Emdeon And CAQH Announce Plans To Transfer U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index

Initiative to Support Adoption of Electronic Transactions Encourages Cost Saving Efforts

CAQH and Emdeon Inc. recently announced that they have reached an agreement for Emdeon to transfer ownership and management of the U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index (USHEI) to CAQH.

Emdeon, a leading provider of healthcare revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions, created the USHEI in 2008 as an industry forum for monitoring business efficiency in healthcare. It provides a national reference to track and measure the adoption of electronic medical transactions including claims and payment. Today, only an estimated 40 percent of the approximately 13 billion administrative transactions conducted each year are conducted electronically. Completing the conversion from the current paper-based claims payments system to an electronic one is estimated to save more than $30 billion annually across the U.S. healthcare industry.

"We believe CAQH is a perfect strategic home for the USHEI," said Miriam Paramore, senior vice president of clinical services for Emdeon. "For over a decade CAQH has championed proven healthcare simplification solutions that deliver quantifiable results. Under its stewardship, the USHEI can be expanded to provide a more comprehensive view of these results, including achievements that are being accelerated by the adoption of new transaction standards and operating rules contained in the healthcare reform law."

CAQH is a leader in the development and implementation of innovative solutions for simplifying healthcare administration. CAQH plans to add aggregated outcomes data from current CAQH sponsored initiatives, including the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE), into the USHEI. The addition of this data will enable CAQH to offer a robust analysis of the progress being made from paper-based transactions to more efficient and cost effective electronic transactions.

"We are excited to build upon Emdeon's success and take the USHEI to the next level by drawing upon our experience in streamlining data collection and information exchange," said Robin Thomashauer, executive director of CAQH. "The inclusion of aggregated data from the CAQH initiatives will help to enhance the USHEI by clearly and continuously measuring the increasing efficiency of healthcare administration."

The USHEI was designed as an industry-wide outlet for tracking the transition from a paper- and phone-based healthcare system to an electronic one. An independent Advisory Council was established to govern the USHEI and was responsible for overseeing the effort, developing the data collection methodology and reporting on progress across the healthcare industry. The USHEI will continue to serve as a central reference for tracking progress and the cost savings associated with electronic adoption, including the transactions called for by the healthcare reform law.

Information gathered and compiled by the USHEI is a valuable resource for policymakers and regulators as they strive to determine the effectiveness of initiatives that have been launched to simplify the administration of healthcare. CAQH is committed to ensuring that the USHEI is a meaningful tool for all industry stakeholders by enabling public and private industry participants to assess remaining gaps and develop strategies for refining administrative processes. More information about the USHEI can be found at www.ushealthcareindex.com.

About CAQH
CAQH serves as a catalyst for industry collaboration on initiatives that simplify healthcare administration for health plans and providers, resulting in a better care experience for patients and caregivers. CAQH solutions help promote quality interactions between plans, providers and other stakeholders, reduce costs and frustrations associated with healthcare administration, facilitate administrative healthcare information exchange and encourage administrative and clinical data integration. For more information, visit www.caqh.org.

About Emdeon
Emdeon is a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions, connecting payers, providers and patients in the U.S. healthcare system. Emdeon's product and service offerings integrate and automate key business and administrative functions of its payer and provider customers throughout the patient encounter. Through the use of Emdeon's comprehensive suite of products and services, which are designed to easily integrate with existing technology infrastructures, customers are able to improve efficiency, reduce costs, increase cash flow and more efficiently manage the complex revenue and payment cycle and clinical information exchange processes. For more information, visit www.emdeon.com.

SOURCE: Emdeon