New Payments Tool Links Health Care Providers, Collectors

After more than a year in development, Connance, Inc., formerly Healthcare Analytics, is launching its first product – a Web-based platform that allows large health systems to automatically place health care receivables with collection agencies and oversee the work the agencies do on the accounts.

Connance chief executive Stephen Farber said the Agency Manager system will be unveiled later this month at HFMA’s 2008 ANI Conference in Las Vegas. He said the developer of collection manager tools based Agency Manager on products Fair Isaac currently offers to credit card and telecommunications companies to help them manage their receivables. Fair Isaac, for-profit hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp., and venture capital firm North Bridge Venture Partners each invested $10 million in Healthcare Analytics (“MedFICO Will Find Those ‘Most Likely to Pay’: Developer,” Dec. 20, 2007).

Farber told insideARM that Agency Manager brings visibility and control to agency activities and processes and it provides performance results for the agencies working on healthcare accounts, Farber said.

“The problems the health care industry faces with massive growth in self-pay and all the difficulties and complexities are not that different than the problems already addressed in the telecom and credit card industry. … But no one stepped up to provide a solution,” Farber said. He added that although Agency Manager is new to the health care industry its applications are “already proven, live and has demonstrated benefit.”

Farber said health care systems will use Agency Manager by connecting via the Web through Connance, which in turns connects to numerous collections vendors. Agency Manager keeps track of all patient activity that the agencies perform on behalf of the health care system, including any payments made to the hospital and agencies, and lets the health care provider know if the agency is complying with the terms of the contract it entered into the system.

“Hospitals spend tremendous amounts of money and effort trying to keep the patient happy,” Farber said. Agency Manager “significantly reduces the chance of (agencies) doing something that is dissatisfying or frustrating,” to customers. Meanwhile, a health care provider can use the system to evaluate which agencies are best at collecting on specific accounts and automatically route those accounts to the best providers.

Farber ticked off several other features - there are no upfront or equipment costs to connect to Agency Manager; it is now available; collection agencies can be connected and still subcontract work to other collectors on a pay-as-you go basis.

Pricing is determined base on the volume of accounts and number of agencies a provider interacts with on the system.