You must have heard about the Buy Now Pay Later scheme which especially became a talking point amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But have you heard about ‘care now, pay later’ before? In the healthcare industry, each and every patient can take advantage of this option, which allows them to pay for procedures over time with no fees or interest.
This comes at a time when healthcare expenditures in the United States have been gradually rising, and the proportion of patients who must pay out-of-pocket has risen in lockstep. Picture this, in the United States, medical debt is a $300B problem and a 2019 Gallup study showed that over one-third of all Americans have postponed medical treatment due to expense.
In order to reduce the headache of patients, PayZen, a healthcare fintech company, uses artificial intelligence to underwrite patients’ medical debt, allowing them to get treatment on time while paying the amount in instalments. This startup has secured a $15M Series A round of funding. The round was led by SignalFire along with the participation of investors such as Link Ventures and 7wireVentures. Existing investors Viola Ventures and Picus Capital also participated in the round. So far, the company has raised $20M.
The proceeds will be used to address the growing issue of medical debt and further help in enabling patients to “Care Now, Pay Later” (CNPL). The funding will also be used to expand the company’s product line, allowing more consumers to afford healthcare payment choices. The funds will also be utilised to expand the company’s marketing and business development teams.
Tech At Play
Hospitals, health systems, and major physician groups may more correctly evaluate a patient’s unique ability to pay thanks to PayZen’s AI-backed technology. All patients are eligible, and they will never pay any interest or fees, while clinicians will have complete control over the programme with no administrative cost.
The firm intends to increase its investment in AI and machine learning technologies in order to broaden its underwriting skills across financial, medical, and alternative data sets, making CNPL a reality for all patients. Many present market solutions are built for elective treatments rather than continuous care, which is an area of healthcare that is frequently overlooked, especially since the pandemic, the company said in a press note.
“Over the previous two decades, patient payment responsibility has more than doubled, putting a disproportionate burden on Americans who can’t afford huge lump sum medical invoices,” said Itzik Cohen, CEO and co-founder of PayZen. “PayZen’s objective is to make healthcare more affordable for everyone, regardless of the stage of treatment. We’re delighted to use this new round of funding to improve the quality of more people’s lives while also serving as a trusted technology partner to medical practitioners across the country.”
PayZen claims that it is set to have several major health systems and hospitals signed on by the end of 2021 in less than a year in business, including PA-based hospital Geisinger, which saw 82 percent of patients enrol in programmes and payment collection increase by 23 percent after implementing PayZen’s platform.
PayZen was launched in 2019 by Ariel Rosenthal, Itzik Cohen, and Tobias Mezger, three fintech veterans. Cohen, who is now the CEO of PayZen, was previously the CEO of consumer debt fintech Beyond Finance. With technology and a strategy, this healthcare fintech startup intends to address the growing patient payment responsibility problem.
