SAN FRANCISCO – Helping providers maneuver their way through the intricacies of healthcare payments has always been one of the goals of RelayHealth. Now the McKesson subsidiary, which offers a portfolio of financial clearance and settlement services for hospitals, health systems and physician practices, is looking to complete the loop with consumers.
Uncompensated healthcare costs providers more than $31 billion a year, so simplifying payment options for consumers offers hospital CFOs some immediate benefits.
McKesson’s announcement last month that it is acquiring HTP, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of healthcare compensation services, “fills a nice gap” in the healthcare payment continuum, says Dave Mason, vice president and general manager of RelayHealth Provider Solutions.
“It’s a great bridge for the consumer, and for hospitals and physicians,” says Mason, pointing out that RelayHealth focuses on the back-end financial clearance services and HTP focuses on front-end clarification. “That whole bundled approach is going to be important to us.”
HTP’s software solutions, including RevRunner and MedRunner, connect providers, health plans and financial institutions and are designed to promote timely reimbursement for patient services, ranging from verification of insurance eligibility to the maintaining of payment plans for self-pay balances. Such services are particularly important in the tracking and resolution of uncompensated healthcare, which was estimated by the American Hospital Association at $31.2 billion in 2006.
According to Ray Shealy, HTP’s president and CEO – who will become vice president and general manager of RelayHealth following the acquisition – today’s healthcare environment centers on the patient being an educated consumer.
To that end, he says, HTP helps to create credible bill estimates for healthcare patients and offers links to resources that would help them pay their bills.
Meanwhile, RelayHealth, with services that include ePREMIS claims management and the Patient Compass online business office, “allows (healthcare providers) to work accounts receivable in a more intelligent process,” Mason says. Hospitals want to know who’s paying the bills and how they’ll be paid, he says, as well as determining what to write off as uncollectible.
“The healthcare revenue cycle market model is shifting from collecting payments after the visit to a more retail-oriented approach, beginning before the patient actually arrives to receive care,” said Pamela Pure, president of McKesson Technology Solutions, in a press release. “We can now provide the tools and financial information needed to support patients and their care providers as they plan, receive and manage the financing of their care. Providers are pleased with HTP’s unique subscription approach that enables them to take full advantage of financial services as often as necessary without fear of exceeding their operational budgets.”
HTP’s RevRunner helps healthcare organizations organize financial assistance for patients needing help with their bills and coordinates insurance payments and compensation.
The company’s MedRunner software supports healthcare information exchange networks and is currently being used by the Utah Health Information Network and Ohio Medicaid.
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