SwervePay has acquired StatPayMD, a Chicago startup that developed an app to help patients better understand their out-of-pocket costs before and after a medical visit, according to a company statement. The growth-stage healthcare billing software developer didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal.
SwervePay’s approach provides a way for patients to pay medical bills through one-click payments by text message without a portal or app. In February, the company closed a $10 million Series B round led by Garland Capital Group.
StatPayMD, previously named Symbiosis, graduated from Blueprint Health’s accelerator in New York. It is currently housed at the incubator and shared workspace MATTER. It takes the view that the biggest obstacle to reliable cost estimates is the time it takes to obtain accurate benefits data. The company’s combination of technology and direct partnerships with insurance companies gives it access to relevant and accurate eligibility data from health plans.
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By making it easier to understand what patients owe and why, StatPayMD believes it will positively influence patients’ satisfaction with their providers.
In a brief phone interview with SwervePay spokeswoman Saramaya Weissman, she said StatPayMD’s team will join SwervePay, bringing its staff count to 20.
The demand for technologies that help healthcare providers to collect bill payments easier and faster seems to be rising as hospitals feel the pressures of healthcare reform and payment model changes.
Update Stats from Mercom Capital Group indicate that here were three billing company acquisitions in the first quarter of this year compared with two for the same period in 2015. Last year, there were 12 billing acquisitions altogether.
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Mercom Capital Group CEO and Co-founder Raj Prabhu noted that it categorizes billing as a subset of revenue cycle management and, most of the time, RCM companies offer Billing as a secondary offering. “Based on historical data, Billing transactions this quarter are in line with previous years,” Prabhu said in an emailed statement.
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