Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network and UnitedHealthcare have automated claim status updates for 88% of the claims exchanged between the two organizations, using Epic’s Payer Platform, according to Epic’s newly released 2026-2027 Almanac.
The two organizations turned on Epic’s Claim Status feature to give St. Luke’s staff real-time visibility into where claims stand with UnitedHealthcare, replacing manual status checks that previously required calling the payer or logging into external portals. Brian Burd, IT director at St. Luke’s, said the health system’s main motivation was to improve revenue cycle efficiency by reducing manual claim status inquiries and speeding up follow-ups.
UnitedHealthcare manages most of its claims operations outside Epic, so the insurer routes claim data through its own Epic environment first, then delivers it to St. Luke’s through the Payer Platform connection. That setup avoided the time and transaction fees of building a separate direct link between the two systems.
Since the feature went live, UnitedHealthcare has seen a 25% drop in claim status calls from St. Luke’s, while St. Luke’s staff have shifted their time from chasing payer updates to higher-value revenue cycle work.
The collaboration reflects a broader push among health systems and health plans, spurred by discussions at the 2025 National Health Plan CEO Council, to automate claims, prior authorization and medical policy review using Epic’s AI tools.
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