The United States Patent and Trademark Office Grants TransUnion Patent for Healthcare Financ...( Helps defray the cost of treatin...),Health

Helps defray the cost of treating the uninsured through automated

eligibility by matching more patients to entitlement and assistance

programs

CHICAGO, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- TransUnion announced today that its healthcare financing method was granted United States Patent No. 7,333,937 on Feb. 19, 2008 for the Healthcare Revenue Cycle Platform (HRCP). HRCP is an ASP-based technology platform that determines, in real time, patient eligibility for financial assistance at point of registration.

This business method patent utilizes healthcare financial aid information associated with federal, state, and local assistance plans to help appropriately determine both patient eligibility for assistance and patient responsibility for costs related to medical treatment.

"This patent solidifies TransUnion as a market leader in marrying information and technology to address a critical business issue our healthcare customers are facing in this financially challenging market -- escalating bad debt," said Rod Bazzani, executive vice president of healthcare for TransUnion. "Our proprietary business method allows hospitals to utilize an automated and sophisticated rules-based decision engine to ensure their patients are best served while ensuring all necessary guidelines to maximize financial aid are met."

With this newly patented technology, hospitals can utilize a web-based system to electronically input patient data at the time of service that is cross-referenced with credit-sourced information to determine patient eligibility for all appropriate benefit sources, including hospital-specific charity programs. The software queries federal and state programs including Medicaid, Victims of Crime, Emtala Section 1011 Reimbursement, Ryan White Program as well as grant, foundation, and charity care programs, all of which offer healthcare financial assistance for qualifying applicants.

The patented techno
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