Hingham Company Changes the Face of Medical Billing with Patient-Centered Technology

September 2, 2020 by Laura Harper Winters

We've all experienced those frustrating moments in life when we think, "there HAS to be a better way to do this." Hinghamite, Peter Dolphin, turned that moment into an opportunity.

Dolphin, who has over 30 years of experience in the medical billing field, has built his career on the foundation of helping medical providers solve problems with software solutions. Two years ago, Peter Dolphin and his brother William began a conversation challenging why paying medical bills had to be so cumbersome for patients.

The experience is familiar. We go to the doctor. Several weeks later, a bill comes in the mail. We set the bill aside and pay it with other bills. If the bill is forgotten, the patient receives another bill, and then the cycle continues for as long as it takes for the provider to receive payment. Even worse, we go onto the “Portal,” which requires passwords and cumbersome ID numbers, only to get lost inside a confusing system.

Compare that, for a moment, to how we in Hingham receive our power bills. If a customer signs up for paperless billing with Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant (HMLP), a text is sent to the customer at the end of each billing statement. The customer is then directed from the text to the payment page where they are offered the option to pay with credit/debit card, EFT, or Google Pay. The process of paying the bill is simplified and quick, paper is saved from avoiding the mailing, and HMLP has payment in hand in a fraction of the time. They have also avoided the costly process of manually mailing paper bills. Makes sense, right?

As e-commerce has grown over the years, the formula for growth begins with the customer experience instead of the provider experience. Simplifying the process for the customer, leads to increased sales and the provider benefits.

As the Dolphin brothers discussed this from a medical billing perspective, they realized that the biggest hurdle to simplifying patient billing was HIPPA and protecting patient data. They knew that if they could securely bill a patient in a way that simplified the process for the payer, they could disrupt the established methods of medical bill-pay. And just like that, CueSquared was born.

The brothers assembled a team and created a fast, secure, one-touch payment platform where the patient was not required to download an app, sign-in or remember a password.

How does it work?

In addition to the tech development team, the Dolphin brothers recruited Hingham’s Jeb Burrows, to lead sales & marketing, business development, and assist with strategy. With over 16 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare information technology segments, Burrows has been instrumental in the young company's nationwide growth.

Since its development, the technology has taken the country by storm. Satisfied clients include Mount Sinai Health System (NY, NY),  Albany Medical Center (Albany, NY), Beth Israel Lahey Health (Burlington, MA), and OrthoCarolina (Charlotte, NC), Rhode Island Medical Imaging, and many other practices throughout Massachusetts.

All medical providers using the technology report high satisfaction with this self-pay strategy, which accesses patients where they live - on their phones - accelerating and increasing payments at a reduced cost. The platform also allows providers to gain insights into patient behavior by having access to data that shows when a text is delivered, viewed, and paid.

The success of the platform has resulted in steady growth of CueSquared, customers who are pleased with the simplicity and flexible payment options, and satisfied medical providers.

Hopefully, one day soon, Hingham patient customers will have access to this home-grown technology that is taking the country by storm!