental, and specialized health needs. This new offering connects users with an ever-growing marketplace of digital health options. Buoy's two million-plus monthly users can access its platform and marketplace partners while paying out of pocket or utilizing their insurance provider when applicable for any care they might receive.

"Our marketplace is a natural continuation of our company's mission to simplify the relationship people have with their healthcare," said Buoy Health Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Le, MD. "People need the complexity taken out of their experience with health benefits, especially in the wake of the last several years. The melding of Buoy's symptom triage capabilities into the larger world of digital health gives individuals seamless, clinically-sound knowledge about their health with a direct connection to care."

Individuals can tap into Buoy's AI-driven symptom checker for guidance on the state of their health, as well as discover care options on their own through Buoy's vast library of articles on symptoms, conditions, and treatments. To better serve diverse or specific patient populations and offer greater consumer choice, the marketplace does not have preferred partners; instead, it aims to work with a range of tailored solutions and specialized services so that it can match users with care options that best fulfill their individual needs and circumstances. This approach allows Buoy to cost-effectively provide solutions that serve historically underserved groups, conditions, or populations, such as women's health or LGBTQ+.

Example #1: A 35-year-old female has been experiencing unexplained weight gain, fatigue, and dry skin. After searching her symptoms online, she is served Buoy's clinician-approved article on hypothyroidism. She then engages with the Buoy symptom checker, finds out she may have hypothyroidism, and is presented with a few marketplace partner options for next steps, including Paloma Health. She is then able to schedule a thyroid consultation, and all billing is managed between Buoy and her employer. At no point in this journey did the individual have to call around to find a provider who might be seeing new patients, or check with her health insurance to see if her health needs are covered, or wonder if she's going to get hit with a large bill after her treatment.

Example #2: After seeing colon cancer awareness campaigns on Google, a 45-year-old male has started to pay closer attention to subtle changes in his bowel habits that he had initially chalked up to stress and travel. While he is unable to get an appointment with his primary care physician for several weeks, he's also unconvinced that he needs to schedule a visit before his annual exam in several months. He explores Buoy's clinician-approved articles on chronic constipation and is presented with several marketplace partner options, including the LabCorp at-home FIT kit for colon cancer screening. He chooses the at-home collection kit and conveniently pays for it online. An independent physician reviews and approves the test request and he is able to view his results online. This individual is able to conveniently engage in timely screening and prevention activities and get answers to his health concerns quickly that he can share with his primary care physician.

In addition to its consumer marketplace, Buoy works with employers to combine care solutions with existing health benefits ecosystems in one centralized hub. Buoy will serve as a singular point of billing and contracting, eliminating the employers' need to procure and manage several digital health vendors. With Buoy, employers also have more flexibility to digital health options on or off based on employee needs and preferences.

"Employers have a need for evidence-based solutions to support their employees living with chronic conditions but can be rate-limited by the sourcing and evaluation process," said Geoff Matous, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Wellinks, a digital healthcare company offering the first-ever integrated, virtual Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) management solution. "We look forward to working with Buoy to help more people with COPD access Wellinks as one of the first care options featured on Buoy's marketplace."

Buoy's Le added, "Digital health consolidation is not the answer to patient choice. In fact, it moves us backwards in terms of siloed information and constrained care. Marketplaces that provide choice, direction, and the ability for the patient to choose healthcare that suits their individual–– and often evolving––needs is the model to which we aspire."

"As we continue to expand with new marketplace partners, we remain focused on guiding people to clinically relevant and timely care sources using our algorithms and medical engine," said Buoy Health's Chief Medical Officer, Adrienne McFadden, MD, JD. "We believe the future of digital health hinges on the ability for any person, no matter their background or need, to receive personalized, effective care."

If you're an employer or care solution interested in joining Buoy's marketplace, you can reach out here for more information.

Buoy is a Boston-based digital health company that provides personalized clinical guidance the moment an individual has a health concern and matching to covered care options. Developed out of the Harvard Innovation Labs by a team of doctors and data scientists, Buoy navigates people through to the healthcare they need, delivering triage at scale, and connecting them with the right care endpoints at the right time based on self-reported symptoms. Buoy works with employers, health plans, and health solutions to simplify and streamline discovery and access to the right covered care options. For more information, please visit www.buoy.com.

Media Contact: Finley Hines[email protected]

SOURCE Buoy Health, Inc.