605 - The Cost of Care: Improving Transparency and Access in Australian Healthcare

In this episode of Talking Health Tech, host Peter Birch sits down with Jacomi Matthews, founder and CEO of GoTo.Health, to discuss the urgent need for price transparency and improved access in Australia's healthcare system. Matthews shares his personal experience of enduring a debilitating back injury that led to 29 months of weekly chiropractic care, during which he faced significant challenges in finding affordable, accessible care. This personal frustration sparked the creation of GoTo.Health, a platform that offers real-time payment processing, upfront pricing transparency, and guaranteed payments to clinics—solving dual problems of patient affordability and clinic revenue loss from cancellations and no-shows. The platform leverages a model inspired by Uber’s payment system, enabling instant settlement and reducing financial friction for both patients and providers. With data showing that nearly half of Australians delay medical appointments due to cost, and with clinics losing up to 26% of weekly appointments to cancellations and no-shows, GoTo.Health aims to cut friction across the healthcare ecosystem. The company is already live with 41% of its clinics operating fully self-service in under two minutes, and is preparing to integrate health insurance gap fee visibility into its booking flow by late June 2026. Matthews also discusses the fragmented nature of the Australian healthcare market, the resistance from some insurers, and the growing interest from major American healthcare conglomerates, signaling potential for international expansion. The conversation highlights systemic issues in Australia’s healthcare delivery, including outdated pricing models, lack of consumer choice, and the strain on emergency departments due to preventable delays. Matthews argues that the real competitor isn’t other digital platforms, but the telephone—because patients still default to calling clinics due to poor digital experiences. GoTo.Health’s strategy is bottom-up, starting with allied health (where 98% of practice management systems are cloud-based), then expanding to GPs and specialists. The company’s roadmap includes new PMS integrations, real-time gap fee visibility, and a pilot with 21 GP super clinics in Southeast Queensland. With a strong focus on eliminating friction for both patients and providers, GoTo.Health is positioning itself as a neutral, scalable infrastructure layer that benefits the entire healthcare ecosystem. The episode closes with a call to action for listeners to join the Talking Health Tech community and support innovation in health tech.