Kestrel check
Effective August 5, 2026
Plain English first. Kestrel Check reads a billing file you already have and points out lines that may conflict with rules published by insurers. It is a reference tool. It is not a billing service, not a clearinghouse, not a substitute for a coder, biller, attorney, or clinician, and it never sends anything to an insurance company. You decide what to bill; you stay responsible for it. Do not put patient information into it — it does not need it and is not built to hold it.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you (and the organization you act for, together "you") and the operator of Kestrel ("Kestrel", "we", "us"). By creating an account, signing in, or using Kestrel Check (the "Service"), you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the Service.
You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter contracts. If you use the Service for an employer or client, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization, and "you" includes it.
The Service accepts billing line data that you supply, compares it against rules Kestrel has extracted from payer documents that those payers publish, and returns informational findings, each linked to the source document. Findings are described as pass, warn, fail, reviewed, or unknown. These labels describe only what Kestrel's own rule set found. They are not coverage determinations, payment guarantees, coding advice, medical-necessity judgments, audit conclusions, or legal opinions.
Payer rules change frequently and are published inconsistently across manuals, bulletins, fee schedules, and portals. Kestrel's rule coverage is and will remain incomplete. Rules are derived by automated extraction from source documents and are subject to error, staleness, misinterpretation, and gaps.
You agree to independently verify every finding against the linked payer document, your payer contracts, and your own professional judgment before acting on it or declining to act on it. "Pass", "reviewed", and "unknown" verdicts in particular must never be treated as approval, clearance, or a determination that a claim is payable or compliant.
The Service is architected so that patient information does not reach it. Files are parsed in your browser; only de-identified billing fields and per-run one-way keys are transmitted, and no claim line content is stored. Details are in the compliance page.
You will not: reverse engineer, decompile, scrape, or bulk-extract the Service or its rule set; resell, sublicense, or provide the Service to third parties as your own; circumvent authentication, rate limits, or access controls; upload malicious code or files designed to disrupt the Service; use automated means to submit volumes materially beyond ordinary business use; misrepresent your identity or authority; or use the Service to build a competing rule database.
Creating an organization makes you its administrator. Administrators can view aggregate usage for members of their organization — counts of checks, lines, and findings, and the time of the most recent check — and cannot view the contents of any member's file. Sharing a join link, admitting members, and removing them are your decisions. An organization must retain at least one administrator.
THE SERVICE, INCLUDING ALL RULES, FINDINGS, CITATIONS, SUGGESTED FIXES, ANALYTICS, AND CONTENT, IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY. KESTREL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENCY, AND QUIET ENJOYMENT. KESTREL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY RULE OR FINDING IS ACCURATE OR CURRENT. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, ORAL OR WRITTEN, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HERE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN EXCLUSIONS, SO SOME MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, KESTREL AND ITS OPERATOR, OWNERS, AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, REIMBURSEMENT, GOODWILL, OR DATA, OR FOR DENIED, DELAYED, RECOUPED, OR REJECTED CLAIMS, PENALTIES, FINES, INTEREST, AUDIT OR APPEAL COSTS, REGULATORY ACTION, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR YOUR RELIANCE ON IT, UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.
KESTREL'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID KESTREL FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE SERVICE IS CURRENTLY PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE AND THAT THIS ALLOCATION OF RISK IS AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN, WITHOUT WHICH KESTREL WOULD NOT OFFER THE SERVICE.
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Kestrel and its operator from and against any claim, demand, action, investigation, loss, liability, damage, penalty, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: claims you submitted, failed to submit, or corrected; the accuracy or lawfulness of data you provided; your reliance on any finding; your breach of these Terms or of applicable law; any PHI or personal information you transmitted contrary to section 5; or any use of the Service under your account or by your organization's members.
Kestrel may modify, suspend, limit, or discontinue the Service or any feature, and may add or withdraw rule coverage, at any time and without notice or liability. Do not build a billing process that cannot operate without the Service. Planned or unplanned unavailability is not a breach of these Terms.
Kestrel Check is currently offered without charge. If paid features are introduced, prices and terms will be presented before you incur any charge, and continuing to use free features will not obligate you to pay.
Kestrel, its software, design, and its curated rule set are owned by Kestrel and protected by law. You receive a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Service for your internal business purposes. Payer documents referenced by the Service belong to their publishers. You keep all rights in the data you supply; you grant Kestrel only the limited right to process it to provide the Service. If you send feedback or suggestions, Kestrel may use them without obligation or compensation.
You may stop using the Service at any time and may request deletion of your account. Kestrel may suspend or terminate access at any time, with or without cause, including for suspected violation of these Terms. Sections 4 through 11, 14, and 16 through 19 survive termination.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules. The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute informally by written notice to kestrelaba@gmail.com, allowing thirty days to resolve. Any dispute not resolved informally will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Indiana, and each party consents to that jurisdiction and venue. Each party waives any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class or representative action. Any claim must be brought within one year after it arises or it is permanently barred, to the extent that limitation is enforceable.
Kestrel may update these Terms. Material changes will be reflected in the effective date above and, where practical, noted in the Service. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated Terms; if you do not accept them, stop using the Service.
These Terms, with the privacy policy, are the entire agreement about the Service and supersede prior understandings. If a provision is held unenforceable, it is limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary and the rest remains in force. Kestrel's failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without Kestrel's consent; Kestrel may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Nothing creates an agency, partnership, employment, or joint-venture relationship. Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control. Notices to you may be given in the Service or by email to your account address.
This page describes Kestrel Check, the web tool. The Kestrel iOS app has its own terms.