Expanding into healthcare as an ISV growth strategy:
how embedding payments can streamline revenue cycle management

Lisa Brooks, Vice President, Healthcare Partner Management – U.S. Bank

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and SaaS providers have long viewed healthcare as a rich target for vertical expansion. The market is large, highly regulated, and plagued with inefficiency. Many vendors break into this space by solving one part of the revenue cycle process, such as eligibility checks, claims scrubbing, or denial management. That narrow focus gets them in the door, but it omits the element that connects the cycle from end to end - payments.

Payments are more than a single transaction. It’s the foundation that ties together every part of revenue cycle management (RCM). For vendors already in the RCM space, embedding payments turns a point solution into a growth platform.

The strain on healthcare finances is clear. Hospitals lose an average of $5 million annually to denied claims, equal to about five percent of net patient revenue.*  Across the industry, providers spent nearly $20 billion in 2022 fighting denials, with more than half of that wasted on claims that ultimately should have been paid.**

At the same time, patient out-of-pocket costs continue to climb, shifting more revenue collection to the front desk, portals, and mobile channels. Healthcare organizations manage much more than co-pays. A hospital, for example, handles reimbursements from payors, vendor invoices for medical supplies, business-to-business transfers with partner organizations, cafeteria and food service transactions, pharmacy sales, and patient payments across dozens of departments.

Payments flow through the entire financial system and addressing only a portion leaves opportunity untapped. Why payments belong in the suite RCM has always been fragmented. One vendor handles eligibility, another automates coding, and a third manages denials. They all approach the same provider from different angles.

An ISV that already plays in this cycle has an immediate opportunity: integrate payments and financial services functionality and deepen the value it delivers to healthcare clients and their patients. Patient and payor payments are a core part of RCM, and they matter enormously to providers. Healthcare organizations also manage vendor invoices, business-to-business transfers, and internal flows such as cafeteria and pharmacy transactions. Together, these represent the full picture of how money moves across the enterprise.

When ISVs address both RCM and the broader payments landscape, they create a more complete solution. Patient and payor collections strengthen the revenue cycle. Vendor and internal payments expand the reach to the entire financial system. The companies that bring these together position themselves as financial partners with staying power. Owning payments creates durability when a platform becomes the rail for money movement, it stops being a feature and starts becoming the foundation of the organization’s financial operations.

Payments are sticky by nature. Once embedded, they are extremely difficult to replace. That durability makes them one of the most powerful levers for long-term growth, extending customer lifetime value and creating room for expansion into adjacent services. This is where the opportunity becomes clear. Providers are looking for partners who can support the entire strategy for how money moves — from patients and payors to vendors and internal services like pharmacy and cafeteria.

The ISV that unifies those flows stops being a point solution. It becomes infrastructure, the layer that healthcare organizations depend on to function. A strategic path forward Healthcare providers are under pressure to prove ROI quickly. They care about fewer denials, faster reimbursements, higher collection rates, and more satisfied patients. Payments are the most direct lever that ties technology investment to financial outcomes.

For SaaS companies, leading with payments opens doors to conversations that matter most: how the hospital’s financial system operates and how it can be improved. The path is clear. Start with any part of RCM. Layer in payments. Then expand into becoming the financial foundation for all money flows across the enterprise. That is how ISVs move beyond point solutions and secure their place as long-term partners.

Healthcare’s financial backbone is payments. If a SaaS company can solve even a slice of the revenue cycle, it can also solve payments. Providers are asking for every payment option, from wallets and ACH to buy-now-pay-later and embedded finance. Whoever unifies those flows will not just add value, they will become the infrastructure hospitals rely on.

That is where Elavon comes in. We provide the payment solutions ISVs need to expand into healthcare. By embedding modern payment options into their platforms, SaaS vendors can broaden their offerings, take ownership of provider payment strategies across patients, payors, vendors, and internal services, and position themselves as indispensable. Elavon enables SaaS companies to use payments as the lever for vertical expansion and durable growth in healthcare. Connect with us to learn more. 

*Journal of AHIMA

**ii Fierce Healthcare