RCM Vendors Scooping Up Patient Payment Companies

Revenue cycle management (RCM) vendor Waystar recently announced that it plans to acquire Patientco, in the latest deal between an RCM vendor and a patient payment company.

Waystar, which offers healthcare payment and RCM solutions, shared publicly late last week that it has a definitive agreement to acquire the provider of omnichannel patient payments, communications and engagement software. The RCM vendor intends for the combination to boost the patient financial experience by offering users consumer-friendly options for paying medical bills. The options are also simplified for healthcare providers collecting the payments, according to the announcement.

Waystar also said the acquisition of Patientco would provide transparency into the patient payments process, resulting in greater patient satisfaction and provider reimbursement.

Together, the companies would process nearly $1 trillion in healthcare claims annually.

“Patientco is the perfect partner for Waystar because it helps us transform the patient financial experience and significantly reduce wasteful administrative costs, which are the biggest pain points in healthcare," Matthew Hawkins, CEO and board member of Waystar, said in the announcement.

The acquisition deal isn’t the first between an RCM vendor and a patient payments company. Earlier this month, R1 RCM Inc., a provider of technology-driven patient and provider financial experience solutions, completed the acquisition of patient payments platform provider VisitPay.

“We are pleased to welcome the VisitPay team to the R1 family,” Joe Flanagan, president and CEO of R1, said in the July 1st announcement. “We look forward to integrating VisitPay’s capabilities with R1’s functionality to transform the payment experience for patients.”

The R1-VisitPay deal had similar objectives as the latest deal between Waystar and Patientco. R1 stated that the combination of the companies would improve the patient financial experience and healthcare cost transparency using personalized, simplified avenues for paying and collecting patient financial responsibility.

Another company that scooped up a patient payments company in an effort to optimize patient financial experience was Cedar. The healthcare financial technology platform revealed in May that it entered a definitive agreement to acquire OODA Health, a healthcare technology company focused on reducing friction in the patient payments process.

“This acquisition comes at a time when consumer-friendly, digital-first experiences have become a hallmark of the healthcare experience, especially given healthcare consumers are getting more exposure to the billing process, and their financial burden has skyrocketed in recent years,” Cedar explained in its announcement.

Patient payment collection is a hot-button issue for healthcare providers right now. Patient financial responsibility has been on the rise as of late, with the popularity of high-deductible health plans and out-of-pocket spending trends.

However, patient financial responsibility has also become a major care barrier for patients, especially with a lack of healthcare price transparency. The increase has also impacted healthcare providers.

“[P]rovider reimbursement takes an average of 90 days, with providers collecting an average of 30-50% on patient balances,” Waystar reported.

RCM vendors are tapping patient payments technology to solve the challenges of patient financial responsibility for both providers and their patients. Patients are demanding more digital engagement when it comes to paying for their bills, according to two separate surveys from PatientCo and Visit Pay. They are also seeking more payment flexibility and cost transparency in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Engaging patients financially not only promotes self-care and better health outcomes, but it also benefits a health system’s bottom line,” the VisitPay survey report stated.

“As adoption increases and more patients self-service their payments, health systems can recognize efficiencies across the entire revenue cycle ecosystem. Greater patient engagement and clarity in the financial process translates to increases in payment yield, and an opportunity for health systems to mitigate at least some revenue degradation caused by COVID.”