ZirMed Inc. has launched a patient-payment developer kit that software and health care provider vendors may add to their products so hospitals can offer patients online-payment options, ZirMed announced Nov. 4.
The health care revenue-management company created the kit for providers and software vendors to address the growing number of patients paying directly for services because of high-deductible plans, health care savings accounts, and co-pay or co-insurance rates, the company said in a press release.
Vendors may integrate Louisville, Ky.-based ZirMed’s payment software, which complies with Payment Card Industry data-security standards, into existing websites or software, the company stated.
The kit includes online bill-payment support, virtual terminals for credit card or automated clearinghouse processing, recurring payment plans, tokenization for credit cards, and a patient “lockbox” for payment records, according to the release.
The kit enables hospitals and physician offices struggling with PCI compliance or technology barriers to use the same electronic-delivery payment process that ZirMed has provided clients in the past, ZirMed CEO Tom Butts stated in the release.
“Today, we directly process more than 3 million transactions each month,” Butts said. “The cost, technology and compliance barriers have prevented more than 70% of hospitals and physician offices from adopting these” services, he said.
The kit provides nine application interfaces that providers and software vendors may embed with websites and applications, the company stated. It also provides patient access to log in and view statements or pay bills or schedule payments, if the health-care provider allows, ZirMed stated.
