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Guide to the Turquoise Connector (MCP)

Connect your preferred AI tool directly to the data sources that power AskTQ. Once connected, your AI tool can securely access Turquoise data, starting with Clear Rates.

June 11, 2026
Guide to the Turquoise Connector (MCP)

The Turquoise Connector is an MCP server that connects the AI tool of your choice to the healthcare pricing data behind AskTQ, Turquoise Health's AI assistant. It can help you:

  • Query Clear Rates directly from your AI tool. Fetch and analyze rates across hospital/facility, professional, lab, drug, and device data with insight into specific geographies, providers, payers, and billing codes
  • Explore payer and provider organizations, including their corporate hierarchy, product lines, geographic footprint, and health-system affiliations, via Turquoise's healthcare knowledge graph.
  • Bring Turquoise data into your own workflows. Because it's a standard MCP server, the same connection works in chat assistants, coding agents, and any custom agent workflows your team builds.

Before you start

Turquoise Connector uses OAuth for authentication, and connects using your Turquoise account that you already have. That means that once you connect, your AI tool of choice will open a browser to make sure you’re logged in to Turquoise.

  • Make sure you have an Turquoise account with AskTQ and Clear Rates access. If you can sign in at https://turquoise.health and use AskTQ, you're ready.
  • You need an AI tool that supports remote MCP servers like Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or VS Code. Setup instructions for each are below.
  • The tools you see follow your organization's data access. For example, the device rates tool only appears if your organization has access to Device Rates.
  • All Turquoise Connector tools are read-only. Your AI tool can query Turquoise data, but it can never modify anything in your platform account.

Available tools

Set up the MCP Server

Server URL: https://mcp.turquoise.health/mcp

Online and in applications

Claude Desktop (macOS/Windows)

If you have a Pro, Team or Enterprise account, you or your Claude admin can add the AskTQ MCP via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.

Paste the URL and click Add: https://mcp.turquoise.health/mcp. Claude Desktop will handle the OAuth flow in-app.

Claude.ai (web)

You or your Claude admin can follow the same process as Claude Desktop above via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. AskTQ MCP will work in chat and projects.

OpenAI

OpenAI supports remote MCP servers as Connectors. The web and desktop apps share the same connector config. Set it up once, it follows you across both.Prerequisites

  • Make sure your ChatGPT plan allows custom connectors
  • Make sure you have Developer Mode enabled in Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode (toggle on). This is what unlocks any custom MCP URLs vs. only OpenAI-curated connectors.

For developers

You can also use the AskTQ MCP in various dev environments with minimal setup.

Claude Code

Run claude mcp add claude mcp add --transport http ask-tq https://mcp.turquoise.health/mcp in your terminal.

Cursor

Add the following JSON snippet to your ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project) file.

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "ask-tq": {
        "url": "https://mcp.turquoise.health/mcp"
      }
    }
  }

VS Code

Add the following JSON snippet to your .vscode/mcp.json file.

  {
    "Servers": {
      "ask-tq": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "https://mcp.turquoise.health/mcp"
      }
    }
  }

Prompt your AI tool

Once connected, ask questions in plain language and your AI env will pick the right Turquoise tool. A few examples:

  • "Using AskTQ, what's the average negotiated rate for CPT 99213 at physician groups in Texas, grouped by payer?"
  • "Compare hospital rates for MS-DRG 470 across health systems in New York.
  • "What do labs in California get paid for a comprehensive metabolic panel (CPT 80053)?"
  • "Which states does UnitedHealthcare operate in?"

Results follow your organization's data access so make sure to use a state or market your subscription covers.Tips for better results:

  • Include the code system with billing codes: say "CPT 80053" or "MS-DRG 470" rather than a bare number. The same number can exist in multiple code systems.
  • Name the care setting: Hospital/facility, physician/professional, lab, drug, or device — so the right data source is queried.
  • Scope your geography to a state or metro area to keep results focused.
  • Ask for grouping when comparing; e.g., "grouped by payer" or "average by network type."

Troubleshooting

Wrong organization? If you belong to multiple Turquoise Health orgs, your AI MCP connection will use the last one you have used on the platform.

Authentication issues? Please make sure you can sign in at https://turquoise.health normally before attempting to use the MCP server.If you still have issues, select the “clear authentication” option from your AI tool and try again.

No results, or a missing tool? Results and tools follow your organization's permissions and data scope. If access was recently added, the tool list refreshes within a few minutes.

Who can use this

Available to Market Intelligence, Contract Intelligence, Precision Contracting, or historical paid data customers. You'll need an AI tool that supports remote MCP servers such as Claude (web or desktop), ChatGPT, or developer tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and VS Code.

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