The transformative digital disbursement solution to help cure U.S. healthcare’s payment challenges

Diagnosing the cause of U.S. healthcare’s chronic payment pains

When you’re ill, recovering, or simply managing your health, the last thing you want is financial stress. Unfortunately, for many patients in the U.S. healthcare system, that’s an all‑too‑common side effect—because reimbursements take too long to arrive.

According to a recent Visa survey, 57% of surveyed healthcare consumers experience challenges with disbursements, with 42% reporting their biggest frustration as not knowing when funds will be delivered.¹ For many patients, such delays aren’t simply inconveniences, they create cashflow challenges that force them to forgo other expenses. The resulting financial anxiety can impact their mental wellbeing and physical health.

A core cause of these delays is the industry’s continued reliance on outdated payment methods. Visa analysis shows that 25% of payer-to-patient reimbursements and 60% of provider-to-patient refunds are still made by check,² causing delays at every stage: issuing, mailing, and depositing. These delays can leave patients waiting 30 to 140 days for funds—and even longer if a claim is disputed.² Traditional electronic funds transfers (EFTs), such as ACH deposits, can help shorten the process by a few weeks, but delivery speeds remain slow and unpredictable.

The reimbursement experience is further complicated by a lack of flexibility, as patients often have limited options for how they receive their funds. Slow disbursements also affect healthcare providers, straining provider‑patient relationships and introducing friction into the care‑delivery process.

At the same time, health insurance companies face their own challenges. Outdated paper-based processes drive up administrative overheads, increase processing costs, and rise escheatment risks from unclaimed checks. Additionally, collecting and storing sensitive patient banking data creates an additional compliance burden.

Administering the remedy for fast, secure digital disbursements

In the face of these outdated systems, Visa Direct has partnered with digital payments platform Dash Solutions, and healthcare technology company Zelis, to deliver a digital disbursement solution to transform healthcare payments for payers and patients alike.

This integrated solution combines Dash Solutions’ Dash Digital platform, which enables its SpendIT SendIT^™technology, within Zelis Advanced Payments Platform^ˢᵐ(ZAPP), utilizing Visa Direct’s payment rails, including real-time* card payment rails, to facilitate secure and rapid fund transfers. Together, these technologies empower healthcare payers—including insurance companies and self-insured employers—to streamline reimbursements and reduce financial stress for patients.

What payers and patients gain

Visa Direct, Dash Solutions, and Zelis have combined their unique strengths to help facilitate convenient, fast, and secure patient and member reimbursement experiences. Zelis provides the member‑facing interface and connects to the health insurance payer’s claims process. Dash Solutions facilitates disbursements from the payer to the recipient via its Dash Digital platform and SpendIT SendIT™ technology, using the Visa Direct network to route the payout to the patient.

Patients and members benefit from the combined innovation of Dash Solutions, Zelis, and Visa Direct, delivered through a clear, user‑friendly experience for managing incoming funds. They can select a streamlined cash‑out to their bank account via Visa Direct or opt to move the funds on the virtual debit card issued by Dash Solutions to a digital wallet. The interface provides clear context around each option, helping build confidence in the payment experience.

Visa Direct underpins the movement of funds, providing the rails that connect payers to recipients at scale.

• Speed: Real-time* payments to eligible cards mean funds are typically available within one minute*—dramatically improving patient satisfaction and financial wellness.
• Reach: Visa Direct provides access to over 99% of the U.S. domestic banked population,^† ensuring nearly every patient or member can receive funds through their preferred method.
• Security: Built on Visa's trusted infrastructure, Visa Direct incorporates robust internal security features, such as tokenization, passkeys, and AI-driven fraud prevention.**
• Convenience: Visa Direct allows recipients to use easy card-number routing to receive their funds, removing the need to provide account and routing numbers. Payers, meanwhile, benefit from powerful automation, reducing manual effort in payment processing and reconciliation, increasing operational efficiency.

Together, these three platforms create a secure solution that modernizes healthcare disbursements from initiation to secure delivery.

A healthier future for healthcare payments

By modernizing disbursements, Visa Direct, Dash Solutions and Zelis are working to transform healthcare payments—for the benefit of payers, patients, and providers alike.

For healthcare payers, the ability to quickly deliver funds can dramatically reduce processing times and minimize costly escheatment risks from unclaimed checks. It also helps cut down on the estimated $2 billion overspent annually on disbursement processing—largely due to continued check usage.²

For patients and members, the flexibility to choose how they receive funds, thanks to Dash Solutions’ Dash Digital platform’s SpendIT SendIT™ technology, eliminates much of the frustration associated with rigid paper-based systems. Additionally, the ability to receive faster reimbursements to eligible cards or accounts significantly improves cash flow and reduces financial strain.

For healthcare providers, meanwhile, fast, secure digital payments remove a sore point of friction from the care-delivery process and help to build trust in provider-patient relationships.

Ultimately, this collaboration seeks to deliver more efficient, transparent, and flexible money movement, fostering greater satisfaction and stronger relationships between providers, payers, and patients. It's a vital step toward modernizing U.S. healthcare payments and bringing consumer-friendly experiences to a sector ripe for transformation.

Together, Dash Solutions, Visa Direct, and Zelis have laid the groundwork for a transformative shift in healthcare payments—one built for high volume, trust, and long-term impact. With the infrastructure, integrations, and strategy now in place, now marks the beginning of a new era where member disbursements flow quickly, reliably, and at volume, improving convenience for members and patients.

Further reading:

• A Business Case for Digital Disbursements in Healthcare
  Discover why forward-thinking finance leaders in healthcare organizations are turning to Dash Solutions to revolutionize their disbursement processes.
• Healthcare Providers Must Embrace Digital Disbursements or Risk Falling Behind
  Learn about digital payments and the benefits of secure refunds in healthcare.
• Untangling the Complexity of Payments in Healthcare
  Understand the full scope of complexities to member and patient payouts in healthcare, and the key steps for accessing the right solutions.