ELMWOOD PARK, NJ – Emdeon Corp. will soon be rolling out an initiative to help connect payers and providers with an electronic payment and remittance service.
Emdeon is planning to roll out the service in about six states in the second quarter of this year, focusing on states where it has significant presence with both payers and providers. It announced the service at the annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in New Orleans.
“We want to demonstrate that we can be successful with this,” said Gary Stuart, executive vice president for Emdeon.
Only a small percentage of payments are transferred electronically, due in part to the fact that the vast majority of payments and remittance advice statements are delivered to providers on paper. As a result, payers shoulder substantial materials, postage and call center expenses.
The Emdeon solution will allow providers to search, view and print remittance data through its Web-based tool, automate payment posting, enhance denial management, access self-service tools and provide online billing and payment options.
Stuart said Emdeon’s service will lower payers’ costs, improve accuracy and enhance provider and member satisfaction.
“We’re helping providers with the move to consumer-directed healthcare,” he said. “We’ll give them the tools to assess their health plans.”
Emdeon hopes its penetration with payers and relationships with providers will allow it to enable electronic communication between them in resolving claims.