CUSTOMER STORY:
How Seacoast Strengthened Claims Visibility With the Right Healthcare Clearinghouse Partner
Background
A strong healthcare clearinghouse partner can help healthcare technology companies improve claims visibility, resolve customer issues faster, and scale support without adding unnecessary operational burden.
For Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc., choosing the right partner meant gaining more transparency into claims activity, faster access to answers, and a support relationship built around shared accountability.
In this customer story, you’ll learn how Seacoast:
- Improved claims visibility by gaining direct access to submission files, acknowledgments, rejections, and claims activity
- Resolved customer issues faster by reducing dependency on healthcare clearinghouse partner intervention for routine troubleshooting
- Simplified onboarding with more predictable implementation workflows, FTP credential setup, and payer enrollment visibility
- Reduced internal support burden by giving customers and internal teams easier access to the information they need
- Strengthened operational resilience with a more flexible partner ecosystem during industry-wide disruption
Healthcare technology companies make promises every day for faster workflows, better visibility, more reliable operations, and stronger financial performance for the customers who depend on them. Delivering those promises takes more than great software. It takes the right systems, support, and relationships behind the scenes.
Jess Parkins, Senior AR Analyst and Project Manager at Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc., understands that better than most.
For more than 30 years, Seacoast has provided software solutions for clinical laboratories. Its suite of products, including laboratory information system (LIS) and revenue cycle management (RCM) solutions, is specifically designed to help clinical laboratories automate processes, improve efficiency, and achieve exceptional outcomes while minimizing demands on personnel.
Parkins helps support customers that depend on those systems every day. With nearly three decades in accounts receivable and revenue operations, she knows exactly what it takes to keep critical processes moving and what happens when supporting technology creates unnecessary friction.
That’s why Seacoast has always taken a thoughtful approach to its partner ecosystem.
As customer expectations evolved and operational demands increased, the team saw an opportunity to strengthen the infrastructure behind the services they already deliver, giving customers even greater visibility and confidence.
They weren’t looking for another healthcare clearinghouse partner. They were looking for a strategic partner.
”It allows me to support my customers properly when I have a vendor partner who is an actual partner."
Jess ParkinsSenior AR Analyst and Project Manager, Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc.
Operational Friction Became Harder to Ignore
Like many healthcare technology organizations, Seacoast had worked with multiple healthcare clearinghouse partners over the years. As the business evolved, so did what Seacoast needed from its vendors.
Supporting customers well requires faster troubleshooting, better visibility, and more flexibility than some legacy relationships could provide.
For Parkins and her team, that friction showed up in ways that slowed momentum. Users could be locked out for days waiting on simple credential resets, troubleshooting claims issues often required vendor intervention, and visibility into claim submissions and acknowledgments was limited, making it harder to resolve issues quickly and confidently.
“We had so many challenges just getting transparency to data.” Jess explained.
For a company committed to delivering a strong customer experience, those limitations created unnecessary complexity. The systems meant to support those workflows often made problem-solving harder than it needed to be.
That’s when it became clear: the right strategic partner could help them operate even more effectively.
By removing operational bottlenecks, Seacoast can resolve issues faster and better support the customers depending on them.
Choosing a Healthcare Clearinghouse Partner to Keep Pace
Seacoast doesn’t operate like a one-size-fits-all software vendor. Its team constantly adapts to meet evolving customer needs, making updates, solving challenges, and supporting workflows as the business changes. That kind of agility requires partners who can move with you.
“As a vendor, we do a lot of customizations,” Parkins shared. “We needed a partner that was a little more flexible.”
But flexibility was only part of the equation. With decades of revenue cycle experience, Parkins wanted a healthcare clearinghouse partner that gave her team greater insight into claims activity, stronger troubleshooting capabilities, and more control when customers needed answers fast.
“The transparency was great,” Parkins said. “I loved the platform.”
This wasn’t just about choosing better technology; it was about choosing a partner that could better support its customers.
”“Having all of that in my hands…more access, more transparency, more capability.”
Jess ParkinsSenior AR Analyst and Project Manager, Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc.
Put to the Test
Then came the industry disruption that put every vendor relationship to the test. That moment came during the cyberattack that disrupted healthcare claims operations across the industry. As organizations worked to protect cash flow and maintain continuity, some providers suddenly found themselves unable to submit claims, putting reimbursement and daily operations at immediate risk.
But Seacoast was positioned to respond. Because the team had intentionally built a more flexible partner ecosystem, they were able to move quickly by transitioning impacted customers, restoring claims workflows, and helping minimize disruption during a high-pressure moment.
That kind of agility matters. Not just during large-scale industry disruptions, but anytime customer operations are on the line.
More Visibility, More Control
That kind of access changes the pace of problem-solving. Not dashboards for the sake of dashboards, but the kind of visibility that helps teams troubleshoot faster, answer customer questions confidently, and keep claims moving without unnecessary delays.
With Inovalon, the team can confirm whether claims were acknowledged or rejected, investigate issues directly, and resolve questions without waiting on their healthcare clearinghouse partner intervention. “You’re still the only vendor that I can go in and pull an actual 837 submission file exactly how we sent it,” Parkins said.
That level of access makes a real difference. When claims issues arise, the team has what it needs to investigate quickly instead of getting stuck in a back-and-forth. When provider customers have questions, Seacoast can move faster.
That kind of responsiveness helps protect both customer experience and cash flow.
”“We can troubleshoot those things on our own with that visibility, and I love that.”
Jess Parkins,Senior AR Analyst and Project Manager, Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc.
Built to Scale
The benefits went beyond day-to-day troubleshooting. Getting new customers up and running became smoother, with fewer delays and less coordination overhead.
Historically, onboarding across multiple healthcare clearinghouse partner relationships could introduce unnecessary complexity from competing timelines, disconnected processes, and more back-and-forth than anyone wanted.
With Inovalon, the experience became far more predictable. “It’s a seamless process,” Parkins said. From FTP credential setup to implementation workflows and payer enrollment visibility, the team gained a simpler way to bring customers online and keep projects moving.
It also eased the burden on internal teams. The easier the software is for customers to navigate, the less time Seacoast spends troubleshooting routine issues or filling in gaps left by other systems.
“It cuts down on the time we need to support,” Parkins explained. “Which also cuts down our overhead costs.” Less time spent managing avoidable issues means more time focused on higher-value work.
Less time spent managing avoidable issues creates more capacity for growth and higher-value work.
More Than the Technology
Parkins also described something harder to quantify but just as important: having a partner that feels like part of the team.
Over the years, Seacoast had experienced healthcare clearinghouse partner relationships where support felt fragmented, communication was inconsistent, or urgent issues required too many handoffs before reaching someone who could help. That kind of friction creates pressure for the teams stuck in the middle, especially when their own customers are waiting for answers.
With Inovalon, Parkins described a different experience. “If something is truly impacting my customers, I feel supported,” she said. That sense of shared accountability changed the dynamic. Instead of chasing updates or navigating layers of escalation, Seacoast had a team at Inovalon that understood the urgency and worked alongside them to resolve issues.
It changed what Seacoast could expect from a partner, and what their customers could expect in return.
”“If something is truly impacting my customers, I feel supported.”
Jess Parkins,Senior AR Analyst and Project Manager, Seacoast Laboratory Data Systems, Inc.
What the Right Partner Makes Possible
The biggest shift wasn’t just better visibility or smoother workflows. It was having a healthcare clearinghouse partner that made it easier for Seacoast to support customers without unnecessary friction. With fewer operational roadblocks, faster access to answers, and a team that understands the urgency behind customer issues, Seacoast gained more than a stronger technology relationship. It gained a partner that could keep pace.
For healthcare technology organizations supporting providers, that kind of partnership can make a meaningful difference in how confidently teams can grow, adapt, and deliver when it matters most.
