Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and OODA Health Help Patients Afford Care and Improve the Financial Position of Providers at the Front Line of the COVID-19 Crisis

Access to the OODAPay Patient Payments Platform is Extended to More Arizonans With New Services

PHOENIX -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) and OODA Health today announced that they have extended their partnership for three years and will expand the rollout of digital payments platform OODAPay to provider partners across the state. OODA Health has been conducting a pilot program with BCBSAZ and CommonSpirit Health, which includes Dignity Health facilities in Arizona since April 2019, and has delivered a highly positive billing experience for patients and strong financial results for providers.

COVID-19 is shining a spotlight on access to and affordability of care, as providers are strapped for resources and impeded by administrative hurdles. OODAPay is designed to improve patients’ ability to better manage and pay for care. OODAPay strengthens providers’ financial position by removing the financial uncertainty of collecting patient balances and lowering administrative costs to collect payments. By guaranteeing payment for the patient portion of the bill and handling all billing operations, OODAPay relieves providers of billing and collections entirely.

With the expansion of OODAPay with BCBSAZ, the scope of services will include new functionality such as:

  • Health Savings Account (HSA) integration to make it easier for patients to apply HSA balances towards care payments
  • Plan deductible status to improve visibility into patient balances
  • Personalized billing statements that identify relevant programs available from BCBSAZ based on recent care
  • Streamlining of premium and cost-share billing
  • Promotion of plan offerings to patients, such as targeted telehealth ads to patients who qualify for these benefits

BCBSAZ was one of the first health plans in the nation to implement OODAPay and it was publicly launched last Fall. Results for BCBSAZ members using OODAPay, including a recent member satisfaction survey, show:

  • 96% satisfaction with the billing experience
  • 86% member engagement with their plan
  • Improve speed of patient collections by 40%, while matching historical collection rates

Patients using the platform are especially delighted with the option to set zero interest payment terms to make their healthcare costs more affordable and manageable.

“Our focus is to help Arizonans get healthier faster and lead better lives, especially during this challenging time,” said Pam Kehaly, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. “Our partnership with OODA Health is built on a shared promise to create technology solutions that simplify the healthcare journey for our members. By expanding access to OODAPay for more of our members, we will make it easier for them to manage their healthcare, so they can spend less time worrying about how to pay and more time getting healthier.”

“We’re extremely proud of our partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and the work we’re doing to ease the burden of paying for care,” said Giovanni Colella, M.D., Co-founder and Co-CEO, OODA Health. “Expanding OODAPay to more of their member base and adding new capabilities like HSA integration and support for premium payments improves the financial lives of Arizonans. We’re equally proud of the impact that we’re having to help deliver financial assurance for our healthcare provider partners who are at the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is committed to helping Arizonans get healthier faster and stay healthier longer. With a focus on connecting people with the care they need, BCBSAZ offers health insurance and related services to more than 1.7 million customers. Through advanced clinical programs and community outreach, BCBSAZ is inspiring health in Arizona. BCBSAZ, a not-for-profit company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The company, and its subsidiaries, employ more than 2,400 people in its Phoenix, Chandler, Flagstaff, and Tucson offices. To learn more, visit azblue.com.

About OODA Health

OODA Health’s mission is to transform healthcare administration by enabling real-time payments between patients, providers and payers. We’re focused on eliminating the friction and delays in current payment processes that will save $400B of wasted spend, improve the member experience and inspire greater collaboration between providers and payers. Leveraging an innovative technology platform, OODA Health partners with leading health plans and providers including Anthem, Dignity Health, a part of CommonSpirit Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Blue Shield of California, Hill Physicians Medical Group and others. For more information about OODA Health, please visit www.ooda-health.com.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 34 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for one in three Americans.

 

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is an association of 35 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield companies.