Meridian Health taps Patientco for revenue cycle, touts payment tools

Meridian Health, a New Jersey-based nonprofit healthcare organization, has revamped its patient payer interface by enlisting Patientco, a revenue cycle technology company.

The electronic payment overhaul allows patients to access their financial obligations, red plain-language billing statements, track past and current balances and make payments through clearer paying tools.

"We thought we had a need for better patient communications in the form of a statement that was more legible," said Marilyn Koczan, vice president of financial services at Meridian. "We had been using the same vendor for several years. Although we didn't have any problems at all with the vendor, we wanted something that would be in color and have the electronic capabilities that Patientco had."

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The change, she said, makes it easier for Meridian to comply with Payment Card Industry standards, a set of guidelines ensuring that any company storing or transmitting credit card information maintains them in a secure fashion.

It also makes things easier for consumers, particularly when it comes to the language used in the billing process.

"The statements we were sending … were in language that was not necessarily patient language," said Koczan. "It was language that we internally understood because we've been using those descriptions for years. But when we took a hard look at it, we thought it would be too difficult for a patient to understand. Too technical.

"Even our insurance plan descriptions, what (patients) were seeing in the past was what we used in the billing office, and not necessarily what the patient would connect to."

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Meridian has not received any bill inquiries through customer service since the new system was implemented on Jan. 1.

"Consumerism, combined with increased patient financial responsibility, is creating a unique shift where organizations must work with patients to help them better understand, manage, and pay their bills," said Patientco CEO Bird Blitch in a statement. "We are looking forward to our partnership with Meridian."

Positive changes due to the partnership are already afoot. Meridian was recently notified by its telecommunications department that there were flaws in its automatic voice response system in terms of PCI compliance, and that a solution had to be found within a couple of months. Patientco was notified, and had a solution ready within 24 hours, allowing patients to submit their credit card information through the Patientco system, which was already PCI compliant. 

Twitter: @JELagasse