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This week, we rolled out some user interface changes. We fixed a latent bug that appeared on iOS devices, where we would get the size of the screen wrong and the content would be hard to understand. Additionally, we spent quite a bit of time trying to more accurately figure out the geographic boundaries for a search so that providers whose locations fall outside the map wouldn't be included and providers with locations inside the map would always be included. We've made substantial progress on that one, but haven't fixed it entirely. So, if you conduct a search on our site and subsequently select a filter, you might see a different number of providers than initially shown.

Beyond the bug fixing, we are looking for some design help to update certain elements of our search results. If you know of any talented designers who can take on additional work, please let us know.

This week, I received a letter from my health insurance company indicating that they will be cancelling my policy. Of course, not to fear, I can buy a new replacement policy that conforms with the Affordable Care Act regulations. What they didn't mention is that my new premium will be roughly double of my current premium (assuming no subsidies) and the deductible will be higher. Apparently, this is reasonably common. This comes at a time when some companies are transitioning their employees to the health insurance exchanges.

As I mulled over this news, I realized that while the transition may be rocky, there might be long-term systemic benefits specifically because more patients become more aware of the health costs. First, as consumers select insurance plans, many will question whether they need the levels of coverage that they might have enjoyed previously, paying only a modest co-payment when visiting the doctor. Subsequently, as increasing numbers of consumers adopt high-deductible plans, more and more of them will want to know the prices of procedures. Increased numbers of price-sensitive consumers might finally make it viable for providers to compete on price; in turn, this competitive pressure might actually affect the rate of health care costs. It's far too early to tell, and the short-term will certainly see some bumps, but these higher prices and higher deductibles just might be setting the foundation for a more competitive marketplace.

One of our goals for this year has been to improve the quality of the data that we present to users. We find information about providers from a myriad of sources. The multiplicity of sources is a strength because we can find different categories of information from different sites. Sometimes, however, information from any one of these sources can be incorrect (even hospital directories can be inaccurate). Up until late 2012, our solution has been to simply show all of the data, even if some pieces conflict. In some cases, showing a variety of values is a feature. For example, a doctor can practice in multiple locations, and certain data sources might only show one address. In terms of the data fields that are less likely to have multiple values (such as specialty), our intuition was that by showing all available data, users would at least be tipped off to potential conflicts and could research further. Beginning late last year, we have been looking at ways to figure out which pieces of data are likely more accurate than others. A lot of research has gone into this study, and we're pleased to announce that we've released some changes to improve specialty data.

It will take some time for all of the data to migrate, but over time, you might notice some changes. We're always on the lookout on how to improve our data, so if you have any examples or ideas on how to arbitrate among conflicting values, please let us know.

If you regularly see a doctor that you love, you'll of course want to determine whether that doctor is in-network for any new insurance plan that you're considering. After all, continuing to receive treatment from an out-of-network doctor can mean some rather large medical bills. With that in mind, it's easy to see why officials would want to reassure users of the individual exchange that they would be able to easily determine the network status of any insurance plans that they are considering. Unfortunately, Los Angeles Times reported that despite having "touted the feature [doctor search tool] when enrollment began," the feature would not be ready until Monday or beyond.

We ourselves have found it difficult to get accurate and comprehensive data regarding which doctors accept which plans. While insurance companies have that information and even make it publicly available on their corporate websites, insurance companies generally do not make the information available through other channels. For example, most insurance companies' doctor finder websites ask that search engine "robots" (like the ones that we send out) not crawl their directories. At the same time, insurance companies' doctor finder applications tend to lack meaningful information used by patients to select a provider. What ends up happening is that online doctor directories end up with inaccurate or incomplete information, and patients end up needing to research multiple sites in order to triangulate. Which leads me to wonder: just why do insurance companies hold provider network information so tightly?

Did you know that you can find information about hospitals through this website? Don't worry, most people didn't either. If you're interested in finding out more information about hospitals in your area, you can type "hospitals" in the search form on the home page. Most of our efforts are spent refining our Clinician Finder, helping people find doctors, therapists, and other individuals. Periodically, however, we'll check in and update the hospital profiles.

This week, we released a number of cosmetic improvements to the hospital profiles. For example, under the People tab, the profiles are now arranged in a grid. The services tab more clearly delineate what's available at the hospital. We've actually been working on the hospital product quite extensively recently, but aren't quite yet to release all of the changes... stay tuned!