The company is expanding its electronic options to simplify billing and reimbursement, and is combining the health plan and patient portions of a medical bill into a single payment to doctors.

Aetna said it is working with Medical Funding Services to offer doctors patient-volume guarantees, prepayments to doctors of projected claims, and faster electronic payments.

Health plan members can sign on to Aetna's Easy Pay program, which allows them to automatically pay their out-of-pocket expenses to doctors though a credit or debit card, the insurer said.

"Aetna recognizes that, as consumer responsibility for healthcare costs increases, so do healthcare professionals' concerns about payment from members. We believe there are solutions that benefit everyone," said Allen Karp, Aetna's vice president for healthcare delivery.