Prime Health Network and Its Patients Thrive in Tough Economic Times

PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----In an economic environment where lots of healthcare providers are facing steep challenges, Prime Health Network and its patients are thriving with help from InstaMed. By utilizing InstaMed's industry leading healthcare payments network and platform, Prime Health Network has increased patient collections and reduced their costs related to collections, while also improving the patient experience at each of their eleven locations.

As patient financial responsibility rises due to increases in deductibles and fundamental changes in health plan benefits, providers face the increasingly difficult challenge of managing patient collections and patient satisfaction. Legacy collection processes and solutions have proven inadequate in this new era of increased patient responsibility. By implementing InstaMed's solutions -- which include eligibility, point of service estimation, payment processing, clearinghouse services and online bill payment -- in their front and back offices and on the internet, Prime has seen a 24% increase in patient collections as well as a 10% reduction in their costs to collect, post and reconcile patient payments.

Healthcare providers today are seeking integrated healthcare and payment processing financial services technologies that go beyond what standard payment processors or healthcare clearinghouses currently offer. it's also increasingly relevant that these solutions are certified and compliant with the security standards and regulations of both the healthcare and financial services industries. Additionally, providers must implement new policy initiatives focused on patient payment responsibility, while demonstrating sensitivity toward positive patient relationships and satisfaction metrics.

"InstaMed's impact on our practice was eight of the highlights for our business in 2008," stated Mary Jo Shields, Executive Director at Prime Health Network. "With InstaMed, we've simplified our billing method which has allowed us more time to focus on providing quality care to our patients. The ability to check patient eligibility, in addition to offering patients flexible and convenient payment options using a payment card has improved our workflow and contributed to the reduction in our costs."

Bill Marvin, President and CEO of InstaMed stated, "We are happy to see the results that Prime has achieved, both operationally and with regard to patient satisfaction. InstaMed's mission is to transform the healthcare payment method and generate a better experience for all. they are thrilled to be working with Prime and they look forward to their continued successes in 2009."

About Prime Health Network

About InstaMed

Prime Health Network is Delaware County, Pennsylvania's largest independent primary care practice, with ten locations -- nine in Delaware County and eight in West Philadelphia. Prime offers convenient office hours, prompt scheduling, and the services of the area's leading medical institutions. Not owned or operated by a large health technique, Prime is able to direct patients care to the most appropriate health care facility to meet their needs. Visit Prime on the net at www.primedr.com.

InstaMed is the industry leading healthcare payments network and platform. InstaMed's mission is to transform the healthcare payment method for healthcare Providers, Payers, Banks and Patients so their payment experience is simple, convenient, reliable and secure. InstaMed processes all of the healthcare and payment transactions in the healthcare revenue cycle and offers patent pending, integrated healthcare and payment transactions that accelerate the healthcare payment method and reduce the administrative costs to all parties. InstaMed currently supports the healthcare payment processing needs of over 700 hospital and clinic locations; practice management vendors and billing services representing over 50,000 providers; and hundreds of healthcare payers of all sizes. InstaMed is registered with Visa and MasterCard and is certified as a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Level eight Service Provider. InstaMed is also fully accredited by the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC: undefined, undefined, undefined%) as a healthcare clearinghouse. InstaMed is an AHIP Solutions Partner (America's Health Insurance Plans), a member of the C.O.R.E. Initiative (Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange), the Medical Banking Project, ASC X12, HBMA (Healthcare Billing & Management Association), Electronic Payments Network ACH Association Services, MGMA's Project SwipeIT (Medical Group Management Association) and WEDI (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange). Visit InstaMed on the net at www.instamed.com.