How we verify listings

Insurer directories are notoriously wrong. In a U.S. Senate secret-shopper study of Medicare Advantage plans, 80% of the mental health listings checked were inaccurate or unreachable. We can't fix that alone, but we can show you which listings are most likely to be real.

Where the data comes from

• Insurer provider directories. Federal interoperability rules require insurers to publish their directories as open data. We pull each insurer's in-network status and its "accepting new patients" flag directly.
• The federal NPI registry (NPPES). Every U.S. provider has a National Provider Identifier. We use it to confirm the provider is active and to cross-check their address and phone.
• Patient reports. When you call a provider, tell us what happened. Two or more recent reports of openings add a point; repeated reports of no openings drop a listing to low confidence.
• Provider confirmations. Providers who claim their profile can confirm availability directly.

The confidence score

Each listing gets one point for each check it passes:

1. An insurer lists them as accepting new patients
2. The insurer's record was refreshed in the last 90 days
3. Their NPI is active in the federal registry
4. Their office ZIP matches the federal registry
5. Their phone number matches the federal registry
6. More than one insurer lists them
7. Insurers don't contradict each other
8. Recent patient call reports confirm openings

High confidence = 5+ checks. Medium = 4. Low = 3 or fewer. Listings that no insurer marks as accepting are never shown in "accepting" results.

Some insurers mark nearly every provider as accepting new patients. When an insurer's directory does that, its "accepting" flag doesn't earn a point, and those listings can't reach high confidence unless other checks back them up.

What we don't do

We don't sell rankings. Sponsored and partner placements are always labelled, and never change a provider's confidence score or order within results.