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Provider Contract Management

Provider contract management that gives the rate in force on the date of service, cited to the contract page

The right rate or clause in seconds, cited to the contract page that sets it.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo9smedian time to a cited rate for a provider, code and date — 38 minutes by hand
demo96,214claimspaid claims checked against their rate card in the last 90 days
demo47claimspaid at the old rate for one provider after a signed amendment was never loaded into rate setup — $8,249.62 short
target100%of paid claims checked against their contract every night
In short

What is Provider Contract Management?

It is how a plan keeps provider agreements, amendments, fee schedules and payment policies in a form claims, dispute and network staff can use — and how it makes sure claims pay what was signed. Provider Contract Management answers any rate or clause question as a rate card for the date of service, cited to the contract page, and checks every paid claim against it each night.

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Updated

The problem

Why “what should we have paid?” takes up to an hour — and a missed amendment pays wrong for months

Every in-network claim is paid under a provider agreement: a base agreement, a stack of amendments, fee schedule exhibits written as a percentage of a Medicare schedule for a stated year, and payment policies for multiple-procedure reductions, modifiers and prompt-pay interest. The rate for one claim depends on the provider, the code, the setting and the date of service — which amendment was in force that day. Claims examiners, dispute analysts and provider service reps answer it by opening PDFs and reading them in effective-date order.

The claims system’s rate setup is keyed by hand from the same PDFs. When an amendment is signed but never loaded, every claim pays the old rate until the provider’s revenue cycle team writes in. Underpayments become disputes, reprocessing and prompt-pay interest; overpayments become recoveries that strain the relationship. Both are found late, or not at all.

estimated30–60minper dispute, by analysts’ own account, to find the governing clause and work out the rate by hand
typical18%of denied Medicare Advantage payment requests in an OIG sample met Medicare and plan billing rules — claims systems set up wrong or never updated were among the causes
typical394,140disputesNo Surprises Act payment disputes initiated in July 2026 alone — a measure of how often payer and provider disagree on what a claim should pay
Where one provider dispute’s hours goestimated
By hand5.5 days
With the solution0.8 days
  • Finding the agreement and the amendments in force0.8 → 0.1 d
  • Working out the contracted rate and the arithmetic0.5 → 0.1 d
  • Finding other claims paid short for the same reason2 → 0.1 d
  • Drafting the cited response and the interest1 → 0.3 d
  • Telling rate configuration exactly which row is wrong1 → 0.1 d
  • Review and signature0.3 → 0.3 d

Estimated split for one underpayment dispute, in hours of the analyst’s and configuration team’s time, by hand and with the solution.

How it works

How a question becomes a rate card

Five specialist agents read the contracts, build the rate card and check every paid claim against it; the dispute analyst decides and signs.

What comes in
Contracts and claims in2,418 agreements · amendments, fee schedules, policies, paid claims
Agents at work
Contract readerterms by page
Then
Rate resolverstack by service date
Then
Paid-claims checker
Rate setup auditor
Then
Dispute response writercited draft
A person decides
Provider dispute analystdecides and signs
What comes out
Cited rate card
Under and overpayments found
Setup change request
One case, step by step

One knee replacement, from the rate card to 47 claims reprocessed

Brightwater Orthopaedic Partners billed a total knee arthroplasty, CPT 27447, for a date of service of 14 August 2026. Cedar Valley Health Plan paid it $1,514.00. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 01One question

    Provider, code, date of service — and the rate card

    Renata Okoye · Provider dispute analyst

    Renata fills four slots: Brightwater Orthopaedic Partners, 27447, 14 Aug 2026, facility · locality 03. The card answers $1,726.00: the 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule amount of $1,380.80 × 125%, set by Amendment 3 §2.1 on page 4, effective 1 Jul 2026. Four signed entries are in force; one draft is ignored. Multiple-procedure, assistant-surgeon, global-period and prompt-payment terms sit beside it, each with its source.

    How this card was built — 3.6 s: contract reader, rate resolver, payment policies, paid-claims checker, rate setup auditor. “Every figure opens its page.”

  2. 02Checked last night

    The card checks what was actually paid

    Paid-claims checker

    Under the rate sits the paid claim: 2026-0814-55102, member J. Marlow, billed $4,850.00, paid $1,514.00 on 2 Sep 2026 — $212.00 under the contract rate. The cause is named: rate setup row BOP-PROF-B still reads “118% of 2024 schedule”. 47 claims like it since 1 Jul 2026, $8,249.62 under; prompt-pay interest on this claim is $2.65 if it is reprocessed by 14 Oct.

    Amendment 4, a bundled knee and hip episode rate of $14,900, is on the ledger as “Draft — not applied.”

  3. 03Drag the date

    Slide back to June, and the old rate returns

    Renata Okoye · Provider dispute analyst

    The amendment ledger stacks the base agreement and Amendments 1 to 4 by effective date. Renata drags the date to 20 Jun 2026: the rate falls to $1,514.00, Amendment 3 turns “Not yet in force” and the base agreement’s Exhibit B — 118% of the 2024 schedule, “the year is fixed” — sets the rate again. That is exactly what rate setup still pays.

  4. 04One click

    The clause, on its page

    Renata Okoye · Provider dispute analyst

    “Set by Amendment 3 · §2.1 · page 4” opens the signed amendment with §2.1, §2.2 and the effective-date clause highlighted, signed on 18 Jun 2026 by Priya Nandakumar for the plan and Dr. Elena Varga for the group. Margin notes show the arithmetic, that the schedule year moves each 1 January, and that the term applies by date of service, not by paid date.

    “Effective by date of service — claims with service on or after 1 Jul 2026 — not by paid date.”

  5. 05Every night

    Paid vs contract, across the plan

    Paid-claims checker

    Every paid claim is compared with its rate card each night: 96,214 claims in 90 days, tolerance $5.00 or 1%. 573 are off contract at 8 providers — $88,503.86 under, $9,223.98 over. For Brightwater the rate setup auditor names the cause and lists the 47 claims across six surgical codes, ready to send to reprocessing.

    “Agents never adjust a claim — reprocessing is released by a person.”

  6. 06Dispute in

    The dispute arrives with its answer drafted

    Dispute response writer

    Brightwater’s revenue cycle team files DSP-2026-1187 on 22 Sep, asking for $1,726.00 with interest. The dispute opens with the rate card, what reprocessing pays — $212.00 + $2.65 on this claim, $8,249.62 + $96.18 on all 47 — and a drafted response that upholds it under Amendment 3 §2.1 and Section 7.4, with a citation on every statement.

    “We have also identified 46 further claims paid at the earlier rate since 1 July and will reprocess them with this one, without a further dispute from you.”

  7. 07Signed with 10 days left

    Sign, send, reprocess 47 claims

    Renata Okoye · Provider dispute analyst

    Renata reads the draft and signs. In one step the response goes to Brightwater through the provider portal with three cited pages attached, reprocessing is released for 47 claims — $8,249.62 + $96.18 interest — and a change request for row BOP-PROF-B goes to Diane Castellanos.

  8. 08Tonight 02:10

    The exact row, the exact change, test-priced

    Diane Castellanos · Rate configuration lead

    The rate setup auditor reads 14,880 setup rows against 2,418 agreements and finds 8 that differ from the signed terms. Each change request names the row, the change, the source page and the claims it corrects — and is test-priced on five sample claims before it reaches Diane. The auditor never changes setup itself.

    “Repriced 5 sample claims — all match the rate card.” Waiting for Diane Castellanos.

  9. 09At renewal

    Three orthopaedic groups, side by side

    Priya Nandakumar · Network contract manager

    For negotiation Priya compares Brightwater with Summit Ridge Orthopedics and Kestrel Bone & Joint Clinic on eight codes, each cell the rate in force on 14 Aug 2026 under that group’s own agreement. For 27447: $1,726.00, $1,656.96 and $1,795.04.

    “For negotiation: Kestrel’s surgery rate is 5 points above Brightwater’s.”

  10. 10Every month

    What the contracts are costing — found, not guessed

    Network and claims leadership

    $97,727.84 paid off contract in 90 days, by cause — an amendment signed but never loaded, last year’s schedule still in setup, a payment policy revision missed. 1,846 rate cards asked October to date, a median 9 s to a cited rate, and 31 of 31 disputes answered on time this quarter.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who answers “what should we have paid?”

The same knee replacement claim, seen by the five people who carry it — what their day looked like, and what it looks like now.

RO
Renata OkoyeProvider Disputes, Cedar Valley Health Plan
Provider dispute analyst
Before
“I spend forty minutes finding the page, and two minutes deciding.” Every dispute starts with which amendment was in force.
Now
Opens each dispute with its rate card, the cause and a cited draft response; signs, sends and releases reprocessing in one step.
MB
Marcus BellClaims
Claims examiner
Before
“The system says one rate and the provider’s letter says another.” Prices pended claims by hand from PDFs.
Now
Asks for any provider, code and date and gets the rate, the arithmetic and the clause — with the paid claim checked against it.
PN
Priya NandakumarNetwork Contracting
Network contract manager
Before
“We signed the increase in June. Why are we still paying the old rate?”
Now
Sees which agreements have setup that differs from what she signed, gets renewal alerts 120 days ahead, and compares groups code by code before she negotiates.
DC
Diane CastellanosRate configuration
Rate configuration lead
Before
“Tell me exactly which row is wrong and what it should say.”
Now
Gets each change request with the setup row, the exact change, the source page, the claims it corrects and five test-priced claims — and approves it herself.
TW
Tom WhitakerProvider service
Provider service representative
Before
“I need an answer while they are still on the phone.”
Now
Pulls the rate card for the caller’s code and date of service, and drags the date to show which amendment applied when.
Built on the engine

5 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Five specialist agents read the contracts, build the rate card and check every paid claim against it; the dispute analyst decides and signs.

Contract reader

Reads every agreement, amendment, fee schedule exhibit and payment policy into rate terms — codes, basis, percentage, schedule year, fixed or updating — each with its page and paragraph.

  • Never infers a rate that is not written
  • An unsigned document is a draft and is never applied
  • Every term keeps its page and paragraph
Rate resolver

Builds the rate card: stacks the signed terms in force on the date of service, applies the schedule year, locality and payment policies, and shows the arithmetic and the governing page.

  • Never applies a draft or a future amendment
  • Schedule amounts are quoted, never rounded before the percentage
  • No card without a governing page
Paid-claims checker

Each night compares every paid claim with its rate card, flags gaps above tolerance with their direction and cause, and looks back to the term’s effective date to find every claim alike.

  • Never adjusts, reprocesses or recovers a claim
  • Member shown by initials and claim number only
Rate setup auditor

Reads the claims system’s rate setup row by row against the signed contract terms, writes the exact change with its source page, and test-prices five sample claims.

  • Never changes the setup itself
  • Every change request names its approver
Dispute response writer

Drafts the written response to a provider dispute: recommends uphold or deny, cites each provision, computes interest under the agreement and names other claims with the same cause.

  • Never sends — the analyst signs
  • Every statement carries its citation
Provider dispute analyst

Signs responses; configuration lead approves setup changes. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask it anything, in plain words

Ask for any rate or clause by provider, code and date — every answer opens the page that sets it.

Why was the Brightwater knee claim paid $212 short?

Claim 2026-0814-55102 (27447, service 14 Aug 2026) was paid $1,514.00, which is 118% of the 2024 schedule under Exhibit B. From 1 Jul 2026 Amendment 3 pays codes 20000–29999 at 125% of the current-year schedule — $1,726.00. Rate setup row BOP-PROF-B was never updated, so the claim went out $212.00 under.

Find every Brightwater claim paid at the old rate since 1 July

47 claims were paid at the Exhibit B rate after Amendment 3 took effect on 1 Jul 2026, across six surgical codes — $8,249.62 short in all, plus $96.18 prompt-pay interest. Twelve are total knee replacements at $212.00 each, ready to send to reprocessing.

Compare Brightwater’s surgery rates with the other two orthopaedic groups

On 14 Aug 2026 Brightwater pays surgery at 125% of the current-year schedule; Summit Ridge Orthopedics at 120% and Kestrel Bone & Joint Clinic at 130%. For 27447 that is $1,726.00, $1,656.96 and $1,795.04.

Draft the response to dispute DSP-2026-1187

The response is drafted and waiting for your signature. It upholds the dispute under Amendment 3 §2.1, pays $212.00 with $2.65 interest under §7.4, and tells the provider we will reprocess the other 46 claims without a further dispute.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The rate cardProvider, code, date of service and setting in; the contracted rate, its arithmetic and the amendment page that sets it out — with the paid claim checked against it.
The amendment ledgerThe base agreement and every amendment stacked by effective date, with the one that sets this rate highlighted and the unsigned draft marked “not applied”.
Drag the dateMove the date back to 20 Jun 2026 and the rate falls to $1,514.00: Amendment 3 is not yet in force, and Exhibit B sets the rate.
The contract pageAmendment 3, page 4, with the governing clause highlighted, the signatures, and margin notes on the arithmetic and the effective date.
Paid vs contractEvery paid claim against its rate card each night: under and overpayments by provider, the cause, and the claims by code, ready for reprocessing.
InsightsMoney paid off contract by cause, rate cards asked, time to a cited rate, claims checked and disputes answered on time.
Provider disputesEach dispute on its 30-day clock, opened with the provider’s letter, the rate card, what reprocessing pays and a drafted, cited response.
Sign and sendOne signature sends the response through the provider portal, releases reprocessing for 47 claims with interest, and raises the setup change.
Compare versionsExhibit B as signed beside Amendment 3, and what changed for each code on 1 Jul 2026.
Compare providersThree orthopaedic groups on eight codes, each cell the rate in force under that group’s own agreement on the same date.
Rate setup checkClaims system setup rows that differ from the signed terms, the claims and dollars affected, and a test-priced change request for the configuration lead.
Agreements2,418 agreements, 6,930 amendments and 11,204 fee schedule exhibits — by type, basis, renewal date, and whether setup matches.
Your plan’s rulesTolerance, the nightly check, who signs and approves, prompt-pay and dispute clocks, and the connected sources.
Governance

Built for payment accuracy: cited, signed, on the record.

No rate without its pageA rate never reaches the screen without the clause, exhibit row and amendment that set it. Every figure opens the contract page it came from.
Drafts are never appliedUnsigned documents and amendments not yet in force are filed and shown on the ledger, but never used to price a claim — a fixed rule, not a setting.
Agents never touch a claim or the setupThe agents do not adjust, reprocess or recover claims, and do not change the claims system’s rate setup. Reprocessing is released by a person; setup changes are approved by the rate configuration lead.
A person signs every responseDispute responses are signed by a provider dispute analyst. Reprocessing over $25,000 needs a second approval from the network contract manager.
Minimum member dataMembers appear by initials and claim number only, on every screen and in every finding.
Every step on the recordEvery question, rate card, comparison, signature and change request is on the activity trail, with who or which agent, what and when.
Configuration

Your plan’s rules, not ours

What Cedar Valley Health Plan decides — the agents follow these, from the next nightly check.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Tolerance — gaps below are not flagged$5.00 or 1%, whichever is greaterAny amount or percentage
Check runsNightly at 02:00 on the day’s paid claimsFrom the paid-claims file
Look-back on a new findingTo the effective date of the termFinds every claim alike
Drafts and future amendmentsNever appliedFixed rule
Approves rate setup changesDiane Castellanos, rate configuration leadAny named approver
Second approval for reprocessing over$25,000 · Priya NandakumarAny amount, any named approver
Interest on late or short payment1.5% a monthState rule where higher
Dispute response · provider dispute window30 days from receipt · 180 days from remittanceClock on every dispute · window per agreement §7.6
Connections

Works with the systems you already run

Contract repositoryagreements and amendments, read nightly
Fee schedules and rate exhibitsMedicare fee schedules by year, locality and setting
Payment policiesreductions and modifier rules, with revision history
Claims system rate setupthe setup export, read row by row each night
Paid-claims filethe daily remittance file, every paid claim
Provider portalsigned dispute responses, with cited pages attached
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
9s
to a cited rate for a provider, code and date
By hand30–60 min
With agents≈ 9 s
target
100%
of paid claims checked against their contract every night
Every paid claim
96,214 in 90 days in the demo
typical
18%
of denied MA payment requests met the rules — many from claims systems not updated

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample health plan data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (HHS-OIG OEI-09-18-00260, 2022 — 18% of denied payment requests met Medicare and plan billing rules, with system processing errors among the causes; CMS No Surprises Act IDR reports — 394,140 out-of-network payment disputes initiated in July 2026). People, plans and providers named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What claims, network and provider dispute teams ask us.

What is provider contract management for health plans?

It is how a plan keeps provider agreements, amendments, fee schedules and payment policies in a form claims, dispute and network staff can use — and how it makes sure claims pay what was signed. Provider Contract Management answers any rate or clause question as a rate card for the date of service, cited to the contract page, and checks every paid claim against it each night.

How does it find the rate in force on a date of service?

The rate resolver takes the signed terms whose effective date is on or before the date of service, in effective order, and applies the latest one that governs the code. It uses the schedule amount for the year and locality the term names, applies payment policies, and shows the arithmetic and the governing page.

Can it find underpayments and overpayments before the provider calls?

Yes. Each night the paid-claims checker compares every paid claim with its rate card, flags gaps above your tolerance, and looks back to the term’s effective date to find every claim with the same cause. The rate setup auditor then names the setup row behind it.

Does the AI adjust claims or change our claims system setup?

No. The agents never adjust, reprocess or recover a claim and never change rate setup. A provider dispute analyst signs responses and releases reprocessing; the rate configuration lead approves each setup change request.

What happens to unsigned amendments and drafts?

They are read and filed, shown on the amendment ledger as drafts, and never applied to a rate. An amendment not yet in force on the date of service is shown as “Not yet in force”.

Does it help us answer provider payment disputes?

Each dispute arrives with its rate card and a drafted response that recommends uphold or deny, cites each provision, computes interest under the agreement, and names other claims with the same cause. The analyst edits if needed, signs and sends.

Which systems does it connect to?

Your contract repository, Medicare fee schedules by year, locality and setting, your payment policies, the claims system’s rate setup export and the daily paid-claims file. Signed dispute responses go out through the provider portal.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your agreements, fee schedules, payment policies and a sample of paid claims — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own contracts first.

See it on
your contracts.

We’ll run Provider Contract Management on a sample of your own agreements and paid claims.