MEDICAL PAYMENT SYSTEM

摘要

A medical payment system is described in which a provider of medical goods and/or services submits, via telephone or other communications medium, a request for payment amount determination for a patient encounter. A price determination system determines which of a plurality of fee schedules negotiated by the provider applies to the patient encounter and calculates, based at least in part on information entered by the provider, a payment amount for the encounter. In one embodiment, the provider receives the payment amount information while the patient is at the point of service. In one embodiment, the provider may use the system to submit a claim for payment by at least one responsible party.

主权项

1. A computer system of facilitating payment of health care benefits comprising:
healthcare provider identification information; and computer hardware configured to:
receive information about goods or services provided by a healthcare provider to a patient;identify a payor that has agreed to pay the healthcare provider on behalf of the patient;automatically verify that the goods or services are related to a medical expense;approve a payment amount only when the medical expense has been verified, the payment amount comprising a patient portion paid by the patient; andelectronically send the patient portion of the payment amount to an account associated with the patient.