Lost in the System: How Veda Is Aiming to Fix Healthcare's Broken Provider Directories

When you or someone you love needs care, it would make sense to seek help from a directory of providers who are in-network and available to help. Unfortunately, this is one of the most painful parts of America’s broken healthcare system. One of the most shocking and significant barriers for patients seeking care in today's healthcare landscape is the vast amount of inaccurate provider directory data. This inaccurate data creates frustration, delays, and inefficiencies that negatively impact both the patient experience in finding care, and also contributes to negative overall patient outcomes. Now, imagine loved ones dealing with memory loss, a behavioral health crisis, or long Covid—and finding the right provider becomes an even greater challenge.

Veda, co-founded by Meghan Gaffney, addresses this critical issue by leveraging automated data science and machine learning solutions to provide healthcare payers and networks with the most accurate and comprehensive data available. By curating data from over 300,000 unique sources, Veda offers real-time, precise profiles of more than 3.5 million healthcare providers, facilitating better decision-making and improved patient experiences. 

Imagine this: you use your health insurance company's online directory to find a doctor at your preferred location and needed specialty, only to be met with incorrect phone numbers, wrong addresses, or no information at all. You’re stuck making phone calls that lead to nowhere, and wasting precious hours navigating bad information while experiencing delays in actually getting the care you need most. After years of diving deep to the complexities around this problem, Veda is at the forefront of clean data and better access to care. Veda's tools correct inaccurate data and make it possible for members to get what they truly need: the ability to easily and quickly make an appointment with a healthcare provider. 

One of Veda’s earliest supporters was HealthX Ventures. With a mission to improve access to care, HealthX found Veda working at the forefront of health equity and contributing to better outcomes for all. We’re excited to put a spotlight on Meghan, the company’s CEO, and share her perspectives on a new future with streamlined access to care: starting with the data that drives it. Read our full interview below:

What was the key problem in the healthcare data landscape that led you to found Veda Data?

MG: While working on Capitol Hill during the development of the Affordable Care Act, I had the unique opportunity to hear perspectives on the future of healthcare from hospital executives, insurers, and patient advocates. Data, such as simple contact information, was at the center of many challenges patients faced when accessing care, but it wasn’t the focus of any proposed solutions. I learned most patients simply want the basics: the ability to find a provider who they can easily and quickly book an appointment with. Quite simply, I knew there had to be a better way for people to access a provider.

Can you share the moment or experience that inspired you to take the leap from your previous work into starting your own company?

MG: As a new mom searching for care for my kids, I personally experienced the challenges of finding care: issues in the provider data gap that Veda now solves today. My professional and personal experiences pointed to one desperately needed solution missing from the marketplace: patients need accurate information to make healthcare truly accessible. Not to mention, insurers and providers needed a better way to get that data and ensure accuracy for patients who were using it for care navigation, such as simply making appointments. 

It’s already hard enough for parents to secure appointments for their children. This is exacerbated for people who live in certain zip codes, or from certain racial backgrounds, or genders. It doesn’t need to be this way: this is a solvable problem. 

Imagine a new parent trying to find a pediatrician that fits their specific needs—on a bus line, with early morning appointments before work. They work a shift job and don’t have the flexibility to call between 8am and 5pm every day. The time and frustration it takes to sift through options shouldn't be so difficult. Instead, what if it worked like Google Flights: seamless, efficient, and stress-free? You should be able to pull up a few viable options without endless calls and headaches.

This issue also impacts mental health. If you’re in crisis, you’re not in a position to make a dozen phone calls searching for a therapist. The experience of finding care shouldn't depend on knowing the "magic words" or hoping you get the right person on the phone. Abigail Burman’s Yale Law & Policy Review, Laying Ghost Networks to Rest: Combatting Deceptive Health Plan Provider Directories, contains a compelling example where a caregiver, KC, spent years trying to find a psychiatrist for her brother, said “[i]ronically, I can’t imagine my brother or others in his situation being organized and effective enough to be able to make all these calls and keep track.”

A system like Veda’s can cut through these barriers and ensure that people can access care when they need it the most. That’s why I founded Veda—because everyone deserves access to accurate, up-to-date information that empowers them to get the care they need.

Why is this a problem in the first place? Shouldn’t data accuracy be required by law?

MG: Providers and insurers are in an impossible situation. Providers want to be found by patients, and health plans strive to offer robust networks. The problem of inaccurate provider data has deep roots, even though laws, like the No Surprises Act of 2021, require health plans to conduct an attestation process every 90 days to verify that their provider directories are correct. While this sounds straightforward, the reality is more complex. Providers may be attesting to their data, but imagine a provider who takes ten different insurance plans within a hospital network. They are facing many portals or methods of attestation, each tied to a different insurer. Providers are tasked with entering their data into these various systems in different formats or agreeing to information for efficiency purposes. Once the attested data is received by the health plans, the directory process itself is riddled with inefficiencies: health plan staff may have to manually input data, leading to inevitable errors. Despite efforts, various platforms offering relief, and even audits and fines from CMS, inaccuracies persist.

Veda is faster, more complete, and more accurate because we do not rely on attestation for data collection. To do so would introduce more bad data, create gaps in information, and increase abrasion between providers and plans. Veda’s method is a form of what we call “synthetic attestation.” Providers are attesting, by doing things like: filling out DEA registration and submitting referrals and claims. We refer to this as “data exhaust”—the already existing data that providers 'give off' while performing their routine tasks. It’s not another step they take; it’s simply data that exists because of actions they already take in their daily workflows.

What drew you specifically to the challenge of healthcare data accuracy?

MG: Accurate and comprehensive data is the bedrock for improving the patient and member experience, especially for underserved and vulnerable populations. Despite technological advances in healthcare, many critical backend and administrative tasks remain unresolved—like payment systems, which dictate how health insurance pays providers (not our focus, but still a significant challenge), and appointment scheduling, which often requires an overwhelming number of phone calls. 

There are plenty of sleek apps that track your sleep, monitor your blood sugar, and promise better healthcare experiences, but behind the scenes, basic issues persist. For example, can you easily find a list of available specialists or a pediatrician with after-hours appointments? These fundamental problems still need to be addressed for a smoother healthcare journey.

Why Veda? What is different about your approach?

MG: Our differentiator is accuracy. While many competitors promise speed and can quickly process rosters—adding providers to health plans fast—steps are often skipped along the way. Others may get you close, but Veda tackles the complex challenges. For example, some counselors can provide behavioral health services. Most vendors only show behavioral health providers with NPIs, but Veda finds those more difficult-to-track professionals that others might overlook.

We combine human-in-the-loop AI with machine learning to automate data updates, ensuring provider directories are accurate, up-to-date, and user-friendly.

Other companies often claim, “We do it with AI, so there’s no need for human involvement,” but we know human oversight is essential for handling the complexities. Our data science team is continuously monitoring our training model for improvements and enhancements within an organization’s complex business rules.

And our customer operations team is reviewing every artifact and capturing anomalies to identify patterns and trends. We also have customer success reporting on metrics and identifying opportunities. Set it and forget it isn’t the path forward for successful adoption of AI tools.

“With HealthX’s guidance, we’ve earned a reputation in the industry as the ‘fixer’ of the messy and complex data that no other company wants to address.”

How has your partnership with HealthX Ventures influenced Veda’s growth, and what unique value has HealthX brought to your journey as a founder?

MG: With HealthX, you’re working with investors who are operators. They have built businesses and have a realistic knowledge of the challenges founders face. If I am seeking input on a strategy or want to know what others have successfully done in the past, HealthX has walked in those shoes and shares their valuable perspective. One example is growing and structuring a team. Mark Bakken and Kristi Ebong have been instrumental in guiding us through team growth, hiring decisions, and what direction to take our growth in general. 

Secondly, HealthX’s focus on healthcare and their deep knowledge of the industry means Veda has access to relationships and connections that have influenced our growth. With HealthX’s guidance, we’ve earned a reputation in the industry as the “fixer” of the messy and complex data that no other company wants to address.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the most significant trends or challenges in healthcare data, and how is Veda positioned to address them?

MG: Everyone is looking to AI and automation for solutions in healthcare data but the AI isn’t living up to the hype. In a race to reduce costs, many have lost sight of the problem they are trying to solve and have left out foundational components of business like professional services, actual results, and rigorous testing. The irresponsible development of some AI tools could negatively impact the companies that are taking a transparent and tested path. 

For instance, imagine a business trying a new product for the first time, and it doesn’t go well. It breaks, it’s costly and leaves a negative impression. After that bad experience, you might be reluctant to try another product in that category. This can happen with AI too—if one company delivers poor results, people might dismiss AI solutions altogether and revert to outdated methods, which ultimately hurts innovation.

The New York Times recently highlighted a story where McDonald’s AI mishandled an order, leading to a viral mistake with an order of 260 McNuggets. Missteps like these erode trust in AI. However, with due diligence and careful evaluation, consumers are starting to separate effective, secure solutions from the hype. 

When the internet first emerged, replacing traditional methods like phone, mail, and daily business practices, many skeptics clung to their typewriters and landlines. But over time, the internet proved to be an indispensable tool that transformed how we live and work in ways we couldn’t have imagined. In the '90s, TODAY anchors Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, and Elizabeth Vargas famously asked, “What is ‘Internet’?” and puzzled over the meaning of the “@” symbol.

We succeed with AI when it is effective, robust, and focused on making an impact. While there is a risk posed by poorly designed and underperforming tools, I see an opportunity for Veda to prove our integrity to the industry. We’re prepared to overcome potential negative experiences with our patented AI and machine learning techniques that were developed and tested with scientific rigor.

Just as with the internet, we need to keep moving forward, continuously testing and using AI responsibly. This is the path we’re on.

What does a future look like where Veda's technology is fully implemented? How would that change the experience for someone seeking care?

MG: In an industry where patient outcomes are directly influenced by the quality of data, Veda's methodology prioritizes that patients are guided through their healthcare journeys seamlessly, including the aspects they don’t directly interact with. Accurate provider information means fewer barriers, less confusion, and more timely care for patients.

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