Zelis Acquires Payspan to Expand Connected Healthcare Platform

HealthTech company Zelis has completed its acquisition of Payspan, a provider of healthcare and electronic payment and reimbursement automation services. 

The combination of the two companies will bring together their capabilities in the new Zelis Advanced Payment Platform, Zelis said Wednesday (Nov. 9) in a press release. 

“Zelis and Payspan have been key players in healthcare payments, offering innovative solutions to healthcare insurers, providers, and more recently, consumers,” Zelis CEO Amanda Eisel said in the release. “These two organizations coming together brings unprecedented visibility across the financial experience that will help us unlock the most abrasive aspects of the payment process.” 

Financial processes in the U.S. healthcare system are disjointed and often challenging, the press release said. 

Zelis aims to modernize the processes with its connected platform, expanded offerings, and efficient and seamless delivery of payments among healthcare insurers, providers and their members, the release said. 

For example, Zelis’ new payments and communications platform will allow providers to choose their payment method. 

“Payspan has been providing financial solutions that empower health plans and providers for 18 years,” Payspan CEO Rob Pinataro said in the release. “We’re so closely aligned to the Zelis purpose, that this union makes perfect sense for our two successful companies, our clients and our employees.” 

Healthcare payments are at a crossroads as more decision makers opt for total transformation rather than adding digital tools in an ongoing series of point solution patches, Eisel told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in October 2021. 

“There is this inflection point,” Eisel said at the time. “So much of what we’ve talked about historically is taking cost out, and that is of course important, and particularly important here so that the cost can be deployed back into the system. It’s about how to create a better experience for the member or patient. There is a common desire to do that on both sides.”