The technology will allow providers to proactively reach out to patients with personalized price estimates through an omni-channel patient engagement platform.
Patients will have access to pricing estimates, eligibility verification, and payment options that are built into a pre-visit technology platform thanks to a new partnership between Waystar and the patient engagement tech company Cedar.
Cedar's patient engagement platform enables customized outreach, messaging, and bill resolution to patients. The solutions it's incorporating into its platform will draw from multiple data sources and use AI to check insurance eligibility and generate automated, accurate patient estimates before their appointments.
According to the companies, Waystar's technology will allow providers to proactively reach out to patients with personalized price estimates through Cedar's omni-channel patient engagement platform.
Cedar says its pre-visit price estimates and payment options will be available beginning in early 2021. CMS' hospital price transparency rule goes into effect January 1, 2021.
A patient survey from Cedar showed that approximately 60% have tried to get out-of-pocket costs from providers ahead of care, but 51% didn't get it easily or accurately.
Rather than seeing the new price transparency rule as a threat, health system executives can approach it as an exciting opportunity to improve patient satisfaction, retain existing patients, and attract new ones.
"[T]he price transparency rule represents a paradigm shift in how consumers will seek healthcare," Cedar co-founder and CEO Florian Otto said in a statement. โThere is a profound opportunity here for providers to engage more patients in more meaningful ways and enable price understanding."
Alexandra Wilson Pecci is an editor for HealthLeaders.
