Cloud-based patient billing provider VisitPay is partnering with the Geisinger Health System to simplify the billing and payments process for both patients and providers.
Geisinger serves more than 1.5 million customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with 13 hospitals and a 550,000-member health plan. Boise, Idaho-based VisitPay will provide Geisinger an integrated customer service portal to help hospital employees manage patient payment obligations, customer requests and financial workflows.
Patients will receive consolidated billing statements across visits and family members. According to VisitPay, more than 50% of patients say the payment experience influences their choice of health care system.
"VisitPay is committed to developing technology that helps fulfill our mission of improving the health care billing experience for both providers and patients, and that endeavor is more critical now than ever” during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kent Ivanoff, CEO and co-founder of VisitPay, said in a Tuesday press release. “We are excited to be Geisinger’s trusted partner in helping to define a new standard of digital health care and believe that all health systems should follow their lead in recognizing the patient financial experience as an essential aspect of effective business strategy.”
In analyzing health care systems nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, VisitPay says it found that providers' daily total payments between mid-March and mid-May dropped 47%. The company says those using the VisitPay platform for payments could enjoy an increase of up to 10% in that number.
“At Geisinger our sole focus is to make health easier for the communities we serve — it is our North Star and guides all of our strategic decisions,” Kevin Roberts, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Geisinger, said in the release. “Partnering with VisitPay is the latest step in that direction and highlights our mission to make health care more accessible for our patients, especially given the financial challenges caused by COVID-19."
In addition to monitoring their financial obligations and making payments, patients using a health-system branded portal through VisitPay can also access information regarding health care in general and specifics about their health care plans.
VisitPay's investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners and Ascension Ventures. The company was founded in 2010. Geisinger, founded more than 100 years ago, operates two research centers and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, in addition to its network of hospitals and health care plan members.
