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December 15, 2008
First Access and Competitive Health Receives Award
"Best Innovative Design"
2008 Consumer Health World
Mission Viejo, CA, December 15, 2008 --- First Access, owner of US Patent
7, 346,522 and Competitive Health, a California-based marketing company received "Best Innovative Design" by Consumer Health World. The
Consumer Health World Awards recognize excellence and advancement in the health and wellness industries.
Competitive Health offers the first proven automated point of service system that provides real-time payment , on-demand PPO and plan information.
With the advent of high-deductible, limited benefit programs, consumer directed plans and health savings accounts, the collection risk for physicians has risen considerably. At the same time, patients with deductibles can be miss-billed as physicians seek to collect at point of service without knowing the appropriate health plan discounts.
"In a nutshell, our re-pricing system takes the mystery out of determining how much the patient owes for their visit at the point of service," said Kim Darling, founder and president of Competitive Health, Inc. Darling initially invented the re-pricing system in 1996 for the uninsured network discount card business, but later extended its application to health insurance plans.
The Company's simple approach uses the telephone and internet to allow providers to immediately determine a patient's eligibility, identify the PPO network, calculate network discounts and electronically send to a prepaid or debit card platform. "This means that in the world of consumer-directed health plans, patients are assured of getting their network discounts and providers can properly charge patients," Darling explained, "The patient's financial obligation to the provider can then be automatically debited from their health savings, health reimbursement or flexible spending accounts using a benefit payment system debit card."
Competitive Health is currently performing the re-pricing function in more than 450,000 physician locations nationwide.
"Solving the receivable problem for providers is going to be critical to the long term adoption of HSAs", said Kimberly Darling. "High deductible plans risk creating substantial physician and patient dissatisfaction unless appropriate amounts can be charged at the point of service without having to wait weeks or months for full claims adjudication. Competitive Health's system will be an important component for broader payment offerings for consumer-directed programs."
Competitive Health, Inc., based in Mission Viejo, California, was founded in 1996 and is the first and only company to provide a proven automated patient payment responsibility and network information real-time solution to the healthcare marketplace. Utilizing multi-media, this solution includes facsimile, IVR, VRU, Internet and XML technology. Competitive Health has over 450,000 providers in the system today across 35 networks. Visit www.competitive health.com for more information
First Access, Inc. was founded in 2000 with a commitment to supporting the movement toward greater consumer choice in and responsibility for employee benefits. Its primary asset US Patent 7,346,522 can be licensed to payment technology companies and healthcare organizations that desire to use a real-time information highway system that communicates with all healthcare providers. No special hardware, software or training is necessary. First Access's technology creates a bridge between traditional benefit structures and the evolving consumer-directed benefits movement.
Visit www.firstaccessdata.com for more information.
April 7, 2008
Competitive Health, Inc. Receives Patent for Medical Payment System Technologies that Determines What the Patient Owes the Provider at the Time of Service and Intelligently Routes Real-Time Information for Limited Benefit Program, Health Reimbursement (HSA) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs)
Mission Viejo, CA, April 7, 2008 --- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Competitive Health (CH) an important patent for its breakthrough technology used in the repricing of healthcare transactions at the time of service. The company’s patent, U.S. Patent 10/338,965, titled “Medical Payment System,” refers to the system and method CH developed for real time repricing and auto-adjudication of healthcare transactions prior to authorizing payment. This patented process ensures that the true “net” payment is made only after eligibility, PPO pricing, scheduled benefits and/or deductible history are determined real-time and eliminates the need for the patient to pay gross billed charges, reduce receivables for providers and reduces the need to file a paper claim. The system is widely used by CH’s clients and permits 100 percent electronic repricing of transactions like physician office visits, lab, dental, and other ancillary providers.
“Competitive Health has made substantial investments
in developing auto-repricing and auto-adjudication technologies
for the prepaid card and insurance industries and we are pleased
that the U.S. Patent Office has recognized the novelty of
our approach. This patent validates our position as the technology
leader in electronic repricing and auto-adjudication services,”
said Kimberly Darling, founder and CEO of Competitive Health.
“consumer-directed benefit programs, limited benefit
programs, hospital indemnity programs, and healthcare providers
all benefit from our advanced technology. CH’s patented
real-time, auto-adjudication technology validates the insureds’s
transaction prior to payment, providing maximum cardholder
convenience, savings and lower administrative costs for carriers,”
she said.
About Competitive Health
Competitive Health, Inc., headquartered in Mission Viejo,
California, began operation in 1996 with a mission to provide
innovative and intelligent payment solutions for the limited
benefit and consumer-directed benefits marketplace. Its primary
product, First Access™ repricing solution, applies eligibility,
PPO fee schedule repricing, deductible history, indemnity
office visit benefits, patient and/or carrier payment, multiple
fee schedule hierarchy technology including percentage of
medicare fee schedule repricing, real-time secondary PPO network
identification and patented auto-adjudication technologies
to the limited benefit, indemnity, and non-logo secondary
PPO and HSA marketplace.. CH’s have other patents that
are pending. Competitive Health intelligently routes data
and provides real-time solutions to more than 35 managed care
and administrative services organizations. Visit www.competitivehealth.com
for more information.
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