Introduction
In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies and DevReady.Ai, speaks with Leah Houston, Founder of evercred, about her remarkable journey from emergency medicine to healthtech entrepreneurship. Leah reveals how a case of identity theft and Medicare fraud exposed deep flaws in the medical credentialing system, sparking her mission to build a secure, AI-powered platform that eliminates friction and protects professional identities. Her decade-long medical experience gave her unique insight into the inefficiencies and risks of the existing 4–6-month verification process, inspiring her to leverage technology to transform how doctors manage credentials and compliance.
From Doctor to Tech Founder: A Mission Born from Crisis
After years of working as an emergency doctor, Leah uncovered inefficiencies in the manual 4–6-month verification system that frustrated both clinicians and healthcare institutions. When her own credentials were misused, she realised the vulnerability of professional data and decided to act. With the help of her Silicon Valley network, she began transforming her insight into a scalable tech solution, one that would protect professional identities and restore trust in credentialing.
Building evercred: A Doctor-Led, Investor-Backed Startup
Leah turned to crowdfunding through the SEC to raise capital and unite the medical community behind her mission. Over 600 physician investors joined the cause, becoming both stakeholders and product collaborators. Despite launching during the COVID-19 pandemic, Leah successfully led a remote development team and learned the fundamentals of software creation, architecture and startup management. Her story highlights how passion, adaptability and purpose can drive innovation in healthcare technology.
Learning Through Challenges: From Failed Builds to Modern AI Tools
Leah and Anthony discuss the hurdles of early product development, from hiring the wrong technical co-founder to rebuilding a poorly designed prototype from scratch. Drawing parallels between software development and “building a house without blueprints,” Leah shares lessons on the importance of structure, clarity and expertise in product design. Now, her team leverages modern tools such as DevSwarm and PostHog to enable AI-powered parallel development, advanced analytics and rapid iteration.
Balancing Innovation and Execution
As evercred grows, Leah continues to focus on aligning technical innovation with business goals. The platform is built to meet HIPAA-level compliance and now includes advanced OCR, expiry alerts, and upcoming AI-driven credentialing agents. Using practical analogies, such as Heinz’s multimillion-dollar investment in its iconic ketchup cap, she explains why knowing where to invest time, design and resources is crucial for startups aiming to scale efficiently.
Reimagining Healthcare: The Vision Behind evercred
Beyond credentialing, Leah’s broader mission is to create a decentralised physician network that empowers doctors to collaborate and manage care more effectively. She envisions direct payment engines and AI-enabled automation that remove unnecessary intermediaries, reduce waste and restore fair compensation for medical professionals. With an estimated 70% of healthcare funding lost to inefficiency, Leah believes evercred can lead a shift towards transparency, autonomy and equity in global healthcare systems.
Topics Covered
- Leah’s transition from medicine to technology
- Identity theft and Medicare fraud experience
- The widespread credentialing problem in healthcare
- Building evercred and raising physician-led funding
- Early startup and product development challenges
- Learning and leveraging new AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... and development tools
- Improving communication between founders and developers
- Launching evercred’s compliant, AI-driven credentialing platform
- The long-term vision for decentralised, autonomous physician networks
Important Time Stamps
- From ER to Entrepreneur: How Identity Theft Drove Dr. Leah Houston to Innovate in Healthcare (0:07 – 4:07)
- How 600 Doctors Crowdfunded a Solution to Fix Broken Credentialing (4:08 – 7:27)
- The $0 Lesson: Why Leah Had to Throw Away Her First Product (7:28 – 14:41)
- How Modern AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... Tools Transformed Leah Houston’s Startup Journey (14:42 – 18:29)
- Curiosity, Communication and Code: The Real Lessons Behind Startup Success (18:30 – 20:35)
- What Heinz Ketchup Taught This Founder About Startup Design Priorities (20:36 – 29:05)
- The Future of Medicine is Decentralised: Leah Houston’s Long-Term Vision (29:06 – 32:17)
Key Takeaways
- Leah Houston’s journey from emergency doctor to tech founder was inspired by personal experience with credentialing fraud.
- evercred uses AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... and automation to streamline verification and data security for healthcare professionals.
- Over 600 physicians invested through an SEC-approved crowdfunding model, validating the demand for change.
- Modern tools like DevSwarm and PostHog have accelerated development and improved user experience.
- evercred’s mission extends beyond credentialing — aiming to decentralise healthcare networks and empower physicians.
Useful Links
FAQs
What is evercred?
evercred is an AI-powered credentialing platform that automates identity verification, reduces administrative friction, and secures professional data for healthcare providers.
How did Leah Houston come up with the idea for evercred?
Leah’s idea stemmed from her personal experience with identity theft and Medicare fraud, which revealed major flaws in the existing credentialing process.
What makes evercred different from traditional credentialing systems?
Unlike manual, fragmented verification systems, evercred leverages AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through..., OCR, and automation to streamline the process, making it faster, more transparent, and secure.
Who supports evercred?
The platform is backed by 600 physician investors, making it a community-driven initiative focused on solving real-world problems faced by medical professionals.
What’s Leah’s long-term vision for healthcare?
Leah aims to build a decentralised, autonomous healthcare ecosystem that reduces administrative waste, enhances collaboration, and gives doctors control over their data and income.
