WAUSAU Financial Systems Enables Financial Institutions to Easily Enter Health Care Market

MOSINEE, Wis., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders of most financial institutions recognize that the $2 trillion health care market represents immense opportunity for revenue growth, but fear the costs and operational commitment required. Many also feel they truly don't understand the industry and complexities of health care data processing.

WAUSAU Financial Systems has developed an outsourced health care remittance processing service that makes it easy for financial institutions of any size to process complex commercial health care payments without investing in the technical infrastructure, people and expertise required to build this capability.  

"Our message to financial institutions is simple – no more excuses," said Charlie Gibbons, WAUSAU executive vice president, Strategic Business Development. "The sheer size of the health care sector makes it impossible to avoid, and there is tremendous pressure from senior leadership to jump in. There's no need for anxiety or delay, as WAUSAU provides a turnkey, scalable solution that allows for easy setup with minimal resources required."

Health care providers face the challenge to improve the quality of care while reducing costs, many of which are generated by inefficient billing practices often transacted through paper:

• According to the Medical Banking Project, more than 20 percent of national health care expenditures originate from an endless, ubiquitous paper chase. That represents an annual expense of more than $300 billion. If the industry were able to electronify and simplify the payment and remittance processes, it is projected that there would be at least a $35 billion annual savings to the U.S. health care industry.
• Considering explanation of benefits (EOB) paperwork alone, it is estimated that health care providers spend $45 billion annually processing these items. The cost for handling a single EOB is between $3.30 and $9.50.
• The majority of the nation's 30 billion annual health care transactions involve multiple parties, all of which have special requirements. Meanwhile, adoption of electronic claim processing has surpassed adoption of electronic remittance transactions, in an environment that lacks standardization.  

"Financial institutions look at this market and see many challenges," Gibbons said. "With the proper tools and support, these challenges can become golden opportunities."

Benefits for health care providers include:

• The ability to get paid faster for payor payments that account for 90 percent of the provider's revenue
• Automation or reduction in time and effort to reconcile and post accounts receivable transactions
• Reduction in operational costs without having to change existing banking relationships
• Allocation of resources to better managing receivables, which frees up time to process and manage denials, and helps identify where processing errors occur
• Less exposure to fraud and embezzlement
• Minimal additional staffing required

"More broadly, this solution enables financial institutions to deepen existing business relationships and improve revenue while building a larger client base due to an enhanced reputation," Gibbons said. "Institutions that are able to add to their product suite and break into this market will have a distinct competitive advantage going forward."

The Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Service integrates with remittance software from WAUSAU Financial Systems, and is available whether the financial institution processes remittances in-house (with ImageRPS® or integraPAY®) or outsourced through the WAUSAU Financial Systems' Outsourcing Center headquartered in Boston.

About WAUSAU Financial Systems

WAUSAU Financial Systems is a premier provider of payment and receivables processing solutions, helping businesses of all types move money faster. With its products, services and consulting, WAUSAU works with customers to speed check processing, electronic presentment, ACH payments, transaction processing, distributed capture and enterprise content management. WAUSAU holds the No. 1 market share position in retail and wholesale remittance processing solutions. WAUSAU processes more than $1 trillion in payments each year through its work with more than 650 organizations, and maintains more than 30 percent of all U.S. lockbox volume. The company works with 13 of the 25 largest financial institutions, 42 percent of insurance companies with more than 5 million customers and 24 percent of utilities with more than 100,000 customers. More than 200 financial institutions use WAUSAU's remote deposit capture service, and industry consultants Celent and Aite have ranked WAUSAU's remote capture functionality above all competitors. For more information, visit www.wausaufs.com.  

SOURCE WAUSAU Financial Systems