Philadelphia health IT company adds Apple Pay

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

A Philadelphia company that processes tens of billions of dollars in health care payments each year has added Apple Pay to its payment network.

InstaMed, which has offices in Center City and Newport Beach, Calif., operates an integrated health care payment network that connects more than 1,500 hospitals, more than 70,000 medical practices and clinics, and more than 100 billing services to more than 3,000 health insurers and other payers.

What InstaMed’s addition of Apple Pay to its network services means for the health-care industry is that consumers will now be able to use certain iPhone or iPads— and even an Apple Watch when they become available shortly — to make contactless payments to providers and insurers at the point of service.

“Approximately 20 percent of consumers have unpaid health care bills as a result of confusion in the payments process,” said Chris Seib, the chief technology officer and co-founder of InstaMed. “This will only grow as more and more consumers continue to enroll in high deductible health plans.”

Seib believes the industry has to embrace the greater use of “simple, secure and private” payment processes to lessen consumer confusion and help providers reduce bad debt on their books.

Apple Pay is a secure and private mobile payment system. When a person adds a credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device or on Apple servers. Instead, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in his or her device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time, unique security code — instead of using the security code from the back of your card.

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