Compare your options, including the ones that aren't us.
Every comparison here comes from the same rule: publish the real numbers, name what each approach costs, and say plainly when something other than an agent is the right answer for your practice.
- Built for HIPAA, with a BAA signed before any patient data moves
- SOC 2 and ISO 27001 ready, with certification audits underway
- A person on your team approves every submission
Three rules every comparison here follows.
- 01
Every number is sourced
Industry benchmarks link to the primary source. Our own figures link to the pricing page they come from.
- 02
Vendor claims carry a date
What a company publishes changes. Anything we say about another vendor names the day we checked it.
- 03
We recommend against ourselves
If a clearinghouse fits your volume better, the page says so. That is what makes the other rows worth reading.
What the vendor market will show you before you commit
Start with the lay of the land: who is out there, and what they will and won't show you before a sales call.
We checked 338 healthcare vendors. Most won’t let you try it.
How many vendors make you sit through a demo to see the product?
Comparing approaches
Portal, a person you hire, an EHR rule, or an agent, and what each one actually costs.
Eligibility verification: portal vs. clearinghouse vs. agent
What does each way of verifying insurance actually cost per check?
File a prior auth early, or wait?
Should we start the prior auth before the pharmacy asks for one?
Your denial report can’t see denials
Is my denial report showing me everything the payer refused?
Message triage: hire, outsource, EHR rules, or an agent
Who should read the faxes, voicemails, and portal messages?
A refill request isn’t a task
What actually happens after a refill request arrives?
Comparing vendors
First the buying decisions that apply to any agent, then the head-to-head where named vendors actually compete.
The decisions that come before any shortlist
One vendor or five?
Should I buy every agent from one vendor, or the best of each?
How to verify an AI agent vendor’s claims
How do I tell a real automation number from a demo number?
Comparing AI voice agent vendors
Medical answering services, compared
Live operators, automated menus or AI: what does each provider publish?
AI receptionists for medical practices, compared
Which AI receptionist fits my practice, and what does each one publish?
What healthcare voice AI actually costs
What does each voice vendor publish about price before a demo?
Prosper AI alternatives
Who else does healthcare voice agents, and who fits my practice?
Assort Health alternatives
What the provider minimum we were quoted means for a small practice
How to vet an AI vendor
Ask every vendor on your list these five questions, us included. Here is how Medman answers each one.
Who actually implements it, and have they done it before?
Medman: A domain expert in running medical practices is assigned to your practice and works with our implementation team.
Do they know your specialty?
Medman: Medman was built with our founding design partner, an endocrinology and obesity practice, and your expert maps your own workflows before anything is switched on.
Ask for references, and call them.
Medman: Our customers take reference calls. Ask, and we will connect you with a practice like yours.
Who is your onboarding contact, and how fast do they answer?
Medman: Your domain expert. For 30 days after go-live, feedback is addressed within a few days; after that, support responds within 24 to 48 hours.
What happens to your data if you leave?
Medman: It is yours. We provide all of it within 30 days.
Want to hear it from a practice like yours? We'll connect you with a customer reference.
The agents these comparisons are about
Four live agents in one system inside your EHR. Each page shows what the agent does and what your staff still do.
Prior authorization
Reads the pharmacy fax and the chart, and saves the CoverMyMeds or Availity request as a draft. Your staff press Submit.
Eligibility & benefits
Checks coverage for the upcoming schedule, from $0.50 a check.
Inbox triage
Sorts faxes, voicemails and portal messages, and routes each one to the person who handles it.
AI receptionist
Answers patient calls, takes messages and marks each callback by urgency.
Payers
Check whether your payers are in the eligibility network before you talk to anyone.
Common questions about choosing an approach
Why does Agentman publish comparisons that include its competitors?
Because the comparison gets made whether or not we write it, and a page that only ever concludes "choose us" is not useful to anyone evaluating seriously. These pages describe what each option is genuinely good at, including the cases where the answer is not Medman.
What are the real alternatives for eligibility verification?
Four, broadly: staff calling payers and logging into portals; the eligibility module built into your EHR or practice management system; a clearinghouse charging per transaction; or an AI agent that navigates payer systems on your behalf. They differ most on cost per check and on how much staff time each one still consumes.
What does each approach actually cost per check?
The 2024 CAQH Index puts a manual eligibility check at $8.57 to the provider and an electronic one at $2.00. Medman's automated check starts at $0.50. Clearinghouse pricing varies too widely by contract to state one figure, so ask any clearinghouse whether a monthly minimum applies. At these gaps, your volume decides the annual number more than any rate negotiation. Source: 2024 CAQH Index.
Who actually does the setup?
Your practice is assigned a domain expert in running medical practices. They learn your pain points and current workflows, then work with our implementation team to set Medman up around them. For 30 days after go-live, feedback is addressed within a few days; after that, support responds within 24 to 48 hours.
Do you know my specialty?
Medman was built with our founding design partner, an endocrinology and obesity practice, and is live in independent practices and growing. Your domain expert maps how your specialty runs these jobs before anything is switched on. Ask us for a reference call with a practice like yours.
Can't we build this ourselves?
You could build a fax reader in a week. The work is everything after: EHR connections, payer rules that change, security, and keeping it running. We do that for you, every week after the first.
When is Medman the wrong choice?
If your volume is genuinely low — a handful of checks a week — the manual process is not costing you enough to be worth changing. If your EHR vendor already automates the specific workflow you care about and you are happy with it, adding another system is not obviously an improvement. We would rather say that here than discover it in month two.
How do you keep these comparisons accurate?
Each comparison states what it is based on and when it was written, and claims about another product are drawn from that vendor’s own published material rather than from our impression of it. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct the page.
Or skip the comparison and see the rates.
Published prices, no demo required: eligibility from $0.50 a check. Every agent starts with a free 14-day trial.