Leading analyst firm recognizes innovative companies in health care technology
PORTLAND, Ore. – SpendWell HealthTM, an e-commerce marketplace for health care services, announced today that it has been named a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner in the April 24, 2015 report titled Cool Vendors in Healthcare Payers, 2015 by Jeff Cribbs, Constance Sjoquist, Robert H. Booz, Benoit J. Lheureux. The report highlights innovative vendors, products and services in health care technology—which serve as leading indicators into new trends in the health care payer market.
SpendWell’s solution delivers the next generation of health care online shopping—going beyond just showing the estimated costs of services. Instead, SpendWell’s unique e-commerce platform displays real-time buy now pricing information from health care providers and allows insured shoppers to purchase services directly from them. While payers and employers are already making price transparency tools available to consumers, adoption of these tools has been historically low. According to the Gartner report, “to drive consumer adoption, the market needs to think more expansively about the ways medical shopping can create value for consumers.”
SpendWell brings insured consumers and providers together in an online marketplace that makes health care as simple as shop, compare and buy. With clear, upfront pricing, SpendWell eliminates confusion and helps make the process of buying and selling care easy for both consumers and providers.
As more companies move toward high-deductible health plans, SpendWell’s marketplace provides an effective solution for employees struggling with rising health care costs—giving them a way to shop for routine care at competitive prices. Employees can search and select providers based on cost, quality, location and more—helping them make more informed, wallet-wise health care decisions. In addition, SpendWell provides employers with a tool for helping their employees better manage their health care spending, while still receiving quality care. A wide range of services is available for purchase in SpendWell’s marketplace, including primary care, urgent care, laboratory tests, imaging, alternative care, behavioral health and more.
For providers, SpendWell’s benefits-integrated platform helps reduce collection risk, payment lag time and overhead. SpendWell minimizes the typical administrative hassles associated with eligibility verification, claims and billing by leveraging electronic and automated services. As a result, providers typically list their services at 9-20% lower than their negotiated fee schedule. That means providers can offer a better experience at more competitive prices to thousands of shoppers in the SpendWell marketplace.
“SpendWell is honored to be recognized by Gartner as an innovator in the health care space,” said Marcee Chmait, President of SpendWell. “By combining price transparency, an easy-to-use e-commerce platform, real- time eligibility checks and claims adjudication, we’ve developed a smart solution for tackling the challenges facing employees, employers and providers in the new health care landscape. We’re delivering the right technology at the right time, with the aim of making health care better for all.”
With clear value propositions for employees, employers, health plans and providers, SpendWell delivers an innovative approach to health care—encouraging transparency, improving accessibility and increasing affordability. While SpendWell is currently only available to Cambia Health Solutions employees, it will soon offer the service to employer groups and health plans nationwide. For more information about SpendWell, visit SpendWellHealth.com.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
