If you ask ChatGPT to summarize Waystar Holding Corp.’s merger with Iodine Software Holdings, Inc., it provides the following information – which is helpful, but also incomplete and somewhat inaccurate:
Summary of the Merger
- Parties Involved:
- Waystar Holding Corp.: A healthcare payments and RCM technology provider.
- Iodine Software Holdings, Inc.: Specializes in clinical AI solutions for healthcare, including clinical documentation and revenue optimization.
- Merger Objective:
To combine complementary technologies that address both administrative and clinical aspects of the healthcare revenue cycle, creating an end-to-end RCM platform powered by AI. - Strategic Rationale:
- Leverage Iodine’s clinical AI tools with Waystar’s RCM infrastructure.
- Improve financial and clinical outcomes for healthcare providers.
- Address inefficiencies in healthcare billing and documentation processes.
- Market Positioning:
The combined entity will serve a large portion of U.S. health systems, physician groups, and ambulatory services, positioning it as a dominant player in the healthcare RCM space. - Transaction Details:
Financial terms were not publicly disclosed at the time of the announcement. - Timing:
The merger was announced in August 2025 and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.”
Source: ChatGPT
Most notably, financial terms were indeed disclosed via public filings: the deal is valued at $1.25 billion, funded with a 50/50 mix of cash and equity. Following close of the reverse triangular merger, Waystar shareholders will own approximately 92% of the combined company on a fully diluted, pro forma basis and Iodine equity holders will own approximately 8%. The deal is indeed subject to customary approvals, as the AI detects, but there is additional important detail, such as the fact that it is also expected to close by year end.
If you follow up with requests to ChatGPT like “define RCM,” you can get more color on what the repeated jargon means, but the deal’s own press release explains it more clearly: “Waystar brings a decade-long track record of applying AI pervasively across its software platform to simplify healthcare payments. Iodine extends that leadership into clinical intelligence software, leveraging proprietary AI models trained on one of the industry’s largest clinical datasets, representing more than a third of all U.S. inpatient discharges.”
ChatGPT and other AI are certainly incredible tools. However, it is critical to remember that it is a fallible tool that requires human intervention and/or additional checks – particularly if relying on it for patients’ critical healthcare needs. As the following chart depicts, AI quickly becoming big business, and rightfully so. There are tremendous efficiency gains to be made as technology continues to improve. The key is to ensure the humans step up and stay on top of it.
Global AI Market
Source: Grandview Research
According to DealPulse’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of publicly announced transactions, Waystar is advised by
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (ChatGPT got this one), and Iodine is advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Queen Saenz + Schultz PLLC (ChatGPT missed the latter).
