SUNY New Paltz alumna Julia Yilmaz ‘23 (Sociology) came home from a study abroad experience in France with one key takeaway: The U.S. healthcare system has lots of room for improvement.
“I knew when I came back that I had to learn more about the state of healthcare in this country, and how to fix it.,” she said.
That experience was the impetus for an Honors Program thesis project that saw Yilmaz apply social science techniques and her computer science minor to develop a technological tool that might help more people like her access healthcare coverage that works for them.
“People are told that if they’re feeling unwell, they can just go to the doctor and be fine,” she said, “but it’s often hard to find a provider that takes your insurance, and that becomes an issue.”
The result? A prototype website Yilmaz named “Bloom Policy,” designed as a resource for people having trouble navigating the complexities of their health insurance plans. The vision for this tool is that users will provide answers to a few simple questions related to their healthcare needs and their insurance situation, and be provided with comprehensive guidance.
“Whether you are an individual or business owner, I wanted to create a platform that offers answers for any questions you might have about coverage,” she said. “I truly believe there is nothing like this out there right now.”
The design of “Bloom Policy” came together in part through Yilmaz’s engagement with the communities she hopes to serve. She conducted qualitative research, interviewing New Yorkers about the health policy they were most concerned with, and found respondents frustrated with how health insurance websites often lacked updated information about providers, insurance plans and drug coverage.
“No matter where people are from, they faced negative effects from our current healthcare system that could have so easily been avoided,” she said.
Now that she has graduated, Yilmaz is taking the next step in making “Bloom Policy” a reality: pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on technology.
“I want to create change by solving real-world problems with technology, and this is the right path for me to take,” she said.
Click here to learn more about the Department of Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz
