McKesson (NYSE: MCK) today announced its new payor-direct initiative focused on providing the most comprehensive connectivity in the healthcare industry to streamline financial interactions, dramatically reduce administrative paperwork and increase collaboration between payors and healthcare providers. The offering is available through RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, which provides interactive connections between physician practices, hospitals, pharmacies, payors and consumers. The RelayHealth payor-direct initiative removes intermediate steps that exist today between payors and their provider networks in the financial transactions process. The initiative includes a full complement of services to speed and shorten processes for financial clearance, financial settlement, claims administration and processing, and physician-patient webVisit® consultations.
Pamela Pure, president of McKesson’s RelayHealth business, expects the initiative to reduce costs and improve cash flow for both providers and insurers. “With our model of expanded connectivity and value-added services, we expect the payor-direct initiative to accelerate growth while better serving our customers,” said Pure. “Because we deliver more than traditional EDI, health plans will gain a competitive advantage by offering services that increase member and provider interaction and satisfaction.”
The payor-direct initiative offers customers the ability to submit claims directly to the payors in their network rather than first passing them through an intermediary. Today the RelayHealth network processes more than one trillion dollars in healthcare billing transactions annually. RelayHealth also provides real-time support for providers to electronically verify insurance eligibility, validate patient addresses, check their credit, and determine whether a patient qualifies for charity care or Medicaid. From a patient care perspective, physicians on the network can complete online webVisit consultations with their patients and obtain reimbursement from payors. Payors benefit from being able to communicate more effectively with their provider networks and enable more timely claims submission and reimbursement.
In December, RelayHealth will begin sending electronic claims directly to Aetna, one of the nation’s leading healthcare benefits companies. “Aetna is continually searching for new ways to use technology to provide value-added benefits that will improve the quality of service for our network providers,” said Paul Marchetti, Head of National Networks and Contracting for Aetna. “The payor-direct initiative reduces points of failure, reduces claim processing time and improves the speed of claim payments to providers.”
In addition to offering direct connectivity to payors, RelayHealth also announced an expanded relationship with Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS), which will provide RelayHealth network customers with direct access to Medicaid and health plan eligibility data for more than 2 million transactions per month. “This partnership will enable both of us to offer expanded services to providers on the RelayHealth network,” said Christopher T. Deelsnyder, senior vice president and managing director, ACS Government Healthcare Solutions at ACS. “RelayHealth, the new leader in payor connectivity, is a trusted and established partner with whom we can develop a long-term relationship.”
By connecting health insurers directly to providers, RelayHealth reduces the administrative burden associated with providing good care. Payors should find the process of information-sharing easier to implement and can offer their provider network and members a more cost-effective method to exchange information.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth is McKesson’s vendor-neutral connectivity services company. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical, financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors, pharmacies and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing, point-of-service pharmacy claims resolution by payors, pre-visit patient financial clearance by providers, and post-visit provider bill settlement by payors and patients. RelayHealth operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity and integration among all organizations, systems, and solutions. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at www.relayhealth.com.
About McKesson
McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is a Fortune 18 healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes and improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson is the longest-operating company in healthcare today, and will mark 175 years of continuous operations in 2008. Over the course of our rich history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.
Contacts:
Leslie White, 404-338-3729
leslie.white@mckesson.com
