The complex network the paper claim goes through results in delays in payments of up to 90-120 days.

Insurance companies are saving millions of dollars every year thanks to electronic claims.

This has prompted them to pay the claim in an average of only 7-21 days.

On average 30% of paper claims are rejected due to errors.

Rejected claims are often just placed in a desk drawer and forgotten or could take up to another 120 days to get paid.

The simplified processing steps and consequent reduction in error rate reduces the rejection rate from 30% or more to a mere 2% or less.

Just processing paper claims is very costly.

Estimates from the American Health Care Administration state that the average cost of sending a paper claim could be as high as $15 or more per claim.

Other estimates put this much higher due to the high cost of administrative staff and benefits paid by the doctors.

The average cost per claim charged by the billing specialist is $3 - $7 , a significant savings compared to an average $15 per claim.

The clerical personnel involved should be working on more important projects or providing higher quality patient care.