Australian healthcare booking platform Goto.health has appointed Debbie Paterson as head of product, with an initial focus on improving allied health referrals and patient booking processes.
Ms Paterson joined the Sydney-based company in July, bringing more than a decade of experience in health technology across startups, accelerators and corporate venture capital.
She is leading Goto.health’s product strategy, including a care plan referral pilot with Australian health technology company Kestral Health.
The pilot aims to track allied health referrals from the point a GP sends them through to patient booking, matching patients with practitioners based on clinical needs, availability, location and cost.
It combines Goto.health’s booking technology with referral support from Kestral Health to help patients find suitable practitioners and ensure clinics receive referrals they can accommodate.
Goto.health CEO and co-founder Jakomi Mathews said the appointment would support the company’s plans to simplify the referral and booking process for patients and practitioners.
“We’re putting the patient at the centre of that next phase, whether they’re referred to us through our care plan pilot or come to Goto.health organically to find care themselves,” Mr Mathews said.
“Debbie’s focus will be on making that journey simpler from the moment someone needs care to the moment they’re booked with the right practitioner, while making sure we’re building an experience that works just as well for the practitioners on the other side.”
Ms Paterson said patients often faced difficulties finding allied health practitioners who met their clinical needs, had available appointments and were affordable.
“Getting a referral from your GP is often the easy part. The hard part is finding an allied health practitioner with the right experience for your condition, who is close to home or work, has availability when you can step away for 30 to 60 minutes, and fits your budget,” she said.
“Too many people give up at that stage, and cost is often the biggest barrier.”
She said providing patients with upfront pricing that accounted for Medicare eligibility and private health insurance could help them make decisions about accessing care.
Goto.health is expanding its allied health practitioner network across Queensland ahead of a planned national expansion.
The company operates a pay-per-booking model for participating practices rather than charging monthly software subscription fees.
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