Veda, a data automation startup serving payers, has partnered with OutCare Health to help patients and payers identify queer-affirming providers.
OutCare Health, a nonprofit advocating for queer health equity, is known for OutList—what it calls the most comprehensive directory of LBGTQ+ affirming providers. Veda will incorporate those data into the information it offers to payer clients.
The OutList features thousands of providers across all specialties nationwide. The goal of the collaboration is to make it easier for patients to find providers and for payers to find LGBTQ+ affirming provider networks.
“Many of the health plans that we work with are actively looking for ways to ensure their members have access to LGBTQ+ affirming care,” Meghan Gaffney, CEO and co-founder of Veda, said in a press release. “They know that patients in LGBTQ+ communities report higher rates of negative health experiences and have higher risk for medical and mental health conditions. Our customers are taking action, and this partnership enables us to help health plans in all communities deliver affirming and supportive experiences for their members.”
Veda’s AI platform enables payers to transform and ingest provider rosters rapidly, reducing turnaround times from weeks to hours, according to the company.
“By leveraging OutCare Health's comprehensive OutList through Veda's robust provider data solutions, health plans can make informed decisions, ensure accurate and meaningful referrals, and provide members with timely access to the quality care they deserve,” Dustin Nowaskie, M.D., OutCare founder and president, said in the announcement.
A recent survey by OutCare Health and Healthgrades found LGTBQ+ patients are more likely to have skipped care in the past year and are less likely than heterosexual cisgender people to have had important health screenings. Nearly a fifth of LGBTQ+ patients say they have experienced medical trauma, 125% the rate reported by heterosexual cisgender people.