In the last four to six quarters, out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure increased significantly in the United States. The pandemic-driven increased prices created strong demand for pay later options in the healthcare industry. Consequently, fintech companies are focusing on capturing this market through new product launches.
PayZen, a healthcare fintech start-up, came up with an innovative solution, care now, pay later (CNPL). CNPL is nothing else but a financial arrangement directly between healthcare providers and patients that helps to break the payment over multiple installments.
PayZen provides new artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology that allows the hospitals, healthcare systems, and physician groups to determine a patient’s ability to pay medical bills over time. To be specific, the company uses AI to underwrite patients’ medical debt, allowing them to access medical treatment and pay for it over time in several installments.
The company’s AI-enabled algorithm helps to analyze data attributes per patient to help determine how much a patient can afford to pay every month. Based on this, a payment plan is prepared for the patient. The company uses the data provided by the healthcare provider to twist the monthly payment amounts accordingly.
Notably, the company attracted seed funding from Viola Ventures and Picus Capital early in 2021. Moreover, in November 2021, the company raised US$15 million Series A funding from investors SignalFire, Link Ventures, and 7WireVentures, totaling the amount to US$20 million. PAyNXT360 expects that ‘care now, pay later’ has a lot of potential for growth as it is a win-win situation for hospitals and patients.
