HealthEdge and Zelis Launch Healthcare Payments Partnership

Digital healthcare platforms HealthEdge and Zelis have formed a partnership centered around healthcare payments.

The collaboration, announced Thursday (Aug. 15), leverages HealthEdge’s core administrative processing system (CAPS) and Zelis’ Advanced Payments PlatformSM (ZAPP) to enhance the efficiency, accuracy and transparency of healthcare payments.

“Health Plans have many challenges, including expanding to new markets, adopting value-based care payment arrangements, meeting evolving industry regulations, and more,” Alan Stein, chief product and strategy officer at HealthEdge, said in a news release. “Plans must maximize member cost savings and streamline the payment process to make it more efficient.”

According to the release, the collaboration builds on an existing partnership between the two companies, combining HealthEdge’s cloud-based platform with Zelis’ single-hub payments and data solution streamlines workflows to minimize custom code, “and supports a seamless payment process.”

“ZAPP is the industry’s first integrated payments and communications platform delivering digital conveniences and experiences that benefit payers, providers, and members,” said Yusuf Qasim, president, payments optimization at Zelis. “In partnership with HealthEdge, we can help resource-constrained health plans modernize their payments experience and seamlessly scale into new markets and reach providers and members without further implementation.”

Zelis introduced ZAPP in May, saying it can help payers process high volumes of claims payments and communications, while also simplifying payment experiences for both providers and members.

“We’ve created an innovative platform that can scale based on a client’s needs, helps them stay compliant, provides modern offerings, and reduces friction among payers, providers and members,” Qasim said in a news release at the time.

By managing communications and payments across modalities like the automated clearing house (ACH) network, virtual credit cards and check, ZAPP reduces operational costs for payers and provides quick and seamless payments and communications for providers and members, the release added.

Of the consumers who hold an online membership with a digital healthcare- or wellness-related portal, 48% told PYMNTS Intelligence that online channels improve at least one part of the overall payments and billing management experience, according to the report, “The Digital Platform Promise: How Patients Want to Streamline Healthcare Payments” a collaboration with the healthcare payments firm Lynx.