Revenue leakage shouldn’t be a daily headache.
If you’re searching for ways to automate your billing, tackle claim denials, and finally take control of revenue flow in your healthcare practice, you’ve probably landed on Change Healthcare as an option.
But here’s the truth—losing track of payments and eligibility means uncollected patient revenue every single day for your staff.
Based on my in-depth review, Change Healthcare stakes its value on end-to-end revenue cycle management and a vast interoperability network that actually connects your processes, data, and payer partners—so you stop hemorrhaging cash and start improving patient satisfaction.
In this review, I’ll break down how Change Healthcare can streamline your revenue cycle so you can move away from daily administrative gridlock to reliable, predictable results.
You’ll find in this Change Healthcare review a practical perspective on features, automation, pricing, implementation, and how it compares to other healthcare software so you can decide with confidence.
You’ll walk away knowing the features you need to finally solve those payment bottlenecks holding you back.
Let’s dive into the analysis.
Quick Summary
- Change Healthcare is a healthcare technology company that helps improve clinical, financial, and patient engagement outcomes through integrated solutions.
- Best for mid-market to enterprise healthcare organizations seeking to optimize revenue cycle and enhance interoperability.
- You’ll appreciate its vast network and broad suite that supports data exchange, revenue accuracy, and value-based care initiatives.
- Change Healthcare offers custom pricing with demos available, typically requiring direct contact for tailored quotes.
Change Healthcare Overview
Change Healthcare is a massive name in health tech, based out of Nashville. Their core mission is improving clinical, financial, and patient engagement outcomes across the U.S. healthcare system.
What I find most impressive is their focus on connecting the entire healthcare ecosystem. Their network doesn’t just target hospitals; it links providers, payers, pharmacies, and labs to streamline the incredibly complex data exchange happening between them.
The recent high-profile acquisition by UnitedHealth’s Optum is a huge development we’ll dig into through this Change Healthcare review. It signals a major strategic push for tighter data integration.
Unlike rivals like Waystar that often double down on RCM, Change Healthcare leverages its vast and interconnected data network. I feel this platform was built to give you analytical insights that go far beyond just billing.
They work with customers at a staggering scale, proving their market penetration. This includes thousands of hospitals, hundreds of thousands of physicians, and nearly every major government and commercial payer.
You’ll notice their current strategy is heavily invested in turning raw data into action through analytics. This aligns perfectly with the market’s big push towards value-based care models.
Now let’s examine their core capabilities.
Change Healthcare Features
Struggling to connect your healthcare systems effectively?
Change Healthcare features focus on creating an integrated platform designed to optimize financial and clinical operations. These are the five core Change Healthcare solutions that address critical industry pain points.
1. Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Solutions
Are payment denials eating into your revenue?
Inefficient billing processes and eligibility issues can lead to significant revenue leakage and administrative headaches. This directly impacts your bottom line.
Change Healthcare’s RCM solutions automate everything from patient eligibility verification to claims processing and denial management. I found that their financial clearance tools significantly reduce financial risks for providers, ensuring you get paid accurately and on time. This feature helps streamline your entire revenue flow.
This means you can accelerate your cash flow and reduce the administrative burden associated with managing complex healthcare payments.
2. Intelligent Healthcare Network
Is sharing patient information a constant struggle?
Fragmented systems make it difficult to exchange critical administrative and clinical data across the healthcare ecosystem. This slows down care coordination and decision-making.
The Intelligent Healthcare Network connects a massive ecosystem of providers, payers, and pharmacies, facilitating seamless data exchange. What I love about this approach is how it processes millions of confidential transactions daily, ensuring your data moves securely and efficiently. This solution eliminates communication silos.
You get unprecedented connectivity, allowing you to improve care coordination and reduce delays in information access for better patient outcomes.
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3. Data and Analytics Solutions
Overwhelmed by mountains of unanalyzed healthcare data?
Turning raw healthcare data into actionable insights is challenging, often leading to missed opportunities for cost savings and quality improvement. This impacts your strategic decisions.
Change Healthcare’s Data and Analytics solutions provide tools to transform complex data into timely, actionable insights. From my testing, their advanced algorithms pinpoint payment inaccuracies and identify trends, which can significantly boost your revenue integrity. This feature provides the intelligence you need.
This means you can make data-driven decisions that optimize your revenue, control costs, and improve the overall quality of care you provide.
4. Interoperability Solutions
Is patient data trapped in disparate systems?
Inability to seamlessly exchange medical data across various systems creates information gaps, hindering care coordination and compliance. This directly impacts patient safety and operational efficiency.
Change Healthcare offers robust Interoperability Solutions that facilitate secure, compliant data exchange. Their Connected Consumer Health™ APIs, for instance, manage patient identity and security while ensuring data access, which is crucial for meeting regulatory requirements. This feature makes patient information readily available.
This helps you comply with regulations like the CMS Interoperability Rule, ensuring healthcare professionals have immediate access to comprehensive patient information for informed decisions.
5. Payment Accuracy Solutions
Are you losing revenue due to billing errors or compliance issues?
Payment inaccuracies can lead to significant revenue leakage and compliance risks, creating financial strain and audit challenges. This can be a major headache for your finance team.
Their Payment Accuracy Solutions leverage advanced analytics to identify and correct billing errors proactively, ensuring revenue integrity. Here’s what I found: these tools break down barriers that prevent patients from paying their bills, leading to fewer uncollected payments. This feature truly optimizes your billing.
This means you can ensure accurate billing, reduce revenue leakage, and enhance compliance, ultimately stabilizing your financial health and reducing audit risks.
Pros & Cons
- ✅ Offers a comprehensive suite of solutions covering the entire healthcare ecosystem.
- ✅ Advanced analytics and automation streamline complex revenue cycle processes.
- ✅ The extensive Intelligent Healthcare Network facilitates vast data exchange.
- ⚠️ Customer service and timely issue resolution are frequently cited challenges.
- ⚠️ Some users report experiencing general difficulties during implementation.
- ⚠️ Product quality scores on various review platforms are noted to be mixed.
You’ll find these Change Healthcare features work together to create a truly integrated healthcare technology platform that connects financial, administrative, and clinical workflows.
Change Healthcare Pricing
What’s the actual cost for your business?
Change Healthcare pricing requires a custom quote, reflecting their tailored solutions for healthcare organizations, so you’ll need to contact their sales team for precise costs.
Cost Breakdown
- Base Platform: Custom quote
- User Licenses: Volume-based pricing
- Implementation: Varies by solution scope
- Integrations: Varies by complexity
- Key Factors: Organization size, modules, solution breadth, transaction volume
1. Pricing Model & Cost Factors
Understanding their approach.
Change Healthcare’s pricing model is entirely custom, meaning there are no public tiers; instead, costs depend on the specific solutions chosen and your organization’s scale. Factors like the number of users, desired modules (RCM, Analytics, Interoperability), and transaction volumes all influence your final quote.
From my cost analysis, this ensures your investment aligns precisely with your operational needs rather than generic packages.
2. Value Assessment & ROI
Maximizing your investment.
Given the breadth of their offerings, Change Healthcare’s pricing aims to deliver significant ROI through operational efficiencies and improved financial outcomes. What I found regarding pricing is that it’s an investment in comprehensive healthcare optimization, potentially reducing manual errors and enhancing data accuracy compared to disparate systems.
Budget-wise, this means you’re investing in long-term strategic value rather than just a fixed monthly fee.
3. Budget Planning & Implementation
Prepare for the full picture.
Beyond the tailored subscription, total cost of ownership includes implementation services, training, and ongoing support, which are often bundled into the custom quote. Budget-wise, you should anticipate these essential upfront investments to ensure a smooth deployment and maximize the system’s benefits.
So for your specific situation, a detailed discussion with their sales team will help you understand the comprehensive financial commitment.
My Take: Change Healthcare’s custom pricing is built for healthcare enterprises, offering highly tailored solutions that address complex needs, ensuring you only pay for what your organization truly requires.
The overall Change Healthcare pricing offers customized value for complex healthcare operations.
Change Healthcare Reviews
What do real customers actually think?
This section dives into real Change Healthcare reviews, analyzing user feedback to give you an authentic look at what customers truly experience with their solutions.
1. Overall User Satisfaction
Mixed feedback, with specific pain points.
From my review analysis, Change Healthcare reviews on platforms like G2 and Comparably show a mixed bag, with some users expressing satisfaction while others highlight significant issues. What I found in user feedback is that satisfaction often hinges on specific product lines rather than the entire portfolio.
This suggests your experience may vary depending on which solution you adopt.
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2. Common Praise Points
Ease of use and comprehensive features stand out.
Users consistently praise certain products, like Assurance Reimbursement Management, for their low learning curve and intuitive nature. What stood out in customer feedback is how the comprehensive search features boost efficiency, ensuring faster turnaround times for reimbursement claims and organized documentation.
This means you can expect smoother administrative processes and improved revenue cycle management for these specific features.
3. Frequent Complaints
Customer service issues are a recurring theme.
Frequent complaints revolve around difficulties contacting the company and resolving issues promptly. Review-wise, this pattern suggests you can expect challenges with timely issue resolution and customer support responsiveness, as many users report struggling to get assistance.
These common frustrations seem to be significant pain points rather than minor nuisances for many users.
What Customers Say
- Positive: “Assurance Reimbursement Management requires minimal training and has a low learning curve.”
- Constructive: “We just didn’t have a good experience having our issues resolved in time.”
- Bottom Line: “Challenging company to get ahold of.”
The overall Change Healthcare reviews reflect a blend of useful features and notable service challenges, impacting overall user sentiment.
Best Change Healthcare Alternatives
Which Change Healthcare alternative is right for you?
The best Change Healthcare alternatives include several strong options, each better suited for different business situations and priorities in healthcare technology and revenue cycle management.
1. Waystar
Prioritizing a comprehensive RCM solution?
Waystar excels if your primary need is a robust, end-to-end revenue cycle management solution with strong patient access features. From my competitive analysis, Waystar offers streamlined patient access and RCM focus, making it a strong alternative to Change Healthcare’s broader suite for RCM-centric needs.
Choose Waystar for deep, comprehensive RCM tools, especially if patient access and simplified payments are your top priorities.
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2. R1 RCM
Seeking an outsourced RCM partnership?
R1 RCM works best if your large healthcare system needs a comprehensive RCM outsourcing partnership to offload significant portions of your revenue cycle operations. What I found comparing options is that R1 RCM provides extensive RCM outsourcing services, differentiating its model from Change Healthcare’s predominantly software-driven approach.
Consider this alternative if you’re looking for a partner to manage your entire revenue cycle, rather than just software.
3. Experian Health
Focused on financial risk mitigation and patient collections?
Experian Health is a better fit when your organization prioritizes minimizing financial risk and improving patient collections through automated solutions and analytics-driven financial assessments. From my analysis, Experian Health emphasizes financial risk and patient collections, leveraging data for a different angle than Change Healthcare’s extensive network.
Choose Experian Health when financial integrity and maximizing patient payments are your most critical concerns.
4. Availity
Mainly focused on clearinghouse and patient access efficiency?
Availity makes sense if your core needs revolve around a strong claims clearinghouse and efficient patient access solutions, including eligibility and benefits verification. Alternative-wise, Availity excels in claims processing and network services, which can be a more focused solution compared to Change Healthcare’s wide-ranging portfolio.
Select Availity for robust clearinghouse services and streamlined patient access if that’s your primary requirement.
Quick Decision Guide
- Choose Change Healthcare: Broad network integration and holistic healthcare solutions.
- Choose Waystar: Comprehensive, end-to-end revenue cycle management.
- Choose R1 RCM: Outsourced RCM partnership for large healthcare systems.
- Choose Experian Health: Financial risk mitigation and patient collection improvement.
- Choose Availity: Focused claims clearinghouse and patient access services.
The best Change Healthcare alternatives depend on your specific operational focus and partnership preferences for healthcare technology.
Change Healthcare Setup
How complex is Change Healthcare implementation?
Change Healthcare’s solutions involve integrating with existing systems, so the Change Healthcare review indicates varying complexity. Be prepared for a significant undertaking depending on your specific needs.
1. Setup Complexity & Timeline
This isn’t a simple, plug-and-play solution.
Change Healthcare implementation involves integrating with EHRs and practice management software, with complexity scaling based on specific solutions and existing systems. What I found about deployment is that a strong foundation is crucial for successful integration, suggesting a significant undertaking that requires careful planning beyond quick wins.
You’ll need to plan for potential complexities and allocate dedicated internal resources for project oversight.
2. Technical Requirements & Integration
Expect substantial integration work with your current IT.
Your technical team will navigate integrating Change Healthcare with existing healthcare IT infrastructure, especially EHR and practice management systems. From my implementation analysis, seamless integration depends heavily on your existing system’s adaptability, which can pose challenges if systems are customized or legacy.
Prepare your IT team for detailed configuration and potential custom development to ensure smooth data flow and interoperability.
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3. Training & Change Management
User adoption can vary and needs proactive support.
While some Change Healthcare products have a low learning curve, overall adoption depends on your team’s readiness for new workflows and systems. From my analysis, successful user adoption hinges on proactive training and clear communication, preventing resistance to new administrative processes and tools.
Invest in tailored training programs and secure internal champions to guide your staff through the transition to new systems.
4. Support & Success Factors
Vendor support can impact your implementation timeline.
During implementation, timely support is critical, but user feedback indicates challenges in getting prompt issue resolution. What I found about deployment is that proactive engagement with vendor support channels is vital to minimize delays and ensure a smooth transition, especially for complex integrations.
Plan to inquire about dedicated implementation teams, service level agreements (SLAs), and specific escalation paths for issues.
Implementation Checklist
- Timeline: Variable, depending on integration complexity
- Team Size: IT, project manager, clinical/financial leads
- Budget: Professional services for integration and custom work
- Technical: EHR/PM system integration and data mapping
- Success Factor: Strong internal project management and IT readiness
The overall Change Healthcare setup requires thorough preparation and dedicated resources to ensure a successful, efficient transition to their platform.
Bottom Line
Is Change Healthcare right for your organization?
This Change Healthcare review synthesizes my comprehensive analysis to provide a decisive final recommendation, helping you understand who best fits this powerful solution.
1. Who This Works Best For
Large healthcare organizations seeking financial optimization.
Change Healthcare excels for mid-market to enterprise-level healthcare systems, including hospitals and large ambulatory practices. From my user analysis, organizations prioritizing comprehensive revenue cycle management and enhanced interoperability will find this platform indispensable for streamlining operations and improving patient engagement.
You’ll succeed if your business needs an integrated suite to tackle revenue leakage, operational inefficiencies, and data silos across your ecosystem.
2. Overall Strengths
Comprehensive capabilities deliver unmatched integration.
The software succeeds by offering a vast, integrated suite covering revenue cycle, data analytics, and network connectivity, facilitating seamless data exchange across diverse systems. From my comprehensive analysis, its robust network is a significant advantage, enabling efficient information flow with a wide array of payers and providers.
These strengths will directly translate into improved financial performance and streamlined administrative processes for your complex healthcare organization.
3. Key Limitations
Customer service presents a notable challenge.
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While robust, users frequently report difficulties with customer service responsiveness and timely issue resolution, which could impact overall user experience. Based on this review, obtaining timely issue resolution can be frustrating, potentially leading to delays in addressing critical operational concerns and negatively impacting your workflows.
I’d say these limitations require careful consideration to determine if the benefits outweigh the potential for service-related frustrations.
4. Final Recommendation
Change Healthcare earns a strong recommendation.
You should choose this software if your large healthcare organization requires a comprehensive, integrated solution for financial optimization and operational efficiency. From my analysis, your business will thrive with its powerful RCM and data exchange capabilities, provided you can navigate the customer support landscape.
My confidence level is high for large-scale operations seeking an all-encompassing platform but lower for smaller practices.
Bottom Line
- Verdict: Recommended for enterprise healthcare organizations
- Best For: Hospitals, large health systems, and extensive ambulatory practices
- Business Size: Mid-market to enterprise-level organizations
- Biggest Strength: Comprehensive revenue cycle management and network connectivity
- Main Concern: Reported challenges with customer service and issue resolution
- Next Step: Contact sales for a detailed demo and tailored solution proposal
This Change Healthcare review provides strong value for large healthcare entities, helping you confidently assess its fit for your complex operational needs.