Rising StarMatt Morse Promises to Reduce Employer Healthcare Costs with Health314

When was the last time you purchased a product without knowing how much it cost? We do it all the time when we seek medical care, but according to Matt Morse, founder of Health314, there’s no reason for this baffling lack of transparency. His software helps patients make informed consumer decisions, and in turn, reduce their employers’ healthcare costs.

Here’s more from Matt:

What was the spark that inspired the birth of your concept?
Working as a healthcare consultant, I see the inefficiencies and dysfunction of healthcare from the inside. Over time, I made a list of all the problems that I had identified, and more importantly, potential solutions.

What problem are you solving?
Our software solution solves the problems of no price transparency in healthcare spending, lack of education about how healthcare works as a consumer purchase, and lack of financial incentives to make good financial decisions.

How did you come up with the name?
Health314 is a reference to pi, 3.14. Discovering that ratio was an “Aha!” moment, just like the revelation that we now have the ability to change the illogical and inefficient healthcare equations that govern American healthcare.

How are you better than your competition?
Frankly, there isn’t a lot of work being done in this area. Most of the friction and heat focuses on complaining instead of actionable solutions. It’s a huge market.

How do you make money?
We charge an implementation set-up fee for our software solution and then a per member per month (PMPM) subscription that is a small percentage of the total savings that a company will gain on a recurring basis. It’s practically free.

What’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur?
You can be your own boss.

What has been the biggest surprise in your entrepreneurial experience to date?
That not everyone is as excited about my idea as me.

Your biggest success?
Two amazing sons.

Imagine your venture becomes wildly successful. What does that look like?
Our venture will become wildly successful because we have excellent product-market fit and we solve a real problem. That success looks like a large Portland-based firm serving clients in every state.

Do you think Oregon is a good place to start a business?
The main challenge is that we are at the edge of the continent when it comes to business travel. But otherwise, Oregon is an outstanding place to launch a startup business. Our ecosystem is wide and deep, although we take it for granted. I travel nationally for business and I can tell you that Portland is the exception, not the rule