Meet our Advisor: Julie Klapstein

Julie Klapstein is a veteran healthcare information technology executive, best known as the Founding CEO of Availity. Julie is widely regarded as a pioneer in modernizing the exchange of healthcare data between payers and providers at Availity. She championed the automation of clinical and financial information, creating a network model that enabled providers and insurers to communicate in real time, significantly reducing administrative costs and speeding up the patient care cycle.  Julie is a true expert in revenue cycle management and health information exchange. 

In her second act, she has served on the boards of several companies that have reshaped the modern healthcare landscape via Oak Street Health (acquired by CVS Health), Amedisys, Claritev, and NextGen Healthcare. actAVA is extremely lucky to have veteran healthcare technology leader Julie Klapstein as one of our advisors.

When we asked Julie about AI from her perspective, she was right to the point. 

“AI doesn't just bend the cost curve, it breaks it.” - Julie Klapstein

Today, we are talking to Julie about why she is all in with actAVA, and what advice she gives to healthcare companies, large and small, who are trying to implement AI within their own operations. 

Why did you decide to be an advisor to actAVA?

"After more than 35 years in healthcare information technology, I’ve seen countless 'innovations' come and go. However, my mission has always remained the same: automating the delivery of critical clinical and business information to remove the friction that slows down patient care.  I decided to join actAVA as an advisor for three primary reasons

• Breaking the Cost Curve: I’ve spent my career trying to make healthcare more efficient, but as I often say, 'AI doesn't just bend the cost curve, it breaks it'. actAVA is at the forefront of that breakthrough, using AI to tackle the administrative burdens that have plagued this industry for decades.  

• A Natural Evolution: My tenure as the founding CEO of Availity was about building the 'plumbing'—the network model that allowed payers and providers to communicate in real time . actAVA represents the next logical step in that journey, using intelligent agents to automate complex workflows and revenue cycle management in ways we could only dream of 20 years ago.  

• Agility Over Bureaucracy: Having served on numerous public and private boards, I know that large, established tech companies often struggle to move quickly. actAVA has the agility to implement solutions directly into existing legacy systems without the need for a total (and expensive) overhaul, which is exactly what the industry needs right now.  

I’m 'all in' because actAVA isn't just selling software; they are providing the tools to finally move healthcare out of the dark ages of manual processing and into a truly automated future."

What are the biggest changes you see underway in healthcare AI?

"The most profound shift I see is the transition from AI as a passive tool to AI as an active, agentic force within healthcare workflows. In my early career, we focused on building the 'plumbing'—the essential network models for real-time communication. Today, the change is about moving beyond simple data exchange and into true intelligent automation.

There is a major shift currently redefining the industry - Agentic AI: We are moving toward using intelligent agents to automate complex workflows and revenue cycle management. While it can be risky to implement agentic AI—as it requires a high level of trust and precision—it is not a choice. The administrative burdens that have plagued healthcare for decades can no longer be managed solely through human effort. 

One of the biggest changes is the ability to implement sophisticated AI solutions directly into existing legacy systems. We no longer have to wait for a total, expensive overhaul of 'dark age' manual processing systems. Modern AI enables us to layer intelligence on top of existing systems, bringing immediate automation to the patient care cycle.

Ultimately, we are seeing the end of the era of manual intervention and the beginning of a truly automated future.”

“If your team is not building agents already, you are already behind.”

More About our Advisor

Ms. Klapstein brings 35+ years of experience in health information technology, including executive roles at Phycom, Inc. (CEO, payer-based IT systems for case management); Revecore (interim CEO, revenue cycle management for hospitals); Sunquest Information Systems (SVP, laboratory information systems for hospitals); SMS' Turnkey Systems Division (Executive Director, now part of Siemens Medical Systems); and GTE Health Systems (VP and General Manager, systems for mid-size hospitals). She began her career at AT&T Information Systems, where she spent 10 years in sales, marketing, and product management focused on the healthcare industry.

She currently serves on the board of directors of Claritev (CTEV), focused on health analytics for payers and providers; Omada Health (OMDA), a virtual care platform offering personalized support for cardiometabolic conditions; and Aptarro, Unislink, and HCIM, which provide software, billing, compliance, and workflow services in revenue cycle management. In December 2023, Julie became a Partner Advisor to a16z (Andreessen Horowitz). She also serves on the advisory boards of private equity firms and healthcare companies. Ms. Klapstein has previously served as a director on five public company boards — Oak Street Health (acquired by CVS), Annie’s, Inc., NextGen, Amedisys, and Standard Register Inc., as well as multiple private boards, including eSolutions, a revenue cycle management company.

Founder Frank Wang, Weiran Yao, and Kevin Riley with Julie Klapstein at JPMorgan 2026.