How to Find Money in Medical Bill Errors - Zoe Holderness - Co-Founder of Slingshot
Zoe Holderness, the CTO and co-founder of Slingshot, recently appeared on the podcast, Self-Funded with Spencer featuring host Spencer Smith.
Slingshot is a software company that specializes in auditing medical bills. They automatically monitor every claim that comes through for an employer, finding savings and overcharges both for the plan and member.
Zoe grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and later attended Georgia Tech, where she studied mechanical engineering and computer science. She then moved to California and worked at Tesla as a firmware integration engineer.
She then moved on to work for Lyft, working in their E-Bikes division. She got to test out her own work, by riding the bikes everywhere after firmware updates, causing it to be referred to as a "dream job" for her. She also got the chance to work with a lot of women engineers while at Lyft, which is not typical in engineering jobs.
Ultimately, an overcharge on a gynecology appointment led her down the path of creating her company - Slingshot. She received an itemized bill and she started reviewing CPT codes and calling the billing office to request audits. Eventually, she was able to get her bill reduced!
Along with her co-founder Pranov Duggasani, they started to discuss the prevalence of these medical bill errors with friends of theirs and realized how common this issue was. They discovered that they were able to help their friends reduce their medical bills as well, by about 30% on average!
Once they grasped the severity of the problem, they started to develop software to scale the solution instead of just supporting people manually. This led them to Y Combinator, where they received funding and learned the basics of how to start a business.
Here are three key takeaways from Zoe's interview:
1. Strive for clarity and transparency- Zoe and her team at Slingshot aim to provide clarity and transparency by uncovering any errors, overcharges, and incorrect coding in medical bills. This can save patients and their families a significant amount of money.
2. Build a strong team- According to Zoe, Slingshot values teamwork, and each member of the team brings a unique skill set that together helps them to achieve success. Slingshot has a transparent, open culture that values input from all employees.
3. Be passionate about your work- Zoe is passionate about technology and healthcare, which has led her to her current role at Slingshot. Her passion and enthusiasm for her work are contagious and serve to motivate the team to give their best.
Listen to the podcast to learn more about Slingshot Medical Bill Audits and Zoe Holderness's journey in the tech industry.
[00:00:00] Starting a Career in Tech
[00:03:01] Working for Lyft
[00:05:40] Intro to the Healthcare System
[00:08:41] Streamlining Medical Billing with Software Engineering
[00:14:20] Y Combinator program and Slingshot's benefits
[00:17:17] How to Save on Healthcare Expenses
[00:20:11] Slingshot's Role in Employer Plan Error Correction
[00:23:04] Improving Hospital Billing Through Coding Changes
[00:26:10] Improving Healthcare Billing Accuracy with Machine Learning
[00:28:59] Benefits of Healthcare Claims Auditing
[00:31:54] The Risks of Denial or Delay in Healthcare
[00:34:54] Underutilized Nonprofit Hospital Financial Assistance Policy
[00:37:59] Financial Assistance for Healthcare Access
[00:40:49] Transparency and Tools Advancing Healthcare
If you are someone who has struggled with medical bills and navigating the administrative side of healthcare, Slingshot's expertise in auditing medical bills is worth listening to.
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