HIMSS25: Cedar Integrates Empathetic AI Capabilities in Patient Billing Experience

What You Should Know: 

– Twilio, a customer engagement platform, and Cedar, a patient financial experience platform, today announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize how patients interact with their healthcare bills. 

– The collaboration leverages Twilio’s communication tools and AI capabilities to enhance patient engagement, streamline billing processes, and reduce costs for healthcare providers.

Transform the Patient Financial Experience with AI-Powered Communications

Navigating healthcare billing can be a complex and frustrating experience for patients, particularly those with multiple providers or limited insurance coverage. At the same time, healthcare providers face significant challenges in managing patient inquiries and ensuring timely payments.

This partnership addresses these challenges by integrating Twilio’s technology into Cedar’s platform, enabling:

• Streamlined Communication: Automated SMS notifications and reminders for bills and appointments, improving patient communication and reducing missed payments.
• Seamless Payment Experience: Secure phone payments via Twilio’s Voice API and Stripe Pay Connector, with support for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
• Personalized Patient Support: AI-powered voice agents to automate inbound billing calls, providing instant support and reducing wait times.

Expanding Access to Healthcare Resources

By integrating support for FSA and HSA payments, the partnership also aims to improve patients’ access to and utilization of these valuable healthcare resources. This can help patients maximize their healthcare benefits and reduce out-of-pocket costs.

“At Cedar, the patient experience is at the core of all the work we do. Our work with Twilio enables us to combine AI-powered technology and empathetic service design, transforming how providers engage with patients about their bills,” said Dugan Winkie, Head of Commercial Strategy at Cedar. “As patient out-of-pocket spending continues to rise, we’re entering a new era of healthcare billing—and we have a huge opportunity to utilize new technology, such as agentic AI, to improve experiences for patients and reduce cost for providers. By capturing context and streamlining interactions, AI will ensure human agents step in at the right moment—equipped with the full picture to deliver more meaningful, personalized care.”