Medical payment system

Abstract

A medical payment system is described in which a provider of medical goods and/or services submits, via telephone or other communications medium, a request for payment amount determination for a patient encounter. A price determination system determines which of a plurality of fee schedules negotiated by the provider applies to the patient encounter and calculates, based at least in part on information entered by the provider, a payment amount for the encounter. In one embodiment, the provider receives the payment amount information while the patient is at the point of service. In one embodiment, the provider may use the system to submit a claim for payment by at least one responsible party.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of facilitating payment of health care benefits to a health care provider comprising:
 determining with computer hardware, a medical expense associated with goods or services rendered by a health care provider to the patient;   determining with computer hardware at least a portion of a medical expense to be paid by at least one third-party payor;   electronically communicating to the third-party payor the portion of the medical expense to be paid by the third-party payor; and   electronically notifying the health care provider that an account contains a payment of the portion of the medical expense paid by the third-party payor.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the account is associated with a card that is at least one of the group consisting of: a stored value card, a medical credit card, and a medical plan card. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the account is a bank account. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving and storing multiple payment amounts. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising processing multiple payment amounts associated with multiple patient encounters. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising obtaining information about a patient encounter with an interactive voice response system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a second portion of the medical expense is electronically communicated to an account associated with the patient. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account is a flexible savings account. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account is a health savings account. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account is a medical savings account. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a second portion of the medical expense is electronically transferred from an account associated with the patient to the account associated with the health care provider. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the third-party payor is an insurance provider. 
     
     
         13 . A computer system of facilitating payment of health care benefits comprising:
 computer hardware configured to:
 determine a medical expense associated with goods or services rendered by the health care provider to the patient; 
 determine at least a portion of the medical expense to be paid by at least one third-party payor; 
 electronically communicate to the third-party payor the portion of the medical expense to be paid by the third-party payor; and 
 electronically notify the health care provider that an account contains a payment of the portion of the medical expense paid by the third-party payor. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the account is associated with a card that is at least one of the group consisting of: a stored value card, a medical credit card, and a medical plan card. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the account is a bank account. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the computer hardware is further configured to process multiple payment amounts. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the computer hardware is further configured to process multiple payment amounts associated with multiple patient encounters. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising an interactive voice response system configured to obtain information about a patient encounter. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the computer hardware is further configured to electronically communicate a second portion of the medical expense to an account associated with the patient. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the account associated with the patient is a flexible savings account. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 11  wherein a second portion of the medical expense is electronically transferred from an account associated with the patient to the account associated with the health care provider. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the third-party payor is an insurance provider.