Any insured individual who has ever been in the hospital has had the pleasure of plowing through stacks of what the insurance industry calls EOBs, or “explanations of benefits.”  Any sane person quickly concludes there can be no explanation for the torturous jumble of dates, codes, charges, exclusions and reimbursements that confronts him. 

Health care is complicated, and the doctors, hospitals and clinics providing the services don’t have it much easier. They face perpetual disruption in revenue streams from denied claims, partial reimbursements, changes in Medicare, and, inevitably, patients who can’t figure out how much they owe. On the other side of the profit equation, they face constant pressure from rapidly escalating supply costs. That’s where MedAssets (Nasdaq:MDAS) comes in. 

Atlanta-based MedAssets offers products and services to health-care providers that are designed to un-complicate processes that have become so complex, even Hillary Clinton couldn’t figure them out. Its offerings fall into three main categories:  revenue cycle management, spend management and business analytics. 

Revenue cycle management tools focus on capturing revenue that is currently lost when porous and, in many cases, outdated collection systems are overtaxed with denied claims, confused patients, or any dealings with the government. MedAsset’s spend-management solutions do one of the most difficult things in business: make sure the customer gets the supplies it ordered at the price it agreed to pay. This is of particular value to hospitals and clinics that purchase masses of high-priced supplies from a boatload of different vendors. According to the company, 25% to 35% of invoices and purchase orders . . .

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