Vericred, a data services company engaged in simplifying the exchange of health insurance and employee benefits data, has launched its Card Scanning API, to enable applications to programmatically identify the provider-network of users from their insurance cards.

The health insurance card scanning API solution is claimed to help in solving the tough problem of most members not knowing their health insurance network.

For those who make applications with any kind of provider search or referral functionality, the problem which appears to be a simple one has been a gating factor to a great user journey and the right information, said Vericred.

Michael W. Levin – Vericred CEO said: “As fewer health insurance plans offer out-of-network benefits, and those costs have continued to soar, finding an in-network provider is more critical than ever. Yet most people simply don’t know their network, so finding an in-network provider is very challenging.

“By extracting the network ID from an image of a user’s insurance card, we enable digital health and insurance apps to easily surface in-network doctors, hospitals, and other facilities.”

The Card Scanning API is said to empower provider search and doctor appointment apps, benefits administration platforms, and other digital health firm to develop seamless digital experiences, which easily and accurately connect users to the in-network providers they need.

Vericred claims that its new API is particularly important in the wake of the COVID-19 break. With the use of telehealth growing and when a physical visit to a doctor or hospital is warranted, it is important that patients are referred to an in-network provider, said the data services company.

In response to the prevailing coronavirus crisis, Vericred is providing the card scanning API to its partners at no cost through the end of the year.

To use the Card Scanning API, the end-user has to upload an image of his or her health insurance card to a digital health app. Following this, the digital health app transmits the image to Vericred through the Card Scanning API. Vericred’s API then identifies and returns the network ID of the user. The application then by using the network ID, searches for in-network providers and facilities.

  Card Scanning API, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health insurance, Insurance industry news, Michael W. Levin, USA, Vericred