Best Doctors Continues to Innovate in Expert Second Opinions While Combatting Misdiagnosis and Saving Millions in Wasted Health Care Costs
BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 17, 2017 / Best Doctors, the global health company that solves the unsolvable in health care, today announced a landmark year in 2016 that led to the addition of over 140 new clients and more than five million new members with access to its award-winning expert medical second opinion and information services. The Company now serves over 40 million members worldwide, nearly 14 times more than the nearest competitor. In 2016 alone, 18 more Fortune 500 companies chose Best Doctors to serve their valuable employees.
In addition to the hundreds of clients already offering Best Doctors services, over 140 more of the world's leading employers and insurers turned to Best Doctors in 2016 to provide their valuable employees and policy holders with state-of-the-art tools and services to combat rising costs, medical uncertainty and misdiagnosis. The Company's ongoing investments in analytics and technology have helped establish it as a leader in proactively identifying the right populations for intervention.
"Helping people get the medical answers they need is at the heart of our mission," said Peter McClennen, Chief Executive Officer at Best Doctors. "While others try to imitate the model that Best Doctors has perfected over 27 years, they still represent less than 8% of the number of lives that Best Doctors covers. It's because leading employers see that Best Doctors is so much more than just a rushed second opinion. We are innovators that are changing the paradigm of health care, with the ability to scale for any organization, while saving millions in wasted health care costs."
In 2016, Best Doctors announced a major partnership with IBM Health and its cognitive computing service, Watson, to use the power of data to help cancer patients find the right treatment option. By bringing together leading technology and the brightest minds in medicine, the two brands have been able to transform the way employees deal with a cancer diagnosis by ensuring that the right diagnosis is confirmed and that the right treatment plan is enacted.
In the payor and provider markets, Best Doctors further expanded its innovative leadership. Geisinger Health Plan, a nationally recognized health plan based in Pennsylvania, selected Best Doctors to help over 550,000 members access the world's leading second opinion provider. The relationship allows Geisinger Health Plan to continue its focus on the triple aim of enhancing quality, improving patient satisfaction, and reducing costs.
In 2016, Best Doctors also launched "Live Health Online," a highly-anticipated innovation in telemedicine that provides members a virtual face-to-face with expert physicians to discuss medical second opinions, diagnoses, and treatment plans.
As the need for expert clinical consultant services has rapidly expanded globally, leading employers in every major region of the world have turned to Best Doctors to keep their employees healthy. In 2016 alone, Best Doctors launched services in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Macau, Pakistan, Denmark, Luxembourg, and many other countries. This record growth in Asia led Best Doctors to establish the Asia Medical Advisory Board with highly regarded medical experts from across the continent to help advise on improving diagnosis and treatment. Best Doctors also features highly-respected Medical Advisory Boards in both the United States and Europe.
In 2016, Best Doctors also transformed how companies and individuals address mental health, with the introduction of Onward, a program that helps clients with depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns get healthy and back to work sooner. RBC Insurance is partnering with Best Doctors Canada to provide RBC Insurance's group and individual disability clients with industry leading mental health support and advocacy. Given that early intervention is critical when dealing with mental illnesses, Onward provides rapid access to psychiatrists and psychologists inclusive of therapy sessions that can be conducted digitally from the comfort of their own homes thereby eliminating the stress and cost of travel to an appointment.
"The success of Best Doctors is based upon bringing together hundreds of passionate employees all over the world, technologies that make health care work, access to the brightest minds in medicine, and a glaring need to help people get the right diagnosis and treatment while containing costs," said McClennen. "Best Doctors continues to succeed on a global scale because of our unparalleled combination of analytics, the highest-rated physicians in the world, and population management tools to transform health care for millions of people."
Addressing the needs of proactive employers who understand the danger of misdiagnosis and medical uncertainty, Best Doctors clients incorporating data analytics has tripled in the past year. In its highly-anticipated study rating population health management providers, KLAS Research rated Best Doctors among the highest-ranked for its data tools, service, and overall performance. Historically, these clinical advocacy and second opinion services have resulted in corrected or refined diagnoses in 37% of Best Doctors U.S.-based cases, while correcting or improving treatment in nearly 75% of cases.
Best Doctors, which works with the top 5% of physicians in over 450 subspecialties of medicine, has been fueled by the Company's unique ability to bring together the brightest minds in medicine, cutting edge technology, and analytics, to help members navigate increasingly complex health care systems around the world. With published studies indicating that 15-28% of patients are misdiagnosed - translating into needless suffering and billions of wasted health care dollars annually, the Company continues to expand its impressive portfolio of Fortune 500 clients and premier workers compensation carriers.
About Best Doctors, Inc.:
Founded in 1989 by Harvard Medical School physicians, Best Doctors is a medical information services company that connects individuals facing difficult medical treatment decisions with the best doctors, ranked by impartial peer review in over 450 subspecialties of medicine, to review their diagnosis and treatment plans. Best Doctors has grown to over 40 million members worldwide utilizing access to the brightest minds in medicine, analytics, and technology to deliver improved health outcomes while reducing costs. For further information, visit Best Doctors at www.bestdoctors.com.
To schedule an interview with a member of the Best Doctors Executive Team, contact Justin Joseph at Ph: 617.359.5522 or [email protected].
BEST DOCTORS, the STAR-IN-CROSS logo, THE REINVENTION OF RIGHT and CRITICAL CARE INTERCONSULTATION are marks or registered marks of Best Doctors, Inc. Used with permission.
SOURCE: Best Doctors, Inc.