Vigilant Health Compass

Inspiration

52% of US pet owners skipped necessary veterinary care last year, and 73% of those who declined treatment over cost said they were never offered a more affordable alternative. At the same time, 1 in 7 Wisconsin counties lacks an obstetric clinician or birthing facility, forcing expectant mothers to navigate rural care deserts with zero price or logistical transparency.

We realized that whether sitting in a vet clinic facing a $4,500 emergency estimate or searching for maternal care in rural Wisconsin, patients and caregivers face the exact same barrier: a lack of transparent, options-based decision tools. We created Vigilant Health Compass to eliminate hidden costs, demystify trade-offs, and turn healthcare sticker shock into informed, shared decision-making.

What it does

Vigilant Health Compass is a unified, multi-tab web portal designed to navigate complex healthcare choices through transparency and regional awareness. It targets two key domains:

Pet Care: Instead of an "all-or-nothing" quote, vets and pet owners review a dynamic Spectrum of Care ranging from Gold Standard to Phased Diagnostics and Conservative Care. Each option explicitly outlines upfront costs and trade-offs.
Women's Health: An access and resource navigator tackling Wisconsin's maternity care deserts. Users can map nearby clinics and research sites to assist with their need for a clinic and the research's need to close the data gap.
General Health and Awareness: A guide to help anyone with general awareness regarding certain health topics and clinics nearby.

How we built it

Frontend: React 19 + TypeScript (Vite), React Router, TanStack Query, React Hook Form + Zod, Tailwind CSS
Backend: Spring Boot 4 (Java 17), Spring Security (OAuth2 resource server), Spring Data JPA, Flyway
Database: Supabase (Postgres + email/password Auth)

Challenges we ran into

Figuring out what's really considered "affordable": It was challenging to structure affordability options without making lower-cost alternatives feel like "lesser care" and truly considering what one person may consider affordable over the other.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The pets tab allows for both user and veterinary access. Ideally, during a visit (or directly after), the user and vet can go through options for the pet together, offering a complete breakdown of what the costs would cover and how they would ultimately help
Pet health alerts
Providing a means for both a research gap and maternity care deserts to be aided

What we learned

Modern medical practices are shifting away from the "Gold or nothing" care
Gained insight into geographic disparities facing rural healthcare
Quick full-stack development with a database

What's next for Vigilant Health Compass

Connect directly with vet software so veterinarians can log in real time during all visits with more ease
Partner with community healthcare organizations
Anonymized research insights for users to be able to voluntarily share their care experiences, assisting researchers in closing the data gap