Cloud-Based Medical Billing Software Company Kareo Launches Electronic Patient Statements & Payment Portal for Medical Practices

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kareo, Inc., the leading provider of easy and affordable cloud-based practice management and medical billing software for physicians in the United States, announced today the launch of electronic patient statements and payment portal.  The new capabilities equip medical practices to accelerate cash flow through comprehensive credit card, debit card, check processing, secure electronic patient statement delivery, and online bill pay.   These tools get the medical office paid faster while giving patients more convenient ways to pay, whether at their doctor's office or from the comfort of their homes.

"The rapid increase in medical costs paid out-of-pocket by patients is now resulting in a cash flow crisis for small medical practices," says Dan Rodrigues, the founder and CEO of Kareo.  "By making it easy and affordable to accept credit and debit card payments, send electronic patient statements, and give patients the option to pay online, we are helping medical practices take control of their growing patient receivables in order to get paid faster and more efficiently."

Here is how it works:  Medical office staff captures patient email addresses during registration.  During check out, patient copays can be processed via credit card, debit card, or check transaction in the office.  The insurance company is billed and any remaining patient balance is billed to the patient via an email notification.  Patients click through the email notification to view their bill online and conveniently make an online payment.  If a payment is not made online promptly, the patient will automatically receive a printed statement in the mail with options for making a payment online, by phone, by mail or at the medical office.  At any time, the medical practice is able to process credit cards, debit cards, and check transactions in their office or on the phone.  With pricing for the entire service at less than a dollar per day plus competitive transaction and statement fees, medical practices will experience cost savings as well as significant improvements in managing the patient-due receivables.

The shifting economics toward more patient-funded healthcare is fueling the need for tools to simplify the patient payment process. In just three years, the average medical practice has seen a 50% increase in revenue dependency from money owed to them by patients.  These patient responsible funds used to account for about 20% of the revenue and now are tracking at 30% or more as the prevalence of high-deductible plans, greater co-insurance, and under insured scenarios increase.  Medical practices simply cannot afford to overlook technology advancements aimed at aggressive, proactive management of patient-due receivables.

This announcement continues Kareo's commitment to providing solutions to solve business problems faced by small medical practices in partnership with leading healthcare solutions companies.  The online statements, payment portal, and payment processing for Kareo's medical billing software are powered by InstaMed, the leading Healthcare Payments Network for secure and compliant healthcare and payment transactions for providers, patients, and payers.  

About Kareo

Kareo is a leading provider of easy to use, affordable, cloud-based practice management and medical billing software to thousands of physicians and hundreds of medical billing companies.  Kareo's user-friendly and quick-to-implement solution enables physicians to get paid faster by storing patient records, verifying insurance eligibility, submitting electronic claims to insurers, posting electronic insurance payments, billing patients, managing accounts receivable, and much more.  For more information on Kareo, please visit www.kareo.com.  

About InstaMed

InstaMed is the leading Healthcare Payments Network connecting providers, payers and patients with healthcare clearinghouse, eligibility, estimation, patient payment and patient billing transactions on one integrated platform. InstaMed delivers payment assurance to providers, enables payers to disburse payments at a lower cost with fewer incidents of fraud, and gives patients a simple, convenient and secure way to pay. The InstaMed Network powers healthcare payments for over 200,000 providers nationally with tens of billions of dollars in healthcare payments processed. Visit InstaMed on the web at www.instamed.com.

SOURCE Kareo