PayStream Advisors Developing Electronic Claims Settlement Guide for Healthcare Finance Professionals

CHARLOTTE, NC – Of the $2 trillion spent on healthcare in the United States each year, PayStream Advisors Inc. (www.paystreamadvisors.com), a financial automation research and consulting firm, estimates that between $300-400 billion is spent on non-value adding paperwork and administrative overhead. Over the past decade, automation has transformed the claims processing landscape by shaving off almost $6 billion dollars from the claims submission and adjudication processes.

Unfortunately, however, this transformation is yet to touch the last stage of the healthcare claims process – payment – where approximately 90 percent of payments between insurers (payers) and hospitals (providers) are still mired in error-prone and expensive paper checks.

But all this is about to change.

Based on the recent acceleration of e-payments in other industries and the alignment of technology, regulations, and uniform standards in healthcare, healthcare claims payments via paper checks may soon become a thing of the past, paving the way for electronification of the payment process.

PayStream Advisors Inc. is currently developing a comprehensive vendor analysis report and buyer’s guide for finance professionals who are seeking information about automated processing of healthcare claims payments. This report, Electronic Claims Settlement (ECS): A Buyer’s Guide to Payment Services for Healthcare, and a companion report, ePayments and Consumer Driven Healthcare: A Buyer’s Guide of Payment Services for Healthcare Providers, will be published in the second quarter of 2007. These publications will provide valuable insights into emerging trends in the settlement of healthcare payments and help providers leverage the use of advanced tools and processing services to optimize claims remittance.

Claims administrators, information technology managers and treasurers at insurance companies will find this information particularly helpful in optimizing payment operations through improvements in managing claims payments and/or control of provider payment processes. The report will explore benefits such as reducing the number of lost or stolen checks and stop payments, to improve overall operation efficiency.

Accounts receivable, remittance and collection managers at healthcare provider organizations will also see benefit, in improving claims payment management and remittance operations.

PayStream Advisors will also host several related web seminars on electronic claims settlement solutions during the 2nd and 3rd quarter 2007, offering an overview of ECS solution benefits and case studies.

For more information or to reserve a copy of the forthcoming report, please contact Meredith Wiggs, Marketing Manager at 704-523-7357 x223, or via email at mwiggs@paystreamadvisors.com.

PayStream Advisors delivers unbiased, third-party market trend information, assessments of financial automation technology and innovative ideas to business leaders in consumer billing, finance and treasury, accounts receivable and accounts payable. Call 704-523-7357 or visit www.paystreamadvisors.com for more information.