Emdeon Asks the $30 Billion Question

Introducing the U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index™
“What would you do with $30 billion?” This question sparked a groundswell of intrigue at the recent Healthcare 2.0 conference in San Diego. Purveyed on buttons and business cards at the event, this hypothetical inquiry alludes to the dollar value assigned to the cost of the healthcare industry’s voluminous inefficiencies as it lumbers toward becoming electronically-based. A guerrilla website—www.save30billion.com—supplemented the messaging, concurrently touting the $30 billion question to curious participants and putting a spotlight on a must-address issue for the industry.

For those of us who’ve worked in healthcare any length of time, it may be hard to fathom there’s $30 billion (with a “b”!) of business inefficiencies in our industry. Of course, we know the transition is far from complete, and there’s always room for improvement...but $30 billion worth? Aren’t we ceaselessly implementing technology or upgrading systems to accommodate a new mandate, fulfill a market demand or streamline revenue cycles?

And if there’s still a $30 billion chasm—even after all the electronic evolutions, solutions and changes, how can we ever be sure we’re making real progress?

Enter the U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index™.

The U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index is “an industry forum for monitoring the business efficiency in healthcare.” The Index, already online at www.ushealthcareindex.com, is poised to be the singular source for tracking the transition of our system from paper to electronic transactions.

This innovative forum—and the intriguing $30 billion question that was its precursor—are the brainchildren of Emdeon’s leadership team. Though the Index was born of Emdeon’s unwavering commitment to electronic efficiency, it is established, guided and advised by some of the nation’s most respected, authoritative experts from the healthcare industry and beyond. The charter advisory council includes the likes of Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation. Renowned statisticians Dr. Fritz Scheuren and Dr. Patrick Baier are creating processes for data gathering, analysis and reporting for the Index.

Emdeon’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy Miriam Paramore serves on the Index’s advisory council and is a passionate advocate of the need for awareness and action.

“So many business leaders and policy makers assume that billing and payment related transactions have been ‘fixed’ and are fully automated, but that’s not so.” Paramore explains. “For example, when we tell people that medical payment transactions alone could create $11 billion in annual savings through direct deposit, they’re blown away. They had no idea there was such need for improvement.”

The Index is launching in phases to accommodate increased specificity over time. Phase 1 is focused on the potential savings for medical claims-related transactions. Future phases will address pharmacy, dental, vision and Worker’s Compensation. In addition to the tracking of financial data, the Index also follows environmental impact as the industry moves away from paper usage to electronic transactions. Information will be updated quarterly.

Log on and sign up. Visit the "Get Involved" page of the website to sign up for regular updates and opportunities to participate.

Advisory Council Roster (to date)
Fritz Scheuren, Ph.D.
Scheuren–Ruffner

Patrick Baier, D.Phil.
Milliman, Inc.

John L. Phelan, Ph.D.
Milliman, Inc.

Andrew Naugle, MBA
Milliman, Inc.

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, MA, MHSA
THINK-Health
Health Economist and Author

Newt Gingrich
Center for Health Transformation

Miriam Paramore
Emdeon


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Bring Your Green Ways to Work

We've all heard about the need for consumers to 'go green'. A new emphasis on conservation and sustainability continues to pop up in almost every industry as people want to know that their goods and services, no matter how big or small, are being produced responsibly and with the environment in mind.

While these market forces push large corporations towards high-profile green practices and heightened social awareness pushes consumers towards the same, small businesses, and especially healthcare practices, have a different set of concerns and considerations. For many, there is the perception that going green is expensive. In some cases, such as adopting alternative energy options or utilizing equipment made from sustainable materials, this can be true. However, there are also many areas where what is good for our environment is also good for your bottom line.

Here are a few tips to help make your healthcare practice greener while making it more efficient:


Save energy when possible—If you can turn off more lights, adjust the thermostat at night and switch to energy efficient halogen bulbs, you'll save on your energy bill and ease the burden on your local power grid.

Reduce driving—whether it's consolidating trips to the bank, the office supply store or for lunch if your practice pays for fuel at any point reducing the mileage driven helps your bottom line and the environment.

Power down—According to Time Magazine* setting computers to power down after 15 minutes of inactivity can cut its use by 70%, which not only saves energy, but can lengthen the life of many computers.

Ditch the paper—migrating manual and paper processes to newer and more efficient electronic ones can drastically reduce the amount of paper, ink and other materials your healthcare office uses every day while increasing productivity.

When it comes to ditching the paper, you need the right partner. Emdeon has the solutions to help you convert your paper registration, claim and payment processes to electronic ones. From the first patient encounter through the final payment and billing processes, Emdeon can help you save time and money while reducing paper waste and costs. Below are some Emdeon solutions that could help your practice:

Emdeon Officecan make sure your claims and eligibility transactions are not only paperless, but in real-time and more accurate than the manual alternative.

Emdeon Vision for Claim Managementlets you view the status of your claims submitted through the Emdeon network from almost any payer easily from the computer you already use.

Emdeon Payment Manageruses electronic funds transfers for claim payments to give you faster access to you funds and reduce burdensome accounting tasks.

What makes Emdeon a vital partner for healthcare practices looking to move beyond paper and realize more revenue is how our solutions work together. The information you collect on the front-end during patient registration is utilized to ensure accuracy and exhaust all payment options throughout the entire process.

How often do you get the chance to make your practice greener, and create efficient processes that increase your revenue? This is that chance. With Emdeon you'll be able to create a greener healthcare practice for you and your patients, all while saving time and money.

To learn more call Emdeon today at 866.369.8805, or visit us online at emdeon.com.

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2008 Product Enhancement & 2009 Outlook

Emdeon Office Enhancements Launched in 2008

Credit card processing—We now have the ability to accept credit card transactions in Emdeon Office. After a 2-3 day enrollment process, users will be able to hand-key credit/debit card numbers for payment amounts up front. We are working on a card swipe functionality to pre-populate the card number coming in Q1.

Online provider enrollment forms—new feature allows the provider to enroll themselves electronically with the payer through an online form. This does away with the previous method of printing the document, completing then faxing. Now the user simply fills in the required fields and submits the request to the payer electronically.

BCBSMA claim upload adjustments—This feature allows a user to attach a file (max 11MB) to the claim adjustment email from BCBSMA.

Contract administration/user management enhancements—We've added more capabilities to the contract administrator to across the locations underneath their contract. New capabilities include: edit/create new locations, user search and edit primary contact, edit user information, lock/unlock, activate/deactivate, unlock a locked user as well as control all reports the user receives…the user in turn will have the ability to select which Emdeon Office reports they choose to receive.

ERS—Mail system. We have made some updates to improve the usability of the system to handle more like an Outlook or email program should. Highlights include: cross folder searching, folder sharing and overall appearance improvements.


Emdeon Office Enhancements Expected for 2009

NPI in ICE—We are adding a new field in our claim entry screen to accept NPI. This is estimated to be available in Q1.

Patient Responsibility Estimator (PRE)—Combines eligibility and paid claims data to generate an estimated payment the patient is responsible for at the point of service.

VAR self enrollment for claims/RT—This will be an enrollment enhancement providing the ability for a customer using a sponsored payer portal to upgrade their Emdeon Office account to an all-payer version of office for real-time (will be able to access virtually instantaneously) and to upgrade to be able to submit claims. Claims will still require the normal customer mapping process to begin submitting.

Office style revamp—We are updating the Emdeon Office interface to a more updated look and feel.

Address report verification and credit score—This will be a credit transaction with a focus on bad debt. The transaction will verify and return the patient’s most current address for provider records, as well as a credit report for the provider to use in determining the patient’s ability to pay before service is rendered.Read More >>

New POS Device Available

Emdeon is now offering a new POS device. The new Vx570 POS machine not only offers all standard POS functionality such as verifying eligibility for Medicaid and Medicare and credit card processing, but it also provides connectivity to all payers in the Emdeon network. The Vx570 also has the option of connecting via the Internet for faster transactions without tying up a phone line.

Call us today at 866.369.8805 for more information on the new Vx570 POS device.

New Payers On-Board

New payers added this quarter
Emdeon is pleased to announce the following payers as part of our constantly expanding network:

• AmeriChoice of New Jersey - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Assurant Health - Claims
• AssureCare Inc. - Claims
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama - ERA
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon (Regence) - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Dakota - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross of Idaho Health Services Inc - ERA
• Blue Grass Family Health/SRRIPA - Claims
• Corporate Benefits Service Inc. (NC) - Claims
• Evercare - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• FACS Group - Claims
• Federated Benefits - Claims
• Federated HR Services - Claims
• Global Healthcare Alliance - Claims
• HealthSpring - Claims
• Highmark Medicare Services - Claims
• Integra Group - Claims
• John Alden Life Insurance Co. - Claims
• Medica - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• MEDICAL DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL - Claims
• MEMIC - Claims
• Midwest Security - ERA
• Missouri Mcare Part A WPS - ERA
• Molina Healthcare of California - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Florida - Claims
• Molina Healthcare of Indiana - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of New Mexico - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Ohio - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Texas - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Utah - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Molina Healthcare of Washington - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Network Health Insurance Corp-Medicare - Claims
• Oxford Health Plans - Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PacifiCare of California - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PacifiCare of Oklahoma - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PacifiCare of Oregon - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PacifiCare of Texas - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PacifiCare of Washington - Claim Status Inquiry and Response, Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• PHP of Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• PHP of Mid-Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• PHP of South Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• PHP of Southwest Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• PHP of West Michigan - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• Physicians Mutual Insurance Company - ERA
• Secure Horizons California - Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• Time Insurance Company - Claims
• TRLHN/AU - Claims
• TRLHN/EB - Claims
• Union Security Insurance Company – Claims

See the full list >>

For a complete list of the payers in our network, visit our website.