Cedar, a startup created to help modernize the healthcare billing and collection process, which has valued at more than $3 billion, is now setting its sights on the insurance side of the transaction, after it was announced that the company is spending $425 million to purchase OODA Health.
By putting providers and payers — either individual patients or insurance companies — on the same platform, Cedar will be able to “address the full set of challenges consumers face when paying for healthcare,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer said in a published media report.
“Cedar’s mission has always been to transform healthcare and deliver the best possible financial experience for consumers,” said Dr. Florian Otto, Cedar’s co-founder, in the report. “We’ve made great progress toward that goal, but consumers still need greater financial clarity and more affordable healthcare — and the experience with one’s provider or one’s payer is just part of the issue. Both Cedar and OODA Health are forward-thinking when it comes to putting consumers first, and we believe that by bringing our companies together, we can identify new opportunities to help consumers, as well as payers and providers, navigate an increasingly complicated healthcare system, leading to better outcomes for all parties involved.”
Cedar has raised more than $300 million in the past 11 months and is being used by more than 300,000 patients every day, the company claims. Providers who are using the platform have seen a 30% increase in patient payments and helps nearly 75% of patients avoid having debts placed into collections by providing clarity about bills and information about payment plans and other affordability options.
“Payers and providers recognize the importance of working together to fix the broken consumer financial experience, and are more committed than ever to unlocking administrative efficiencies that drive accessibility and affordability,” said Seth Cohen, OODA Health’s co-CEO and co-founder. “We’re tackling healthcare administration and billing head-on by building the most comprehensive technology and services platform for providers and payers.”
