Waystar is betting that agentic AI can take billions of dollars of friction—and plenty of patient frustration—out of healthcare payments. The company’s cloud platform, AltitudeAI, sits between providers and insurers, verifying coverage, and automating prior authorizations and claims. Waystar’s network reaches more than 1 million providers and roughly 60% of the U.S. patient population, processing more than 7.5 billion payment transactions annually, or some $2.4 trillion in gross claim charges. Since launching AltitudeAI in January 2025, Waystar says the platform has prevented more than $15 billion in claims from being denied by flagging coding and coverage errors before submission, using patterns drawn from its vast payment network. “We’re champions for providers and patients as they interact with insurance companies, and we bring fairness to that whole exchange,” says CEO Matt Hawkins. His bigger ambition: software that can manage the full life cycle of a medical claim—from prior authorization through appeals—with minimal human involvement. “We’re building a network that acts continuously for providers and patients, that learns from every single payment outcome and delivers meaningful financial results with minimal intervention,” says Hawkins.
