Waystar Advances AI Leadership with Next-Generation Denial Prevention and Reimbursement Recovery Innovations

Rhea-AI Summary

Waystar (Nasdaq: WAY) unveiled significant AI-powered innovations at its Fall Innovation Showcase to address major healthcare payment challenges. The company's AltitudeAI platform targets three critical issues: $20 billion in denial recovery costs, $17 billion in uncompensated care, and $2.6 billion in manual payer reimbursement inefficiencies.

The platform demonstrates impressive results, including 90% time savings across key capabilities, 40% more denial overturns for early adopters, and an increase in pre-service patient payments from 17% to 40%. For mid-size health systems, the solution reduces denial appeal processing time from 38 hours to 2 hours and cuts denial prevention work from 133 hours to under 6 hours.

Positive

• None.

Negative

• Healthcare providers face $20 billion in annual denial recovery costs
• Industry struggles with $17 billion in uncompensated care due to low patient collections
• Manual payer reimbursement processes waste $2.6 billion annually

Insights

Healthcare Tech Financial Analyst

Waystar's AI innovations target $39.6B in healthcare financial waste, significantly improving provider margins through automation and enhanced collections.

Waystar's announcement represents a meaningful advancement in healthcare revenue cycle management technology. The company is strategically targeting three massive inefficiencies in healthcare finances: $20 billion lost annually fighting denied claims, $17 billion in uncompensated care, and $2.6 billion in manual reimbursement costs.

The most impressive metrics come from early adopters, who have achieved substantial operational improvements: 90%+ time savings across key workflows, 40% higher denial overturn rates, and a 135% increase in pre-service patient collections. For mid-size health systems, this translates to reducing appeal package creation time from 38 hours to just 2 hours and cutting denial prevention work from 133 hours to under 6 hours.

What's particularly valuable is how Waystar's platform converts labor-intensive financial processes into automated workflows that simultaneously improve financial performance. Their approach to pre-service patient payments (increasing from 17% to 40% of total payments) directly addresses the growing challenge of uncompensated care as more costs shift to patients.

The technology applies AI in three critical areas: automated denial appeals creation, pre-service cost estimation integrated into patient digital experiences, and predictive denial prevention using historical payer behavior patterns. By reallocating the equivalent of 13 full-time employees to higher-value work, customers gain both cost savings and improved staff utilization.

This innovation showcase signals Waystar's commitment to maintaining technological leadership in the healthcare payments space while delivering measurable financial improvements for providers struggling with margin pressures.

Tackling $20 billion lost in denial recovery efforts and $17 billion in uncompensated care, helping providers unlock stronger financial performance and resilience

LEHI, Utah and LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Waystar (Nasdaq: WAY), a provider of leading healthcare payment software, today will unveil breakthrough innovations at its Fall Innovation Showcase. These advancements reinforce Waystar's leadership in AI-powered software built for healthcare. With these breakthroughs, Waystar AltitudeAI™ elevates next-generation denial prevention and reimbursement recovery, transforming healthcare's costliest challenges into meaningful financial gains for providers.

Healthcare providers face steep financial headwinds, with $20 billion spent annually to fight denied claims, $17 billion in uncompensated care tied to bad debt due to lower patient collections, and $2.6 billion that could be saved by eliminating manual steps to obtain payer reimbursement. Waystar directly targets these challenges—delivering more than 90% time savings across key capabilities. Waystar's platform helps providers reclaim millions in revenue, free up the equivalent of more than a dozen full-time employees to focus on higher-value work, and achieve a 135% lift in pre-service patient collections that convert uncompensated care into sustainable cash flow. The result is stronger margins and greater resilience for healthcare providers nationwide.

"Waystar is automating the revenue cycle by harnessing the power of AI to transform the future of healthcare," said Matt Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer of Waystar. "As we gather with hundreds of client thought leaders this week at Waystar True North, we're inspired by the outcomes they're achieving with our AI-powered software platform. Our innovations continue to free staff to focus more on patient care while strengthening financial performance."

Today, Waystar will unveil the following transformative innovations on its AI-powered software platform:

Confronting the $20 Billion Denial Problem

Waystar is announcing the industry's first scaled, AI-powered, end-to-end solution for denial appeals. Waystar AltitudeAI now enables providers to create hundreds of appeal packages simultaneously, more than 90% faster—cutting time from 38 hours to two and redeploying the equivalent of 13 full-time employees to higher-value work for a mid-size health system. With Waystar AltitudeAI capabilities, early adopters are overturning 40% more denials. The latest advances in denial root cause insights will further help providers overturn existing denials and prevent future ones before they occur.

Addressing the $17 Billion Uncompensated Care Strain

Waystar early adopter clients are achieving significant improvements in pre-service patient payments, rising from 17% to 40% of total payments—accelerating cash flow, strengthening patient trust, and reducing uncompensated care. Waystar's new, advanced pre-service cost estimation capability, integrated within the patient's digital experiences, gives patients accurate, transparent out-of-pocket expectations. The need for proactive financial engagement has never been more prominent as providers face greater uncompensated care and policy shifts push more costs to patients.

Targeting the 60%+ Preventable Denials

Waystar AltitudeAI cuts denial-prevention-related work for a mid-size health system from 133 hours to under six—a 95% time savings that accelerates reimbursement. It leverages historical payer and provider behavior insights to prevent errors prior to claim submission. The AI-powered payer behavior technology will also surface risks in real time and prevent costly errors, such as identifying out-of-network coverage before care is delivered. More than 60% of denials are preventable, and providers lose $2.6 billion each year in payer reimbursement-related costs that can be addressed through automation.

Waystar will debut its latest product innovations at the Fall Innovation Showcase today at 10:30 a.m. CT during the annual Waystar True North™ conference. The showcase will be streamed online, and viewers can register to watch here.

About Waystar
Waystar's mission-critical software is purpose-built to simplify healthcare payments so providers can prioritize patient care and optimize their financial performance. Waystar serves approximately 30,000 clients, representing over 1 million distinct providers, including 16 of 20 institutions on the U.S. News Best Hospitals list. Waystar's enterprise-grade platform annually processes over 6 billion healthcare payment transactions, including over $1.8 trillion in annual gross claims and spanning approximately 50% of U.S. patients. Waystar strives to transform healthcare payments so providers can focus on what matters most: their patients and communities. Discover the way forward at waystar.com.

Media Contact 
Kristin Lee 
kristin.lee@waystar.com 

Investor Contact
investors@waystar.com 

 

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SOURCE Waystar

FAQ

What are the key features of Waystar's new AltitudeAI platform?

Waystar's AltitudeAI platform offers AI-powered denial prevention, automated appeal processing, and advanced pre-service cost estimation. It achieves 90% time savings and enables providers to create hundreds of appeal packages simultaneously.

How much can healthcare providers save with Waystar's new AI solutions?

Waystar's solutions address $20 billion in denial recovery costs, $17 billion in uncompensated care, and $2.6 billion in manual payer reimbursement inefficiencies.

What improvement in denial overturn rates do Waystar's early adopters experience?

Early adopters using Waystar's AltitudeAI are achieving 40% more denial overturns compared to previous rates.

How does Waystar's platform improve pre-service patient payments?

Waystar's platform increases pre-service patient payments from 17% to 40% of total payments through accurate cost estimation and integrated digital patient experiences.

What operational efficiency gains does Waystar AltitudeAI deliver?

AltitudeAI reduces denial appeal processing time from 38 to 2 hours and cuts denial prevention work from 133 to under 6 hours, enabling the redeployment of up to 13 full-time employees.