Revenue cycle · Patient financing
PayZen
PayZen offers interest-free, fee-free payment plans to patients of hospitals and health systems, sized to each patient's ability to pay, and can pay providers early while taking on default risk.
Strong fit
- Hospitals and health systems with large patient balances after insurance
- Billing leaders who want payment plans offered inside MyChart and other patient portals
- Organizations that want to be paid early on patient plans without carrying the risk of default
Weak fit
- Small practices with low patient balances
- Buyers who want a full patient statement and billing system
- Buyers who need a published price list
Bottom line
PayZen is worth using for hospitals and health systems that want more patient balances collected with less work for billing staff. It offers patients interest-free, fee-free payment plans sized to what they can afford, with no credit check. Systems wanting billing, statements, and payments in one product may prefer Cedar.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
PayZen, based in San Francisco, California, offers patients of hospitals and health systems payment plans with no interest, no fees, and no credit check.
Itzik Cohen had been chief business officer at Prosper Marketplace and then founded Beyond Finance, a debt settlement company. He started PayZen in 2019 with former colleagues after seeing medical debt grow faster than any other kind of debt his customers carried.
PayZen connects to the provider's EHR and combines billing data with financial data to judge what each patient can pay. It then offers a personal plan sized to that amount.
It can pay the provider early and take on the risk that a patient stops paying. Patients can enroll from a patient portal such as Epic's MyChart.
Its models also flag patients who may qualify for financial assistance. Its PayZen Care Card, issued by Patriot Bank, lets patients cover deposits before a procedure.
NEA led a $32 million Series B in August 2024, alongside a $200 million credit facility from Viola Credit and a group of insurers.
PayZen then worked with more than 60 health systems and physician groups, including Geisinger and CommonSpirit. KLAS named it the 2026 Best in KLAS for patient financing.
PayZen says its health system clients collect 30% more from patients on average than before.
Compare Cedar when a health system wants patient billing, statements, and payments in one system. Collectly or Inbox Health fit a group that wants billing messages and payments automated.
PatientPay fits when online statements and payment options are the gap. Rivia Health fits a specialty practice that wants patient payments and estimates from a smaller vendor.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| PayZen | 7.6 | 7.5 |
| Inbox Health | 7.4 | 7.1 |
| Collectly | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| PatientPay | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Rivia Health | 6.5 | 6.4 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | Patients pay no interest or fees. Providers pay under a custom contract, which can include selling plans to PayZen at a discount in exchange for early payment. |
| What usually drives cost | Patient balance volume, who carries the risk if patients stop paying, whether PayZen pays the provider up front, plan lengths, and EHR connection. |
| What to ask before you buy | The discount on plans it buys, who carries the risk on defaults, and how plans work with your financial assistance and collections policies. |
| Published pricing | PayZen does not publish a price list. |
Prerequisites for purchase
| Need | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you need to get PayZen to function | |
| A leader for patient billing | Owns the program. |
| EHR and billing system access | Balances and payments sync. |
| Financial assistance policy | Plans must fit it. |
| A decision on who carries the risk of unpaid plans | Sets cost and risk. |
| Baseline collection and bad debt rates | You need them to show the change later. |
| What will maximize your value | |
| Offer plans in the patient portal | Most enrollments start there. |
| Send offers soon after the first bill | Patients act before balances age. |
| Review results by service line | Shows where plans help most. |
| Deal-breakers | |
| Your patient balances are low | |
| There is no way to connect to your EHR | |
| Nobody owns patient financial services | |
Value creation time frame
| # | Stage | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contract and integration | 1-3 months |
| 2 | First patient offers | 2-4 months |
| 3 | All facilities and deposit cards | 6-12 months |
Leadership
Methodology
| Weight | Factor | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | Customer outcomes | Whether buyers get measurable operational or clinical-workflow results after go-live |
| 30% | Product | Capability depth, reliability, and fit for the job the category buys |
| 20% | Implementation | How hard it is to stand up, integrate, train, and stabilize |
| 15% | Pricing clarity | Whether a buyer can model total cost without a mystery quote |
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highly recommend | Strong outcomes and product with manageable caveats |
| Recommend | Solid fit for the right buyer; know the tradeoffs |
| Conditional | Only with a specific use case or heavy caveats |
| Not recommended | Avoid for most buyers in this category |
Read our full methodology for how we weight scores and assign recommend labels.