Syntra

What do they actually do

Syntra provides a real-time auditing and revenue-cycle automation service for specialty medical practices. They connect to a clinic’s EHR, billing, and practice‑management systems, automatically review 100% of charts and charges, and flag miscoded visits, missed charges, payer‑specific issues, and compliance risks. The software returns a prioritized list of fixes and can generate corrected claims or submit through a clearinghouse when configured (Syntra site, YC company page).

Syntra positions this as a continuous, near‑real‑time audit that reduces manual chart scrubbing and accelerates clean claim submission. They also offer retroactive audits as an on‑ramp to show recoverable revenue. Public materials say they power hundreds of specialty practices and process over $1B in claim charges annually, which are company‑reported figures (Syntra site, YC company page).

Near‑term, the team is expanding specialty coverage and pushing deeper automation of claim entry and clearinghouse flows; longer‑term they describe ambitions to automate more admin tasks (e.g., scribing, intake) as part of an “intelligent EHR.” These broader capabilities are part of the roadmap rather than widely available features today (Syntra site, YC company page).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Private/specialty practice owner or clinic manager: Losing revenue to missed charges and miscoded visits with a small staff; needs predictable collections and fewer denials without adding headcount.
• Revenue‑cycle manager / head of billing: Backlogs and manual audits slow cash flow; wants real‑time visibility into coding/claim issues and automation to cut rework and denials.
• Third‑party billing/RCM vendor: Must scale accurate coding/audits across many clients without scaling coder headcount; faces churn when clients suspect revenue is left on the table.
• Compliance officer or internal coder/auditor: Needs an auditable, repeatable review process and documentation to defend coding under payer review; manual reviews are time‑consuming and inconsistent.
• Small ASC or specialty outpatient group with tiny billing team: Limited in‑house coding expertise causes claim rework and slow collections; needs faster preparation and fewer rejections to keep up.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Run targeted outbound to a few local derm/ortho/eye clinics and offer a free retroactive audit that quantifies recoverable revenue; convert into a 30–60 day, success‑based pilot with hands‑on integration and fast cash recovery (Syntra site, YC company page).
• First 50: Standardize the pilot playbook (integrations, ROI calculator, templated change lists) and have an inside‑sales pod run multiple pilots in parallel; add channel pilots with RCM vendors and clearinghouses who resell the audit as a margin‑positive service (Syntra site, YC company page).
• First 100: Layer inbound (specialty SEO/content, targeted ads, conferences) with a self‑serve retroactive‑audit funnel; integrate with EHR/clearinghouse marketplaces and RCM platforms for scaled partner distribution (Syntra site, YC company page).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

The U.S. revenue cycle management market is large and growing; estimates put it around $60B+ in 2022 with double‑digit CAGR (Fortune Business Insights, MarketsandMarkets).

Bottom-up calculation:

If ~40,000 U.S. outpatient specialty practices adopt automated chart/charge auditing at $40k–$60k per site per year, the initial SAM/TAM for Syntra’s core use case is roughly $1.6B–$2.4B annually. This excludes hospitals and broader admin automation beyond RCM.

Assumptions:

• Focus is U.S. outpatient specialty clinics (e.g., derm, ortho, ophtho, GI, ENT, urology, pain, cardiology).
• Willingness to pay approximates $3.3k–$5k/month per practice for continuous audit/charge capture and claim automation.
• Excludes hospital inpatient RCM and non‑specialty primary care; expansion into more specialties or providers increases TAM.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Waystar: Large clearinghouse/RCM platform for practices with claim scrubbing, missing‑charge detection, denial prevention, and appeals—overlapping with Syntra on claim edits, payer submission, and denial workflows (Waystar, Denial & Appeals).
• athenahealth: End‑to‑end ambulatory RCM and practice management with integrated coding support, claim scrubbing, and clearinghouse—competes on real‑time validation and reducing manual billing for outpatient clinics (athenahealth RCM).
• Optum / Change Healthcare: Enterprise claim‑edit engines, clearinghouse connectivity, revenue integrity tools, and outsourced RCM services; overlaps on edit logic, payer rules, and end‑to‑end submission/connectivity (Optum).
• 3M Health Information Systems: Computer‑assisted coding, CDI, and retrospective auditing used by hospitals/clinics; competes on automated code suggestions, chart‑audit workflows, and compliance reporting (3M HIS).
• FinThrive: RCM and revenue‑integrity platform offering coding, analytics‑driven charge capture, and workflow automation; overlaps with Syntra on audit/recovery and coder workflow automation across specialties (FinThrive).