Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, for the first time is extending health care payment services to Puerto Rico through an arrangement with Paytech Corp., a Puerto Rico-based e-commerce transaction processor, the two companies announced Jan. 13.
The market expansion is one of the first moves from TSYS since the payment-processing company earlier this month finalized its acquisition of First National Bank of Omaha’s stake in their First National Merchant Solutions LLC joint venture (
In Puerto Rico, TSYS Merchant Solutions, which the merchant acquirer now is called, is leveraging the payment-technology services of First Paid Healthcare Solutions, the health care software suite it gained as part of the First National Merchant Solutions acquisition. Paytech Corp. will help market those services in Puerto Rico, TSYS said in a press release.
First Paid Healthcare offers Web-based software designed to enable doctors and other health care providers to more efficiently collect payments. When integrated with a doctor’s office’s or clinic’s systems, the software confirms a patient’s insurance coverage and benefits, then generates an estimate of the patient’s out-of-pocket costs at the time service is delivered. Patients then may pay for services with a credit card, debit card or check or set up an installment payment plan before leaving the office or clinic.
TSYS Merchant Solutions acquires, routes and settles the payments.
The service is the first in Puerto Rico that allows providers to “efficiently” collect patients’ out-of-pocket expenses, Candido Alfonso, Paytech CEO and president, said in the release.
Gathering payment at the time of service may speed payments to providers and result in higher overall collection of funds owed by eliminating steps and redundant paperwork, the companies suggest.
“Streamlining the collections process saves both time and money for health care providers,” Diana Mehochko, TSYS Merchant Solutions president, said in the release.
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