TransUnion Unveils Timely New Solution for Healthcare Providers

CHICAGO, IL – TransUnion, a leading global information solutions company, today announced the release of a new tool for the healthcare industry that provides information on applicable financial assistance programs to hospitals and their patients at the time of medical treatment. Along with prioritizing collectible accounts and co-payments, the TransUnion Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform identifies patients who are eligible for self-pay discount, charity care, Medicaid, SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) and other public assistance programs and then facilitates the process. The TransUnion Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform was developed along with strategic partner, ADSResponseCorp, Inc., a leader in software solutions for the healthcare industry. The new solution addresses the charge of patient advocacy groups who have recently expressed concern over the lack of assistance hospitals and other medical institutions give to self-pay patients who fund their own medical care.

“This is another example of TransUnion using our analytic expertise and data to address and solve industry-wide issues,” said Geoffrey Hakel, vice president of vertical markets, for TransUnion. “We are streamlining a process with the marriage of consumer data and financial assistance information at a touch-point when it is most needed by patients and their families.”

Leveraging TransUnion’s consumer databases and matching that information, in real-time, to ADSResponseCorp’s extensive library of financial resources in the healthcare industry, the TransUnion Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform offers hospitals nationwide the following features and benefits, many exclusive to this platform:

• Automatic navigation through the application process for public assistance funding;
• Seamless submission of Medicaid, SCHIP and various other Federal and State assistance programs, reducing time and potential administrative costs;
• Real-time authentication of patients at the time of their medical visits to reduce the risk of identity theft;
• Access to point-of-service discount tools, which provide consistency and address the public concern surrounding over charging self-pay patients.

“We have seen great benefits from this platform from day one,” said Kathy Babcock, Advocate Healthcare Patient Accounts. “With ever-increasing costs in the healthcare industry, it is more important than ever for us to use every means possible to reduce expenses and streamline procedures.”

The TransUnion Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform is also valuable to healthcare providers because it helps limit their financial liability by securing payment arrangements or solutions at the time of service. Additionally, the platform can assist hospitals in maintaining their non-profit status by conducting a prospective and retroactive screening of current and uninsured accounts from the past three years to identify bad debts that can be re-allocated to charity write-off status. This provides auditable results that help support the healthcare provider’s consistent application of its charity policy, thereby demonstrating to the local community the true depth of the charity given and providing the basis for greater reimbursement from the Disproportionate Share (DSH) program.

“As early adopters of the platform, many hospitals already have experienced up to a 35 percent increase in recovered fees,” added Hakel. “The platform is also easy to implement, requires limited training, is extremely scalable and has little, if no, impact on a healthcare providers’ current IT infrastructure.”

TransUnion’s healthcare solutions are available to healthcare providers in both the private and public sectors nationwide. For more information, please call 888-396-8361.

About TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading global information solutions company that customers trust as a business intelligence partner and commerce facilitator. TransUnion offers a broad range of financial products and services that enable customers to manage risk and capitalize on market opportunities. The company uses leading-edge technology coupled with extensive analytical capabilities to combat fraud and facilitate credit transactions between businesses and consumers across multiple markets. Founded in 1968, Chicago-based TransUnion employs 4,100 associates that support clients in 29 countries. Visit us at www.transunion.com.

About ADS Response Corp, Inc. (ADSR)
Founded in 2000, Ft Lauderdale based ADSR provides web based innovative technological solutions to address the impact of the growing self-pay uninsured and underinsured population. ADSR has developed unique patent pending effective software solutions for healthcare based on models originally deployed in personal finance. The Platform addresses two important issues in healthcare: 1) eliminating barriers to access public health programs; and 2) improving collections from those that can afford to pay their share of healthcare expense.