Losing money on faulty medical bills? There's an app for that

Dealing with hospital bills is a struggle for everyone involved, striking at least annoyance and possibly terror in the hearts of patients, administrators, physicians and payors alike. They can be confusing, and errors can unnecessarily boost costs. According to The Atlantic, between 10 percent and 30 percent of medical bills include some kind of error.

The year-old startup Remedy thinks it can help, at least a little bit. The company partners with users’ insurance records, where expert contractors comb through medical bills to find ways to save money. Remedy’ll help expose a faulty coding, point out blatant over-billing and even contest denied claims. Then, the company takes 20 percent of the savings revealed, up to $99 (for now).

Remedy, which users access through a mobile app, claims on its website that it could help save the average person $1,000 a year on “most” medical bills. That’s based on CMS’s estimate that $120 to $150 billion could be saved every year if medical bills were metered out correctly.

For example, finding a double-billing on stitches from urgent care could save $50. The bigger the original bill, the bigger the potential for found savings.

But some experts worry about what it means for data security. Remedy isn’t bound by HIPAA regulations, and storing medical records online or with a third-party company could be inherently risky. Customers could open themselves to the threat of financial or medical identity theft or the worry that private medical information could become public.

But is it really any riskier than the everyday act of putting other information on the internet, asks The Atlantic? Check out the magazine for more information on Remedy, cybersecurity and on how the company got its start.