Ethan Smith sat down for a chat with Vladimir Fridman, the founder and CEO of Plan Truth, an innovative platform where users can share their experiences with their healthcare provider, to learn more about what keeps the innovative entrepreneur motivated.
Vlad, I’m not very familiar with healthcare insurance – can you explain to me what Plan Truth is, and what it does?
“Plan Truth is the only place you can visit on the web to learn specifically about each healthcare plan in your state. It’s a forum where consumers can come together with healthcare providers to share their healthcare plan experiences and rate how well their plan meets their needs.”
And this covers any type of health insurance?
“Our website covers the main insurance programs in each state like Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare, and private insurance too. If someone wants to learn more about Medicare, or about a specific insurance provider like BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna, Humana, or any specific plan, they just select the state they live in, and whether they’re a patient or provider, and they can review each major plan offered in that state.”
That actually sounds extremely useful. What made you decide to venture out and become an entrepreneur?
“I am a cardiologist by practice, and every year I am asked hundreds of times: ‘what’s the best health insurance for me?’ I had no way of answering this, and there’s not a lesson on insurance in medical school, so I turned to the internet to learn more about the options out there. I couldn’t find much, but after a little more than a decade, I’ve learned a lot about the insurance world, and felt that I had to do something to help. It is such a disservice to anyone not to know their own insurance plan, or what their deductible is.”
Entrepreneurship plus cardiology sounds pretty intense. Do you have any advice to give to someone that aspires to be an entrepreneur?
“If I were to say anything, I would say to learn a specific field first, then try to change it or innovate it. For example, if I wanted to change the way air traffic control worked, that would not be possible. After more than ten years of actual practice in medicine, I learned how the field really works – so then I started seeing ways I could improve it. How do you know what needs to be fixed if you’re not in the nitty-gritty? You have to look at the status quo and your set of skills before you can really determine what needs to be fixed.”
For more information, visit plantruth.com, and expect the updated site to launch Q4 of 2017.