Whitecoat Health Service Directory is Australia’s largest online directory of healthcare professionals. It was developed and launched in 2013. The service is available to all Australians and allows consumers to rate their experience of a healthcare provider and read other users’ recommendations and reviews.
Contents
Overview
Whitecoat provides contact details and ratings information for more than 210,000 Australian healthcare providers across 25 different provider types, including dentists, optometrists, and physiotherapists. Along with providing publicly-available contact details for different healthcare providers, the Whitecoat website carries ratings information regarding availability, listening skills, explanation of treatment and likelihood to recommend as well as comments from customers about their overall service experience. Reviews are sourced from Whitecoat users as well as members of affiliated private health insurers who have been provided with a billable service from the provider. It hosts more than 250,000 customer reviews and while the platform now includes allied healthcare providers such as dentists, physiotherapists, and general practitioners, it is looking to expand to include medical specialists. The site has been likened to being the 'Trip Advisor' of the healthcare sector.
History
The site was originally launched in 2013 by NIB Health Funds to allow their members to easily search and compare healthcare providers, in response to ongoing customer demand for better information about healthcare providers. The site collates reviews from clients that use their associated providers. Previously the website only allowed NIB health insurance members to leave reviews, despite all Australians being able to read these recommendations.
In July 2016, Bupa and HBF signed a heads of agreement to join nib as investors and participants in expanding the Whitecoat healthcare provider platform. With the participation by Bupa and HBF along with foundation investor nib, Whitecoat will increase its reach to approximately six million Australians. Also in 2016, Whitecoat announced its plans to provide consumers with cost transparency of medical procedures on its website, as a result of 2014-15 NIB claims data that revealed significant fee variations paid to medical specialists, which left consumers with out-of-pocket costs. At the same time, Whitecoat announced it would also allow consumers to book and pay for treatment through the website.
The Australian Medical Association expressed criticism of the site prior to its launch. The Australian Dental Association warned its members not to become involved with the site. At the same time, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia publicly supported the aims of the site.