It’s Friday afternoon, and you suddenly remember that you weresupposed to make plans for date night. You pull up Yelp to find arestaurant, use Google to locate a movie theater nearby, and maybebrowse Metacritic to read reviews and select a film that you andyour date will enjoy. In just a few minutes, the tickets arepurchased, the reservation is confirmed, and you can feel confidentthat you’ve made good decisions.

Now let’s consider another scenario. You’re at the park whenyour child comes running up to you with a bee sting that isswelling badly and appears to be getting worse. You again pull outyour phone and hit Google to find the nearest hospital or walk-inclinic. Are any of these providers covered by your plan? Are theygood at treating allergic reactions? You have no way to check, soyou go to the nearest one and hope for the best.

On the surface, these two scenarios – planning an evening outand responding to an urgent medical situation – may seem unrelated,but they represent two common consumer experiences. The differencebetween them underscores one of the most important challengesfacing American businesses today: Empowering individuals to makebetter decisions about their health care.