Technology is fantastic and dreaming of the future only gives us hope that one day our cars will fly. However, when it comes to the healthcare industry, the dream is that processes become streamlined, and the healthcare providers’ jobs are made much easier. Every day, medical technology is reaching new heights, with more hospitals adopting EMR records controlled by the patient, which is a win for data privacy. These technologies benefit patients as well as healthcare professionals, with time being saved and the ability to provide greater care quality. Technology is not only advancing the care of people but simplifying the payment infrastructure, which lowers costs to end-users. Below, we will discuss three tech trends that are influencing payment systems.
Pharmaceutical eCommerce
Online shopping isn’t a new phenomenon, but the increase in the availability of pharmaceuticals has increased rapidly, especially after the global pandemic hit. Even Amazon, the largest eCommerce platform in the world, joined the pharmaceutical space in November 2020. The accessibility of medications online means that emergency rooms don’t need to get congested with non-emergency patients, which lets healthcare professionals carry out their work to a higher standard. In response to the rise of eCommerce platforms, a healthcare supplemental plan will now include online payments, which means greater value for healthcare professionals.
Mobile Apps
Smartphones have opened up a world of useful apps, and there are plenty of them aiding the healthcare industry. For example, paying medical bills used to consist of postal stamps and sending cheques, which only added more work to the sector. Fortunately, thanks to the increase in online payment methods, considerable time is saved for both healthcare providers and patients.
Websites are great, and they offer payment portals, but mobile apps are much more powerful. For example, they will store user data, can be used through touch, and are much faster than websites. With the rise of app technology and wider adoption, the instances of payments through postage will drop drastically.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a hot topic in the healthcare industry, and advancement was pushed along by the global pandemic. This branch of technology refers to care given through platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, RingCentral, and any other video tool. Telemedicine saves time for patients and healthcare providers and is typically used to assess minor injuries, which helps to alleviate pressures on emergency rooms. Attending an online payment takes up fewer resources, which means healthcare can be provided at a cheaper rate, which is a bonus in this economy.
You may be asking how this impacts the payment infrastructure, and you’d be right that it does. However, any service that healthcare providers can issue at a lower cost will boost the number of people who pay their insurance costs, which causes insurance providers to become more giving.
Technology is changing the landscape of the healthcare industry daily. Many of the changes impact the payment infrastructure, whether that be encouraging patients to pay their insurance bills or providing online payment systems. When jobs are streamlined by technology, healthcare professionals can offer greater levels of care.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
