# Availity **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/availity **Vertical:** Healthcare Revenue Cycle & Health IT **Subcategory:** Healthcare Information Network **Tier:** Leader **Website:** availity.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Largest US real-time health information network connecting 2M+ providers and hundreds of payers for eligibility, claims, and prior authorization. Jacksonville FL; founded 2001 as a payer joint venture; processes billions of EDI transactions annually as foundational revenue cycle infrastructure. ## Company Overview Availity is the largest real-time health information network in the United States, facilitating electronic data interchange between providers and payers across the full revenue cycle. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Availity was founded in 2001 as a joint venture of major health plans and has since evolved into an independent, payer-neutral network used by more than two million providers and hundreds of health plans and payers. The platform processes billions of transactions annually covering eligibility verification, claim submission, remittance, prior authorization, and clinical document exchange.\n\nAvaility's network model creates substantial value by centralizing connectivity that would otherwise require each provider to maintain separate interfaces with dozens of payers. Providers access Availity through its free web portal or through API integrations embedded in EHR and practice management systems, while payers connect to reach the entire provider community through a single channel. This two-sided network effect has made Availity deeply embedded in the US healthcare payment infrastructure, with a level of reach that competitors find difficult to replicate.\n\nIn recent years Availity has expanded beyond basic clearinghouse functions to offer analytics, payer-specific workflow tools, and an app marketplace where third-party health IT vendors can distribute solutions to the Availity provider network. Its Availity Essentials platform provides a unified access point for administrative tasks across multiple payers, and the company has invested in AI-powered tools for denial prevention and eligibility management to increase the value it delivers to both providers and payer partners. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What transactions does the Availity network process? Availity processes eligibility and benefits verification, claim submission and tracking, electronic remittance advice, prior authorization requests, referral management, and clinical document exchange between providers and health plans. ### Is Availity free for providers to use? Availity's core web-based portal is available to providers at no charge, funded by health plan participation fees. Advanced analytics tools, API access, and premium workflow features may involve additional pricing depending on the use case. ### How does Availity differ from a traditional clearinghouse? While Availity processes claims like a clearinghouse, it functions more broadly as a real-time health information network offering eligibility, prior authorization, and clinical data exchange alongside billing transactions, and provides an app marketplace for additional third-party health IT solutions. ### What is Availity and what role does it play in the healthcare revenue cycle? Availity is the largest health information network in the United States, providing real-time data exchange between healthcare providers and health insurance companies. Providers use Availity to check patient eligibility and benefits, submit claims, check claim status, obtain prior authorizations, and manage their payer relationships — all through a single network rather than connecting directly to each payer individually. ### How does Availity's network benefit healthcare providers? Availity allows providers to connect to hundreds of health plans through a single portal and integration, rather than maintaining separate connections, credentials, and workflows for each payer. This dramatically reduces the administrative complexity of managing payer relationships and enables providers to verify coverage and submit claims in real time, reducing rejected claims and accelerating reimbursement. ### What is Availity's ownership structure and how was it formed? Availity was formed as a joint venture between major health plans including Florida Blue, Anthem (now Elevance Health), and others, creating a payer-owned network that could serve as neutral infrastructure for provider-payer data exchange. The company has expanded beyond its original health plan owners to connect the vast majority of US healthcare payers and providers on its network. ### What impact did the Change Healthcare cyberattack have on Availity? The 2024 cyberattack on Change Healthcare (a major competitor and claims clearinghouse owned by UnitedHealth Group) dramatically increased traffic on Availity's network as providers scrambled to find alternative electronic data interchange (EDI) routes for claims submission when Change Healthcare's systems were offline for weeks. The incident highlighted the critical infrastructure role that health information networks like Availity play in the US healthcare system. ### What prior authorization capabilities does Availity offer? Availity provides electronic prior authorization submission and tracking capabilities that allow providers to request, manage, and monitor prior auth decisions directly within the Availity portal. Given the regulatory push for electronic prior authorization interoperability, Availity's capabilities in this area are increasingly important to both providers and health plans seeking to reduce the administrative burden of prior authorization workflows. ## Tags healthtech, b2b, platform, enterprise, technology, api-first, analytics, services --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*