01
Single Security Perimeter
HITRUST r2 certified with zero corrective actions. Your PHI stays within one vendor's security domain. No integration boundaries where data can leak.
In the high Andes, a khipukamayuq (keeper of the knots) could read an entire empire's census from a bundle of colored cords. Each knot's position encoded a number. Each cord's color told a category. The main cord bound them together into meaning.
The Spanish called it primitive. They burned thousands. But here's what they missed: the Inca had built a distributed database - one that could be carried across mountains, verified by multiple readers, and updated in real-time.
When we named our company Kipu, we weren't just borrowing a word. We were inheriting an architecture.
Read the Knots
Click any cord or knot to understand how ancient data architecture maps to modern behavioral healthcare.
The Patient Journey - One Continuous Thread
GRC Governance
CRM 100K+ Admits/yr
EMR 3M+ Episodes
RCM 1.5M Claims/yr
KIP AI Layer
Understanding the Knots
Click any cord or knot to learn more
The Talking Knots Speak
Each pendant cord represents a domain of your operation. Each knot encodes specific data or processes. Together, they tell the complete story of patient care.
Ancient Wisdom
The khipukamayuq could "read" a khipu by running the cords through their fingers, feeling each knot's position and type. Information flowed through touch.
Modern Application
When systems share the same "cord" (data architecture), information flows seamlessly. When they don't, you're forcing translation between different languages.
Knot Types
Data Point
Workflow
Security
AI-Powered
Revenue
Follow the Thread — Both Ways
A patient's journey is one continuous cord. In a unified system, data flows forward AND back. Click each stage.
First Call: The Knot is Tied
Lead to Opportunity to Admission: Hours to Days
When a prospective patient calls, the CRM captures their information and creates a prospect record. In a unified system, this same record becomes the foundation for their EMR chart and RCM billing episode. No re-entry required.
In a fragmented system? You're starting three separate records that may never fully sync.
VOB: Verifying the Thread
Same-day verification, visible across all systems
Verification of Benefits happens once, results visible everywhere. Kipu's real-time eligibility check generates a PDF with coverage details that both clinical and billing teams can reference. Same data, same source.
With external RCM, you'd verify in one system and manually communicate results to another.
Admission: The Chart Comes Alive
Intake to Utilization Review: 12-72 hours depending on LOC
Prospect converts to patient. Demographics, insurance, and intake data flow automatically into the clinical chart. The RCM system creates a treatment episode with admitted status.
One click, three systems updated. Forge Health cut intake-to-admission time by 50% with this unified workflow.
Treatment: Knots Accumulate
Documentation flows continuously through stay
Every group session, individual therapy, medication administration, and assessment adds knots to the clinical cord. With KIP AI, documentation time drops by 42%.
More time for patients, less time for paperwork.
Billing: The Revenue Knot
Timing varies by LOC and payer: daily, weekly, or post-discharge
Charges flow automatically from documented services. Some payers want individual day-of-service claims. Others accept weekly batches. Some require billing after discharge. Kipu handles all scenarios because LOC authorizations, rendering providers, and payer-specific rules are already mapped.
Kipu RCM achieves up to 99% clean claim rate because the data was correct from the start.
Feedback Loop: The Thread Holds Both Ways
Bidirectional sync prevents audits and accelerates remittance
This is where unified architecture earns its keep. When a claim is denied or a payer requests medical records, that information flows back to clinical and CRM instantly.
Denial patterns visible to admissions. Medical record requests routed automatically. Audit triggers caught early. One ecosystem means the thread never breaks.
In a fragmented system, denial info stays siloed in billing. Medical record requests become email chains. Audit risks compound until it's too late.
Experience Bidirectional Flow
Select a scenario and watch data flow forward AND back. Toggle between unified and fragmented to see why the thread must stay intact.
Ready
Ready
Ready
Bidirectional Data Flow
Ready
Ready
X
Disconnected
One-Way Only — No Feedback Loop
New Patient Admission
Maria calls seeking treatment. Watch her data flow through the system — and back.
Hours to days from first call to admission
Activity Log
Click "Run Scenario" to begin the simulation
Intact Thread vs. Severed Cord
Unified systems flow both directions: CRM to EMR to RCM — and back. Fragmented systems break that loop.
Kipu EMR + Kipu RCM
CRM EMR RCM
All cords woven from the same fiber. Data flows bidirectionally. Denials inform clinical. Medical record requests auto-route. Remittance streams efficiently.
99% Clean Claims
<30 Days in A/R
0 Manual Entry
Kipu EMR + External RCM
CRM EMR Ext RCM X
External cord tied with different fiber. One-way data flow only. Updates in billing get overwritten on next sync. Denial info never reaches admissions.
~85% Clean Claims
45+ Days in A/R
3+ Manual Entry
Why Bidirectional Flow Prevents Audits
In behavioral health, claim denials aren't just revenue lost. They're care interrupted, staff burned out, and payer audits triggered.
The Bidirectional Advantage
When a claim is denied for "medical necessity," the appeal needs clinical documentation. In a unified system, that request flows back to clinical instantly. One click pulls the notes that justify the service.
In a fragmented system, your billing team has to request records from clinical, wait for a response, manually attach them, and hope nothing was missed. Each handoff is a chance for error — and delay.
Catch the Fray Before It Spreads
A single frayed thread in a khipu is easy to repair. But if you don't catch it, it weakens the cords around it. Eventually, the whole section unravels.
Denied claims work the same way. One denial leads to a pattern. A pattern triggers a payer audit. An audit reveals systemic issues. Unified systems with bidirectional flow catch the fray before it spreads.
The Numbers Don't Lie
- 10-15% average denial rate in healthcare
- 85% higher denial rates in behavioral health vs other specialties
- $25-100+ cost to rework a single denied claim
- 33% of providers still use manual denial management
Kipu RCM's clearinghouse rejection rate is as low as 0.44%. Payer rejection rate as low as 0.21%. That's not luck. That's architecture.
Why the Knots Hold
The advantages of a unified data architecture
02
Faster Reimbursement
Claims submitted with complete, validated data from day one. No batch transmission errors from mismatched payer IDs or overwritten demographics.
03
Behavioral Health Native
Kipu RCM embeds payer rules for addiction treatment and mental health. LOC authorizations, U/R plans, per-diem billing built for your workflows.
04
Bidirectional Communication
Unlike one-way integrations, Kipu's unified architecture enables data to flow back. Denial info reaches clinical. Medical record requests route automatically. Audit prevention built in.
The Most Expensive Mistake is the Severed Strand
The unified Kipu platform represents a significant investment. That's intentional. Quality architecture isn't cheap — it's cost-neutral.
Unified Platform Investment
- Higher upfront license cost
- Single implementation timeline
- One vendor relationship
- Predictable total cost of ownership
Long-term outcome Cost-neutral to positive ROI
Fragmented System "Savings"
- Lower individual system costs
- Multiple implementations
- Integration maintenance forever
- Hidden costs compound annually
Long-term outcome Most costly operational mistake
Every denied claim that requires manual intervention, every medical record request that becomes an email chain, every audit triggered by inconsistent data — these compound. The "savings" from cheaper fragmented systems evaporate within the first year.
The unified platform is expensive because it prevents the most expensive mistakes. GRC governs from above. KIP supports from below. CRM, EMR, and RCM operate in seamless harmony between them. This is architecture that pays for itself.
Kipu Intelligence Program (KIP)
The knots now read themselves
Built on AWS with Amazon Nova Foundation Models, KIP brings AI-powered documentation, compliance automation, and predictive analytics directly into your unified data ecosystem.
01 Session Transcription
Clinician speaks, KIP listens. Session audio becomes structured SOAP, DAP, or custom notes without a keyboard.
67% reduction in biopsychosocial time02 Chart Snapshot
KIP reads the full chart and surfaces what matters: diagnosis codes, ASAM levels, LOCUS scores. The clinician confirms, not compiles.
Seconds to insight, not hours03 Compliance Scoring
Before a note leaves the system, Amazon Nova validates it against payer rules. Rejections caught at the source, not the clearinghouse.
93% to 100% note compliance04 Time Reclaimed
Banyan Treatment Centers tracked 22 studies. Result: clinicians spend 42% less time documenting and more time treating.
42% documentation reduction HITRUST r2 Certified ISO/IEC 42001:2023 AI AWS Partnership HIPAA Compliant 4M+ Episodes Annually
Ready to Unify Your Cords?
See how Kipu Health's unified platform can transform your revenue cycle.