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10 Tips for Patients and Healthcare Practices to Reduce the Costly Impact of Deductible Season

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Inbox Health data finds 50% of practices bill their highest amount of patient accounts receivable in the first quarter.

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — A recent analysis by Inbox Health, the industry’s leading solution dedicated to patient billing, payments and collections, indicates that 50% of healthcare practices bill the highest dollar amount of their patients’ total annual accounts receivable in the first quarter of the year, with a startling 32% peaking in March alone.

“Both patients and practices feel the biggest impact in the first quarter of the year – what we like to refer to as deductible season. This places enormous stress not only on patients, but also on healthcare providers who are troubled by delayed or missed payments.” Blake Walker, CEO of Inbox Health

According to Blake Walker, CEO of Inbox Health, “This statistic clearly delineates the staggering payment responsibility placed on patients by the modern structure of high-deductible healthcare plans (HDHP). As Inbox Health data shows, both patients and practices feel the biggest impact in the first quarter of the year – what we like to refer to as deductible season. This places enormous stress not only on patients, but also on healthcare providers who are troubled by delayed or missed payments.”

There are steps patients and practices can take to reduce the pain of deductible season, get bills paid, and ensure a healthy relationship between patients and their providers.

The Rise of the HDHP

High-deductible healthcare plan enrollment is up 35% in the last decade1 with over 51% of private industry workers participating in such a plan2. For practices, this shift has made patient billing revenue a larger portion of overall practice revenue. Patients feel the burden more in January, February and March, before their deductible is met and insurance kicks in. It’s not uncommon for patients to delay paying medical bills due to financial limitations – about half of adults say they can’t afford healthcare costs – or confusion related to what they owe.

What Can Be Done – Tips for Patients

The burden of deductible season is alleviated when patients and practices work together. Here are steps a patient can take:

Don’t let time slip away from you. Complete as many tests, procedures and visits as possible prior to the end of the year before the new deductible takes effect.Begin early. Set aside money to pay insurance deductibles.Be proactive. Prior to January, check with your insurance to determine what your family and individual deductibles will be so there are no surprises.Come to your first medical visit prepared to pay for services or to set up a payment plan with your provider.If you are having difficulty understanding or paying your bills, communicate with your provider and discuss options.

What Can Be Done – Tips for Practices

For practices, navigating the complexities of deductible season requires pre-planning, focused training, and appropriate technology. These actions provide a patient-friendly environment and cement a cooperative relationship between the provider and the patient.

Check for insurance eligibility and benefits before a patient visit so you can accurately communicate anticipated costs.Collect payments or set up payment plans at the time of the visit to eliminate confusion after service.Make payment convenient and transparent by offering multiple payment options (credit card, digital wallet, phone payment or paper checks) and empowering patients to set up a payment plan.Make patient statements easy to understand by clearly showing the cost of service, insurance coverage, and what the patient owes.Offer your patients a variety of clear and immediate support channels (phone, chat, email, text).

In few relationships is it truer to say, “We’re in it together,” than between a patient and their healthcare provider. This encompasses both the plan of care and coping with the challenges of insurance deductibles. Understanding and compassion are essential, but even more important is planning and preparation. For both patients and practitioners, these 10 steps can help.

Healthcare practices can learn more by downloading a guide to managing deductible season, attending a webinar, or requesting a free deductible season readiness audit to assess risk.

About Inbox Health

Inbox Health directly addresses one of the fastest-growing problems in healthcare—the challenge of patient A/R. Built for healthcare revenue cycle leaders, Inbox Health automates patient billing and patient payments and modernizes the patient support experience. Inbox Health improves patient engagement by providing clear medical bills immediately after service, choice of payment methods and communication channels, and fast, empathetic support through the phone and live chat. By improving the patient experience, practices see an increase in profitability, cash flow, and collection speeds. With Inbox Health, customers report a 60% increase in collection speeds in the first 60 days. Inbox Health provides an automated, streamlined platform that increases revenue, saves time, and reduces costs. Inbox Health currently serves over 3,000 healthcare practices and more than 2 million patients a year. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., Inbox Health was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. More information can be found at www.inboxhealth.com.

1 KFF, Oct 2024, 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey

2 BLS, April 2024

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Media Contact

Deborah Jones, Inbox Health, 1 714-656-0139, deborah@strategiesadpr.com, InboxHealth.com

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SOURCE Inbox Health

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eSign.AI Named Sole Electronic Signature Technology Provider for Hong Kong Government’s CorpID Project, Building the Foundation for Digital Signing Infrastructure in Hong Kong

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May 8, 2026

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HONG KONG, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Hong Kong’s Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) counts down to its phased launch, eSign.AI has been appointed as the sole electronic signature vendor in the project, responsible for delivering core digital signing capabilities including digital signatures, certificate management, and signature verification services. CorpID is led by Nexify, a seasoned government systems integrator, as the prime contractor. The platform is expected to launch in phases starting late 2026, with multiple CorpID-based e-government services going live in mid-2027.

CorpID: Government-Grade Digital Identity Infrastructure for Hong Kong Enterprises

The Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) is an enterprise-level digital services platform launched by the Hong Kong SAR Government, developed under the oversight of the Digital Policy Office (DPO). It is designed to serve as the business equivalent of “iAM Smart,” providing a unified digital identity foundation for Hong Kong enterprises. CorpID’s core mission is to build an integrated digital government infrastructure — offering unified identity authentication, digital signing, form pre-filling, and e-licence storage — replacing paper-heavy, cumbersome traditional processes and enabling smart city development through seamless data connectivity.

The platform is open to companies incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and businesses registered under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310), including sole proprietorships and partnerships. The DPO requires all enterprise-related e-government services to support CorpID within 18 months of launch, and will continue expanding ecosystem coverage through sandbox initiatives, cross-industry identity standard interoperability, and fully online registration processes.

eSign.AI: The Digital Signing Engine Behind CorpID

eSign.AI is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide, offering a complete signing framework from simple electronic signatures to the highest-level compliant digital signatures — meeting diverse regulatory requirements across industries and jurisdictions.

On the identity verification front, eSign.AI has completed integration with iAM Smart, enabling individual identity verification through Hong Kong’s citizen digital identity system, and providing legally valid digital certificate services for both enterprises and individuals.

Looking ahead, the eSign.AI SaaS platform will be deeply integrated with CorpID, providing enterprise and individual identity verification for Hong Kong businesses, and supporting both electronic and digital signing that complies with Hong Kong’s Electronic Transactions Ordinance — connecting the full digital contracting lifecycle for government and enterprise alike.

Getting Ahead of the AI Era: From eSignGlobal to eSign.AI

The electronic signature industry is undergoing a structural shift from “tooling” to “intelligence.” Market data underscores this acceleration: the AI-powered contract analysis tools market has grown from USD 3.32 billion in 2025 to USD 4.3 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 29.6%. Signing is just one node in the contract lifecycle — document generation, workflow orchestration, compliance tracking, and post-execution management are all being transformed by AI, and the industry window is closing fast.

In April 2026, the company officially rebranded from eSignGlobal to eSign.AI, completing its strategic transformation from an e-signature tool provider to an AI-native contract automation platform. As the company’s spokesperson noted, this rebrand is not cosmetic — it is an acknowledgment of where the product actually is. Customers were already using eSign.AI to automate workflows that go far beyond the signature itself.

eSign Automation Skill was launched alongside the rebrand — an AI-powered signing automation framework for enterprise workflows that enables complete contract signing through natural language interaction, with no manual intervention required. Whether it is single-party approval, multi-party sequential signing, or large-scale parallel execution, an AI Agent can orchestrate the entire workflow in a single call. All signature initiations and status queries return structured JSON outputs, directly parseable by leading large language models and intelligent workflow systems.

eSign Automation is now available in the OpenClaw ecosystem and supports integration via Claude MCP, ChatGPT, and other leading AI platforms.

By combining AI automation capabilities with CorpID’s government-grade digital identity infrastructure, eSign.AI delivers a complete solution for Hong Kong enterprises — from identity verification to intelligent signing to full workflow automation.

About eSign.AI

eSign.AI (formerly eSignGlobal) is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide. The platform serves over 100 countries and regions, covering core industries including financial services, manufacturing, real estate, human resources, and healthcare — with 1,500+ scenario applications and 3,000+ ecosystem partners. eSign.AI holds ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and ISO 27018 certifications and supports major regulatory frameworks including the U.S. ESIGN Act / UETA, EU eIDAS, HIPAA, GDPR, and 21 CFR Part 11. Infrastructure is anchored by independent data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Frankfurt, Germany.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/esignai-named-sole-electronic-signature-technology-provider-for-hong-kong-governments-corpid-project-building-the-foundation-for-digital-signing-infrastructure-in-hong-kong-302766763.html

SOURCE eSignGlobal

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The 9th AskGamblers Awards Finalists Announced as Voting Starts

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May 8, 2026

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The highly anticipated 9th AskGamblers Awards has officially moved into the voting phase. Following a rigorous selection process, the finalists across 5 premier categories have been revealed: Best Casino, Best New Casino, Best New Slot, Best Sportsbook, Best Provider. Players are invited to cast their votes until 11 June.

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The voting stage of the 9th annual AskGamblers Awards has officially begun. The list of finalists is announced, and the first votes are already coming in. 

Players will have a chance to vote for their favourites until 11 June, when the winners will be announced at the gala ceremony in Belgrade. There’s a total of 5 categories where popular votes are taken into consideration:

Best CasinoBest New CasinoBest SportsbookBest New SlotBest Game Provider

There aren’t any big changes to the voting process compared to last year. The votes from the prominent members of AskGamblers Forum will be counted in as well, while some award winners will be announced directly by the AskGamblers teams. 

These include: Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner, and Best Manager categories, while the AskGamblers Superstar Award is expected to be handed to the operator that illustrates the brand values best.

Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, is excited for voting to start: “We’re seeing some familiar contestants, but there are a lot of new names, so it will be exciting to see who comes up on top.”

“We invite players to vote for their favourites! This is a chance for you to speak your mind and support operators and games that shape this industry,” Radunović added.

Before the AskGamblers Awards Ceremony that takes place on 11 June, Charity Night is scheduled for 10 June.

About AskGamblers

AskGamblers.com strives to provide current, objective, and accurate information and guide its users towards a safe gaming experience. The way we deliver our services, from the online casino, sportsbook, slot, and bonus reviews to our trusted Complaint Service, is best described by our motto: ‘Get the truth. Then play.’

For more information about AskGamblers and AskGamblers Awards, please contact dijana.radunovic@g2m.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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SUNMI Wins 2026 Red Dot Design Awards with Five Products, Leading Global Commercial Industrial Design

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May 8, 2026

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SINGAPORE, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The winners of the 2026 German Red Dot Design Award were officially announced. Five of SUNMI Technology’s flagship products won awards: the CPad Business Tablet, CPad PAY, FLEX 3 Interactive Display, the V3 handheld POS Terminal and L3 Industrial PDA. These products stood out with three core design concepts: integration, versatility and human-centricity.

Known as “The Oscars” of global industrial design, the Red Dot Award has strict evaluation criteria covering aesthetics, ergonomics, scenario adaptability and sustainability. SUNMI adheres to original commercial scenario customization, rejecting crudely modified consumer devices. All winning products are originally developed for real commercial scenarios such as cash register, food delivery, industrial inspection and store operations, covering the entire commercial track with high scenario adaptability. Meanwhile, it practices ESG concepts, adopting eco-friendly materials and modular structures to extend equipment service life, reduce consumable consumption, and implement low-carbon and long-term design, which perfectly meets the Red Dot’s sustainability evaluation criteria.

Simplify Complexity: With highly integrated design, SUNMI eliminates the “patchwork feeling” of cluttered devices and tangled cables in traditional commercial scenarios, streamlining store operations and saving space.All-in-One Versatility: Beyond a single tool function, SUNMI’s products achieve flexible transformation through modular and multi-form designs to proactively adapt to changing business needs. The CPad series with modular accessories and FLEX 3’s Lego-style modular design enable multi-scenario application and long-term reuse.Human-Centric Design: Every detail is human-oriented, focusing on real pain points to enhance scenario experience. The L3 Industrial PDA reduces high-frequency work fatigue through scientific weight distribution; the V3 Smart POS Terminal balances large-screen visibility and grip comfort; CPad PAY integrates full-link functions to simplify workflows.

These honors stem from SUNMI’s long-term commitment to a sustainable society, original commercial R&D and ESG. In the future, SUNMI will uphold its core concepts, expand the boundaries of commercial industrial design, and empower global businesses with user-oriented, eco-friendly and high-value products.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sunmi-wins-2026-red-dot-design-awards-with-five-products-leading-global-commercial-industrial-design-302766777.html

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