Waystar, a leading provider of healthcare payments software, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Patientco, a leading provider of omnichannel patient payments, communications and engagement software. The combination accelerates transformation in the healthcare industry and dramatically improves the patient financial experience. Together, Waystar and Patientco will offer patients consumer-friendly experiences when paying medical bills, while simplifying how providers receive and process payments both before and after care delivery. The combination is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.
Waystar offers an enterprise, cloud-based software-as-a service that simplifies and unifies healthcare payments, processing nearly a trillion dollars in healthcare claims annually. Patientco provides a holistic view of the patient’s financial journey operating within both acute and ambulatory provider HIT and treasury ecosystems. Patientco’s platform facilitates more than $2 billion in patient responsibility annually and provides estimates, payment plans, financing options, financial education and counseling, and consolidated statements to more than 30 million patients. The new combined company will offer one of the most comprehensive healthcare payment platforms in the country.
“Waystar’s purpose is to simplify healthcare payments. 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.” said Matthew Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer and board member of Waystar. “Patients are more responsible for their healthcare expenses than ever before, and they expect modern, consumer-friendly interactions from healthcare providers and insurers. Together, we will further simplify how patients engage with healthcare providers and provide transparency, empowerment and ease of use that needed to plan and pay for healthcare. Providers will benefit from increased patient satisfaction and fuller reimbursement.”
“Patientco is proud to be joining forces with Waystar, which will enhance our technology with more accurate patient estimates, streamlined billing and increased propensity to pay,” said Bird Blitch, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Patientco. “The combination of our technology and resources brings true transformation to healthcare payments by optimizing the financial experience for both patients and providers.”
In 2021, Waystar’s platform was named Best in KLAS for Claims & Clearinghouse. Waystar is also ranked first in the industry for patient payment technology by Black Book Research. In 2021, Patientco received a Best in KLAS designation for Patient Financial Engagement Platforms.
The rise in high deductible plans and out-of-pocket patient payment responsibility combined with the lack of transparency, inaccurate cost estimates and confusing bills has led to patient distrust and lower likelihood of patient payment collection. As such, provider reimbursement takes an average of 90 days, with providers collecting an average of 30-50% on patient balances. According to a recent Waystar survey, more than half of patients surveyed have received an unexpected medical bill and 81% said knowing the actual out-of-pocket cost would make them more likely to seek care. When patients know up front what they will owe for care and have convenient, modern and flexible payment options, providers are better able to build patient loyalty and collect full reimbursements.
While others focus on either patient access or provider reimbursement, Waystar will now offer leading-edge technology for both. Combining Patientco’s leading patient payments technology with Waystar’s financial clearance product suite, artificial intelligence and claims data on 40 percent of the U.S. population will enable patients to experience true price transparency. This combination provides patients with accurate payment estimates before they receive care, consumer-friendly payment options and payment plans tailored to best suit their needs and preferences, increasing patients’ likelihood to pay for care and increasing overall satisfaction with their experience. At the same time, providers will be reimbursed faster, fuller, and at a lower cost.
“Waystar has an exceptionally strong management team and a proven ability to integrate acquisitions. Our investor group has significant financial resources, which enables us to support the Waystar team in pursuing strategic deals of this nature,” said Eric Liu, Partner and Global Co-Head of Healthcare at EQT. “We are delighted with this combination as it advances Waystar’s mission to simplify healthcare payments.” Waystar is backed by EQT, CPPIB and Bain Capital, and Patientco is backed by Accel-KKR and The Blue Venture Fund.
Formed in 2017 through the combination of revenue cycle market leaders Navicure and ZirMed, Waystar has integrated several transformational technologies onto its cloud-based platform. Other recent acquisitions include eSolutions, a leading provider in Medicare-specific revenue cycle technology solutions; Recondo, a patient estimation and prior authorization AI and RPA-driven technology; PARO, a presumptive charity scoring solution; Ovation, an AI-powered claims monitoring tool; and Connance, leveraging predictive analytics to offer agency manager, advanced propensity to pay (AP2P) and presumptive charity.
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