Health Care

An App I'd Never Heard of Told My Patient I Was a Good Surgeon

Giving patients, and markets, more power in the healthcare system leads to better results.

Jeffrey A. Singer | 10.7.2026 12:25 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

(Illustration: Mariam Zakaidze)

I recently saw a patient in my clinic who told me she made an appointment with me because I was a highly rated surgeon—at least according to her Garner app. 

I had never heard of Garner.

So I looked into it. I discovered that a private company had been analyzing my performance without my knowledge, comparing me with other surgeons and steering patients my way. Naturally, I was happy to learn that Garner considered me a good surgeon. But I was curious about how it decided which doctors were good.

Garner Health is part of a growing industry that helps patients navigate the healthcare system. Companies such as Included Health, Quantum Health, and Transcarent help patients navigate benefits, coordinate care, obtain second opinions, and find providers. Others, such as Carrum Health, direct patients to designated centers of excellence for major procedures. Consumer-facing platforms such as Healthgrades and Zocdoc also help patients choose doctors by using factors such as patient reviews, credentials, and convenience.

Self-insured employers purchase Garner's service and offer it to their workers as a benefit. But rather than relying primarily on patient reviews, reputation, or hospital prestige, Garner analyzes vast amounts of insurance claims data to identify individual doctors who achieve better outcomes at lower overall costs.

Garner says its database includes more than 60 billion........

© Reason.com