Apparatus and method for rewarding consumers

Abstract

The present invention relates to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing program code for funding a deposit account associated with a unique identifier encoded on a machine readable card, with an insurance company payment processing system, accessible by a pharmacy for obtaining payment for drugs dispensed to customers insured by an insurance company, wherein the deposit account is only funded upon successful completion of a test or questionnaire by a patient, wherein patient instructions for participating in the test or questionnaire was distributed to the patient by a drug prescriber with a prescription for the drug sample and the machine readable card; and program code for reimbursing the pharmacy from the funded deposit account for the charge for the drug sample in response to the card being read by a card reader linked to the insurance company payment processing system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing program code comprising:
 program code for funding a deposit account associated with a unique identifier encoded on a machine readable card, with an insurance company payment processing system, accessible by a pharmacy for obtaining payment for drugs dispensed to customers insured by an insurance company that pays claims through the insurance company payment processing system, in an amount sufficient to reimburse said pharmacy for its charge for a prescription drug sample, wherein said deposit account is only funded upon successful completion of a test or questionnaire by a patient, wherein patient instructions for participating in said test or questionnaire was distributed to said patient by a drug prescriber with a prescription for said drug sample and said machine readable card; and   program code for reimbursing said pharmacy from said funded deposit account for said charge for said drug sample in response to said card being read by a card reader linked to said insurance company payment processing system.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising program code for interpreting said unique identifier in response to said card being read by a card reader, and for producing an authorization for reimbursing said pharmacy for said charge for said drug sample corresponding to said unique identifier before reimbursing said pharmacy for said charge for said drug sample. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising program code for funding said deposit account with a service fee to be paid to the pharmacy in addition to said charge for said drug sample in response to said card being read by a card reader linked to said insurance company payment processing system. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising program code for receiving from said patient when said drug sample is distributed to said patient, personal data sufficient to enable receipt from said patient of information indicative of said patient's experience with said drug. 
     
     
         5 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing program code comprising:
 program code for funding a plurality of temporary deposit accounts with an insurance company payment processing system, each of said temporary deposit accounts having an identifier in correspondence with one of a plurality of unique identifiers, each of which is encoded on a different one of a plurality of machine readable cards, said insurance company payment processing system being accessible by a pharmacy for obtaining payment for drugs dispensed to customers insured by an insurance company that pays claims through said insurance company payment processing system; and   program code for reimbursing said pharmacy from said funded deposit account for its charge for a drug sample in response to said card being read by a card reader linked to said insurance company payment processing system, wherein said funded deposit account is only accessible by said pharmacy after successful completion of a test or questionnaire by said patient, wherein patient instructions for participating in said test or questionnaire was distributed to said patient by a drug prescriber with a prescription for said drug sample and said machine readable card.   
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 5 , further comprising program code for interpreting said unique identifier in response to said card being read by a card reader, and producing an authorization for reimbursing said pharmacy for said charge for said drug sample corresponding to said unique identifier before reimbursing said pharmacy for said charge for said drug sample. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 5 , further comprising program code for funding said deposit account with a service fee to be paid to the pharmacy in addition to said charge for said drug sample in response to said card being read by a card reader linked to said insurance company payment processing system. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 5 , further comprising program code for receiving from said patient when said drug sample is distributed to said patient, personal data sufficient to enable receipt from said patient of information indicative to said patient's experience with said drug, and for communicating with said patient after said sample is dispensed to said patient for determining said patient's experience with said drug.