We can finally put a name to the thing striking fear to the health care establishment: Haven.
The secretive new venture, created by corporate titans Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase to transform health care for their employees, has gone without an official name for more than a year.
It was nameless when a well known doctor was appointed last summer to run it. It was referred to only as ABC or ABJ in a recent lawsuit brought by giant health insurer UnitedHealth Group, which described whatever-it-was as a powerful potential competitor. (The venture would only say it had no current plans to compete, and a federal judge ruled against UnitedHealth.)
On Wednesday, the venture, which remains tight-lipped but insists its goal is not to make money, announced it was calling itself Haven and launched its very own website, www.havenhealthcare.com.
The name “reflects our goal to be a partner to individuals and families and help them get the care they need, while working with clinicians and others to make the overall system better for all,” according to the website.
It also features a letter from the chief executive, Dr. Atul Gawande, a well-known surgeon who writes for The New Yorker, saying the venture will advocate for patients.
Executives of Haven were not available for interviews. But in spite of its fuzzy new name and the talk of working with anyone who wants to help, Dr. Gawande underscored that the three employers are frustrated with the current system and are determined to make significant changes.
“We will create new solutions and work to change systems, technologies, policy and whatever else is in the way of better health care,” he vowed. “We will be relentless.”
Employees may feel reassured, but some of the major players in the health care industry are likely to remain very unsettled.
