The Beat Modernizing Healthcare Payments with Katie Whalen, Head of Strategic Partnerships for Merchant Solutions at Fiserv
Healthcare payments are still far too fragmented, creating friction for both patients and providers at one of the most important moments in the care journey.
In this episode, Katie Whalen, Head of Strategic Partnerships for Merchant Solutions at Fiserv, discusses how Clover PracticePay is helping modernize payment workflows for small and mid-sized healthcare providers. She explains why healthcare remains underserved when it comes to efficient payment infrastructure, how disconnected systems create unnecessary back-office work, and why a better payment experience can also improve transparency, cash flow, and patient satisfaction. Katie also shares how Fiserv is bringing lessons from retail, restaurants, and other service industries into healthcare, using connected payment tools, claims reconciliation, and smarter patient-facing technology to reduce friction across the entire process.
Tune in and learn how better payment experiences could become a powerful driver of transformation in healthcare!
About Katie Whalen:
Katie Whalen is a payments and partnerships leader with deep experience across financial services, digital payments, and merchant solutions. She currently serves as Head of SMB Sales & Partnerships for Merchant Solutions at Fiserv, where she helps drive growth and innovation for businesses navigating an increasingly digital economy. Before stepping into this role, she spent nearly seven years at Fiserv as Senior Vice President for North America Issuer Processing. Her career also includes leadership roles at Citi, where she focused on global digital payments strategy, and at American Express, where she worked in strategy, operations, and business development for enterprise growth and digital partnerships. Earlier in her career, she held product leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and worked in public service through the City of New York and the U.S. Senate. Katie holds a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from NYU Stern, bringing together policy, strategy, and business expertise.
Things You’ll Learn:
- Healthcare payment systems are often fragmented, forcing providers to work across disconnected tools for claims, billing, and collections. This creates unnecessary administrative burden and slows down both staff workflows and payment reconciliation.
- Small and mid-sized healthcare practices have historically lacked access to the kind of payment technology already common in retail and other service industries. Modern platforms can help close that gap by making transactions easier for both practices and patients.
- A better patient payment experience depends on more than just accepting cards or digital payments. Transparency, convenience, and clear financial communication all play a role in helping patients feel more confident and informed.
- When payment collection and payer reconciliation are handled in one connected system, practices can reduce back-office friction and improve operational efficiency. This integration can also support healthier cash flow and a smoother overall workflow.
- Improving healthcare payments is not just about convenience at the point of transaction. It also creates opportunities for stronger information exchange across the broader care ecosystem, helping reduce inefficiencies over time.
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