Making healthcare more affordable is everyone’s job at Hartford Healthcare.

Virtually everyone who works for Hartford Healthcare in Connecticut is familiar with the term A2E2. It refers to Access, Affordability, Equity and Excellence — the four values that define the $5.9 billion health network’s vision for healthcare delivery.

A2E2 drives decision making in every department in Hartford Healthcare’s seven hospitals and nearly 500 other locations statewide. That includes facets of its operations that patients seldom see, such as the way it pays its bills, according to Ryan Donahue, the health network’s senior director of Procure to Pay.

Hartford Health’s centralized accounts payable (AP) operations in Hartford processes and pays some 56,000 invoices a month. “One way we support Hartford Healthcare’s mission is by reducing the number of checks we write and finding less-expensive electronic ways to pay our bills,” Donahue explained.

In fact, when Commerce Bank reached out to Hartford Health to introduce its CommercePayments® AP Card solution, the health network did not have just ONE electronic payment program already in place. It had TWO.

A supplemental solution.

Together, these programs were making a sizable dent in the number of checks the health system wrote each month. In addition to cutting the cost of processing, printing and mailing checks, each digital payment also resulted in a revenue share to Hartford Health.

Rather than show Commerce the door, the health network invited the bank to submit a proposal of its own, detailing how it might use the CommercePayments® AP Card solution — which replaces paper checks with one-time-use virtual cards — to supplement the health network’s existing payment methods.

Hartford Health liked what it saw and asked Commerce to join the health system’s payments network. “All three provide different types of benefits to us and our suppliers,” explained Donahue. “We benefit much more by adding Commerce’s program than if we had limited ourselves.”

How it works.

The Accounts Payable (AP) department at Hartford Healthcare distributes a vendor payment file to Commerce and two other payments solution providers. Each one is free to reach out to these suppliers and manage their enrollment into their solution.

“Our resources are limited, and we have other priorities,” explained Donahue. “That’s why we look to the providers to drive the program.”

The results.

Today, Hartford Healthcare’s AP department cuts hundreds — down from thousands — of checks a week. The remaining payments are made with either CommercePayments® AP card, ACH or another automated payment method.

Since Commerce joined the network of three AP payments providers, Hartford Health’s revenue share has increased significantly.

“Commerce is very proactive in contacting suppliers, educating them so they understand the expectations and benefits of participation,” said Lisa Shupe, the health network’s AP Director. “If a supplier is on the fence, Commerce is out there campaigning for us, which is wonderful.”

“With fewer checks to process, we can also reallocate our resources to other department activities,” added Shupe. The AP department saves time in other ways as well.

“When you shift to electronic payments, you also don’t have to worry about stopping payments and reissuing lost checks,” she explained.

“Before, a supplier might try to put us on a credit hold if the mail got delayed,” she added. “Then, a team from contracting, purchasing and accounting would need to get involved to research the problem and validate that the supplier has been paid.”

With Commerce’s AP card, suppliers gain access to their funds through an email sent on the payment due date. “Timely payments help strengthen our vendor relationships,” said Shupe. “And they eliminate the threat of credit holds.”

“Adding a third provider has been worth the effort,” said Donahue.

“Our payments program operates well today with little effort on our end,” he said. “After we send Commerce a spend file, they do the legwork. Suppliers get paid faster, and we get the rebate, which helps keep our accounts payable costs low. Everybody — including our patients — wins, and Commerce makes it easy.”

CommercePayments® solutions are provided by Commerce Bank.