MedMatch wins Rep. Chris Deluzio’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania’s 17th District

When asked what inspired the creation of MedMatch, the student said, “The inspiration for creating MedMatch came from my personal experiences with my nanny, who has struggled with a variety of medical issues, including Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and a Herniated Disc. Every time we talked, she would mention how difficult it was for her to find a physician who could effectively address her conditions. I found this surprising, especially in today’s digital age, where I assumed Google or other search engines would make the process easy. However, she explained that despite spending hours searching online, she could never find the right doctors or specialists.

This issue isn’t just hers—many patients end up turning to their primary care physician (PCP) for referrals. Unfortunately, PCP offices are overwhelmed with patients and receive hundreds of referral requests daily. In fact, when I spoke to my local PCP office about the situation, they confirmed that the problem had become so severe that they had to assign two full-time staff members to handle referrals all day long. Even so, the process remains slow and ineffective, leaving both patients and doctors frustrated.
  

The situation highlights a gap in the healthcare system. PCP offices don’t have a fast, objective, or efficient way to find specialists, and patients are stuck in a cycle of waiting and uncertainty. This led me to the realization that a solution combining technology and healthcare was needed to streamline the process of finding doctors.

I have always been passionate about the intersection of computer science and healthcare, and this project felt like the perfect way to bridge that gap. I saw an opportunity to create an app that would not only help patients like my nanny quickly find the best specialists in their area, but also assist overburdened PCP offices in managing referrals more efficiently. MedMatch was born from this vision—to provide a tool that simplifies the search for doctors and specialists by using technology to deliver quick, objective, and convenient results.

This project not only addresses a real need in the healthcare system, but it also allows me to combine my interests in coding and healthcare, making it something I am passionate about. ”