Billtrust Helps Radiometer America Convert 51% Of Its Customers To eBilling In Just Six Months

HAMILTON, N.J., June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. healthcare system is arguably in the midst of the biggest challenges it has ever faced. Heavily impacted by internal and external forces alike, the industry is in urgent need of dependable, cutting-edge solutions that increase both efficiency and quality of care.

This drive for greater performance isn't lost on Radiometer America, the U.S. division of Radiometer, a global provider of acute care testing equipment. With thousands of hospitals, clinics and labs nationwide using its blood gas analyzers and other diagnostic devices, Radiometer is continually looking for ways to improve workflows; in fact, its devotion to kaizen principles has made it one of the world's leading lean companies in the medical diagnostics sector.

In late 2013, Radiometer America set out on an ambitious path to transition from printed customer invoices to an electronic invoice and payment system. Dan Herchick, Radiometer America's Collections Manager, instituted the move, understanding that eBilling is the wave of the future.

"Many of our accounts are as interested in improving efficiency as we are. Delivering invoices to the correct department, navigating multiple layers of approvals, executing payments—it's a hugely complex process for our customers," he observed. "Electronic invoicing and payment are the best ways to be cost-effective, environmentally responsible, and organizationally efficient."

To help facilitate the move to eBilling, Herchick brought in Billtrust, a premier provider of outsourced billing services. In addition to a print billing and mailing network that spans eight distribution centers across North America, Billtrust offers a broad array of electronic billing and payment capabilities. Of particular interest to Herchick was Billtrust's partnership with OB10, a leading global B2B eInvoicing network.

"One of our largest account groups is a part of the federal government. Congress has passed legislation requiring all healthcare vendors to process invoices through OB10 by the end of 2015," Herchick stated. "By connecting with OB10 through Billtrust we meet those requirements along with supporting other accounts that have similar needs."

Billtrust's AP Connect technology makes the connection to AP systems like OB10, Ariba and AvidXchange possible. "AP Connect eliminates the hours each week needed to manually key data into the system," said Herchick. "Now, invoice data is filtered, formatted and transmitted directly into OB10. It allows our customers to pay quicker through electronic means."

Another key area for Radiometer America was providing its customers with a convenient online option for billing. They took advantage of Billtrust's Invoice Central service, an online portal where their customers can receive, review and pay invoices across multiple vendors. Invoice Central gives Radiometer's customers the ability to pay many of their vendors electronically, as well as download invoices into common accounting packages such as QuickBooks.

In mid-December 2013, Radiometer America began offering these new eBilling options to its accounts. "At every opportunity we asked our customer contacts, 'Do you have an eInvoicing system we can send to?' Most of the time the answer was 'Yes'," Herchick noted, adding that his company also worked with Billtrust to create marketing messages for use on their invoices do build awareness and usage of electronic billing.

Giving customers multiple eBilling alternatives has been a remarkable development for Radiometer America. More than 17% of the company's accounts switched to electronic invoicing and payment in the first month; by May 2014 that number had grown to over 51%. "Our goal for the first year was 60%. We expect to easily surpass that," said Herchick.

"Not only have our printing and postage costs gone down, but our DSO numbers have dropped as well," Herchick observes. "With electronic delivery, everyone on the customer side has online access to invoices. We no longer have to wait for a paper invoice to make its way through the system. Approvals take less time—and there are fewer chances for mix-ups and delays. At every step of the process, efficiencies are captured. Considering how complex the payment process can be in the healthcare industry, the benefits of eBilling for us have been huge."

About Radiometer
Radiometer Medical ApS, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a world leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of technologically advanced acute care testing solutions. Radiometer's products and services simplify and automate all phases of acute care testing, so hospitals can get fast results, reduce workload and the risk of errors, and improve cost effectiveness. A wholly owned subsidiary of Radiometer Medical ApS, Radiometer America (Westlake, OH) markets, sells and services Radiometer products in all 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces.

About Billtrust
Headquartered in Hamilton NJ, Billtrust is a premier provider of outsourced billing solutions. Its products and services help companies' billing practices become "Customer-Centric," a concept that emphasizes flexible accommodation of customer needs. Billtrust's billing channels span paper, fax, e-mail, online billing (EBPP, EIPP, Invoice Central), AP systems, eBanking and IVR. In addition, the company provides expert bill design, in-bill marketing services, and CustomerCare, an integrated online customer service portal. Billtrust's comprehensive tools automate the billing process so businesses can save money, increase productivity, improve cash flow, and seamlessly migrate to electronic delivery. For more information, visit Billtrust online at www.billtrust.com.

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