Roger Fingas
A payment service provider, InstaMed, on Monday announced it is integrating Apple Pay support, marking the first application of Apple's mobile payment platform in the healthcare industry.
The technology will allow businesses partnering with InstaMed to take payments in person using an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, or Apple Watch, or in-app via any Touch ID-capable iPhone or iPad. Some given examples including paying for a co-pay at a terminal in a hospital or doctor's office, and paying regular health insurance premiums through an insurer's mobile app.
InstaMed did not cite any specific partners planning to implement Apple Pay in the near future.
To date, businesses accepting Apple Pay have been mostly limited to major national or regional retailers specializing in food, clothing, and other consumer goods, rather than services. There are some exceptions, such as upcoming Apple partners in hotels, movie theaters, and auto service.
Apple has however been taking deeper steps into the medical world since last year, when it introduced the HealthKit data sharing framework for iOS. This March it revealed ResearchKit, a framework for mobile-based research trials, and on April 24 it will ship the Apple Watch, its first product with a heartrate sensor.
The company has previously announced collaboration with major healthcare providers for HealthKit and ResearchKit, but to date has not mentioned any direct deals for Apple Pay.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
6 Comments
That assumes that the doctor is going to have a terminal accessible for the consumer. I can see one of those walk-in emergency practices having this where they have lots of patients and do a lot of daily billing, but every private doctor/dentist that I've been to, if they accept credit cards at all, has one terminal way behind the desk. So Apple Pay really wouldn't work and I don't see that they'd have any impetus to invest in it - it's not going to increase their revenues. Hell, most of the doctors/dentists I use don't even use email. My broker doesn't let me email him either, at least not for buy/sell orders.
... every private doctor/dentist that I've been to, if they accept credit cards at all, has one terminal way behind the desk. So Apple Pay really wouldn't work and I don't see that they'd have any impetus to invest in it - it's not going to increase their revenues.
True--but business are going to have to shift to new terminal hardware to avoid liability costs anyway, and those new terminals will often have NFC.
Then it's just a matter of where they choose to place the new card reader: near the customer for security and convenience (one less task for the surly receptionist on a power trip), or near the receptionist for pure tradition.
Most doctors I've been to have the small handheld Verifone readers, they can easily set it on the counter. Or they could simply get an NFC terminal and put it by the service desk.
Doctors still require filling out 3-4 pages of ridiculous questions on a clipboard every time I visit. Their offices are still in the Stone Age.
Doctors still require filling out 3-4 pages of ridiculous questions on a clipboard every time I visit. Their offices are still in the Stone Age.
No kidding. Last time I got one of those, I suggested that they print out what was already on file, and I'd annotate changes. "Sorry, we can't do that."
So I returned the sheets my name and SSN, with the one other item that changed, and marked "No changes" over the rest of it.
The clerk just smiled.