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Hospitals and health systems, insurers and other third-party payers spend a fortune each year on processing payment. Now, a tech startup and Blue Shield of California are out to make the payment experience at hospitals as easy as checking out at the grocery story.

, which focuses on removing inefficiency from health care administration, and Blue Shield of California are building a cloud-based platform to provide payments to providers immediately after care is delivered. The companies will test the new technology as a pilot program with Dignity Health and Hill Physicians in Oakland.

, Sophie Pinkard, OODA Health's co-founder and head of product, said her firm aims to address the $500 billion spent in the U.S. each year on moving money between payers and providers. If successful, the project could also give a financial boost to providers and further facilitate the move toward consumerism in health care.

In September, OODA Health announced it had raised $40.5 million in venture capital to fund its efforts to transform the U.S. health care payment system. The company's strategic partners include Anthem; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona; Zaffre Investments, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; and Hill Physicians.