Garner Health ™, a health tech company that uses data science to enable personalized provider recommendations, today announced a strategic investment from Optum Ventures, the independent venture arm of Optum and part of UnitedHealth Group.

The company is serving 10,000 members in more than 30 states

There’s been a growing movement towards outcome-based healthcare payments as we look to value-based care and providing the best care possible. This starts with selecting quality providers. Garner Health is a technology-driven platform that analyzes aggregate medical data to determine who the highest-quality physicians are by specialty, procedure and geography. Employees of companies that are partnered with Garner Health are able to go through this curated selection, filtered for availability and network considerations for upcoming medical visits. The platform also features a concierge service available through phone, chat, or email to provide additional guidance, if necessary. If the employee opts to use one of the preferred providers, then employers will cover all or a portion of any out-of-pocket expenses. The incentivization of employees in the short term to visit quality providers results in lower costs for the employer in the long-term, amounting to savings the company’s estimated to be at least 10%. Garner does not maintain any commercial relationship with healthcare providers and its determinations are completely on the basis of past treatment data, eliminating any bias or impropriety in the recommendations. AlleyWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Nick Reber (prev. Oscar Health and Bridgewater) to learn more about this innovative model to address rising healthcare costs, the company’s future plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Founders Fund, Maverick Ventures, and Thrive Capital.