Oct. 12, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

CHICAGO and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced today an agreement with Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) to become the first to offer Quicken Health(SM) Bill Pay. The online service integrates with Allscripts' practice management and revenue cycle management solutions, used by 110,000 physicians, to help patients understand their medical bills and pay them online while helping physicians get paid faster.

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A breakthrough in medical billing, Quicken Health Bill Pay alerts patients more quickly that a payment is due and helps them understand their medical bill by presenting it in common language with easily understood math. It shows how the amount due was calculated after insurance payments are posted and enables them to easily pay the bill online. Because patients finally have the confidence that what they are asked to pay is what they owe, they are making their payment an average of 18 days faster with Quicken Health Bill Pay - and feel better about the transaction.

Quicken Health Bill Pay is available to any patient, regardless of insurance carrier or coverage, and creates a seamless workflow for physician practice billing staffs. Payments are received faster while the effort and cost of the collection process are reduced and accuracy and patient satisfaction are increased.

As the U.S. healthcare payment system shifts to a consumer-driven model, patient payments are becoming the fastest growing portion of a provider's revenue stream. Direct out-of-pocket payments from patients to providers are expected to total $660 billion by 2013, more than doubling payments made in 2005. However, many practices write off as much as 50 percent of patient payments as bad debt, and research shows that 40 percent of patients don't pay their medical bills simply because they don't understand the bill or didn't think they were responsible for the amount due.

"When patients have the knowledge and confidence that a bill is correct, payments are made faster and billing managers spend less time, money, and effort repeatedly sending paper statements, answering questions, and calling patients about payments due," said Peter Karpas, president and division general manager of Intuit's Quicken Health Group. "With Quicken Health Bill Pay, Allscripts can offer its clients the unique ability to present absolutely clear online statements and the 24/7 convenience of receiving fully protected online payments."

While American households with computers increasingly are paying bills online, more than 90 percent of medical payments are still received by providers in the form of a paper check. Quicken Health Bill Pay brings the convenience of electronic payments to medical bills, enabling patients to send payments anytime, from any computer, using any debit or credit card, Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account. It benefits providers by improving accuracy and reducing the time and effort billing managers spend taking payments over the phone or keying in payment information sent through the mail.