Simplee, makers of an online tool that helps patients deal with medical bills and claims, announced SimpleePAY, a new service offered directly to healthcare providers.

When Simplee announced $6 million in first round funding last May, MobiHealthNews described their existing offering, the Simplee medical wallet, as a Mint.com for healthcare, because it helps patients keep track of and make payments to different healthcare providers, as well as helping them avoid costly insurance mistakes.

SimpleePAY will extend those benefits to healthcare providers, with an online billing system. The platform includes an interactive digital bill that's clearer and easier to understand than a paper bill, and will interactively incorporate an explanation of benefits. The system will give patients a range of payment options including mobile, installments, and discounts; pre-procedure cost estimates; and a loyalty program. The platform will be offered in three plans, with a scaling number of features: Select, Complete, and Ultimate.

"If you think about providers, consumer-driven healthcare is good for them as well," co-founder and CEO Tomer Shoval told MobiHealthNews. "Years ago, they would get most of their revenue from government and from insurance. Now more of it [comes from] patients. If patients are confused or uncomfortable, it becomes a challenge for them."

Shoval said that currently less than 5 percent of the $350 billion dollars spent on healthcare annually is paid online through digital payments. He said it costs providers an average of $10 per patient to make sure bills are paid via phone calls and snail mail. Simplee will enable more patients to pay their bills digitally. The platform also provides patient satisfaction surveys to help providers refine their payment processes.

"We do not believe in charging consumers, and we also believe that going D2C in healthcare is a challenge, and therefore our ability to go after the providers who have a direct relationship with the patients is important," Shoval said.

The company is launching SimpleePAY with charter customer El Camino Hospital in Silicon Valley. (Clarification: An earlier version of the article referred to El Camino as a pilot. The hospital is a paying customer.) Other partners include Mutual of Omaha and health savings account provider ACS BNY Mellon.