Challenge

Navigating the complexities of the private healthcare system is a challenging process, with many patients unsure how much their treatment will cost until they receive a bill.

The Department of Health wanted to ensure that individuals could explore their private healthcare treatment options ahead of time, with an understanding of all the associated costs and how they might vary based on healthcare provider, geographic location and insurance agency.

Given just 9 weeks to deliver an initial solution, The Department of Health engaged GoSource for their rapid, agile approach to digital transformation.

Approach

To meet such a strict deadline, GoSource leveraged GovCMS to distribute a react based SPA which displayed the aggregate costs of medical treatments both in and out of hospital. This led to an invitation to deliver the next stage of the project.

In partnership with the Department’s Out-of-Pocket Transparency team and health industry stakeholders, GoSource designed an integrated solution to address the issue of ‘bill shock’. At the centre of this solution is a website to display information on out-of-pocket costs that was previously unavailable to the public.

A close relationship with the business team facilitated GoSource’s delivery of an upgraded website that incorporated medical specialist’s typical fees into the initial Medical Costs Finder website’s display of generalised information, allowing patients to better understand the services offered near their location.

Solution

GoSource delivered a scalable and cost-effective publicly accessible website, built as a cloud-native solution on Microsoft Azure. Data used by the website is managed through a data lake with pipelines that sanitise, transform and optimise the content.

The flexible design of the solution allows for easy integration with existing and future requirements.

Access to the Medical Costs Finder gives individuals a better understanding of their financial contribution when engaging with the private healthcare system and allows for greater agency throughout the patient journey. Individuals will be able to make better informed decisions in relation to their healthcare and feel empowered to engage in more meaningful discussions with their healthcare professionals.