Point of service third party financial management vehicle for the healthcare industry
First Claim
1. A point of service third party adjudicated payment system, comprising:
- a point of service terminal which accepts a payment system access card for payment for a purchase of at least one of a service and product by a customer, at least part of said purchase being reimbursable by a third party payor, and which creates a purchase transaction;
an adjudication engine which processes said purchase transaction so as to adjudicate substantially in real-time a first portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the third party payor and a second portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the customer and returns an adjudicated settlement transaction to said point of service terminal designating obligations for payment of at least said first portion and said second portion; and
a payment system which transfers funds in accordance with said obligations for payment of said adjudicated settlement transaction whereby the third party payor is debited by said first portion and the point of service provider is paid said first portion and a payment account accessible by said payment system access card is charged at least said second portion and the point of service provider is paid said second portion.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A point of service third party adjudicated payment system and method which provides for the creation of an adjudicated settlement transaction at a point of service which designates the portion of the service to be paid by the third party payor and the portion to be paid by the customer. The system includes a point of service terminal which accepts a payment system access card, such as a credit card, debit card, or purchase card, for payment for a purchase of a service and/or product by a customer, where at least part of the purchase is reimbursable by a third party payor. The point of service terminal creates a purchase transaction which is adjudicated by an adjudication engine substantially in real-time (at the time of service or in a purchase transaction processing batch) to determine a first portion of the purchase which is to be paid by the third party payor and a second portion of the purchase which is to be paid by the customer. An adjudicated settlement transaction is returned to the point of service terminal designating at least the first portion and the second portion for payment. The payment system access card provides access to a payment system which transfers funds in accordance with the adjudicated settlement transaction whereby the third party payor is debited by the first portion and the point of service provider is paid the first portion and a payment account accessible by the payment system access card is charged at least the second portion and the point of service provider is paid the second portion as with typical payment card transactions.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A point of service third party adjudicated payment system, comprising:
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a point of service terminal which accepts a payment system access card for payment for a purchase of at least one of a service and product by a customer, at least part of said purchase being reimbursable by a third party payor, and which creates a purchase transaction;
an adjudication engine which processes said purchase transaction so as to adjudicate substantially in real-time a first portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the third party payor and a second portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the customer and returns an adjudicated settlement transaction to said point of service terminal designating obligations for payment of at least said first portion and said second portion; and
a payment system which transfers funds in accordance with said obligations for payment of said adjudicated settlement transaction whereby the third party payor is debited by said first portion and the point of service provider is paid said first portion and a payment account accessible by said payment system access card is charged at least said second portion and the point of service provider is paid said second portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of providing third party adjudicated payment at a point of service, comprising the steps of:
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providing a payment system access card to a point of service provider for payment for a purchase of at least one of a service and product by a customer, at least part of said purchase being reimbursable by a third party payor;
transmitting a purchase transaction to an adjudication engine for processing;
said adjudication engine adjudicating said purchase transaction substantially in real-time so as to determine a first portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the third party payor and a second portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the customer;
receiving from said adjudication engine an adjudicated settlement transaction at said point of service designating obligations for payment of at least said first portion and said second portion;
and transferring funds in accordance with said obligations for payment of said adjudicated settlement transaction whereby the third party payor is debited by said first portion and the point of service provider is paid said first portion and a payment account accessible by said payment system access card is charged at least said second portion and the point of service provider is paid said second portion. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of providing adjudicated payment of reimbursable healthcare costs to a healthcare provider at a point of service of a patient, comprising the steps of:
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providing a payment system access card to the healthcare provider at said point of service for payment for a purchase of at least one of healthcare products and services by the patient, at least part of said purchase being reimbursable by a third party payor;
transmitting a purchase transaction to an adjudication engine for processing;
said adjudication engine adjudicating said purchase transaction substantially in real-time so as to determine a first portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the third party payor and a second portion of said purchase which is to be paid by the patient;
receiving from said adjudication engine an adjudicated settlement transaction at said point of service designating obligations for payment of at least said first portion and said second portion; and
transferring funds in accordance with said obligations for payment of said adjudicated settlement transaction whereby the third party payor is debited by said first portion and the healthcare provider is paid said first portion and a payment account accessible by said payment system access card is charged at least said second portion and the healthcare provider is paid said second portion. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of converting a healthcare transaction into a credit card transaction for payment by a patient, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting at least one of healthcare product and service codes for healthcare products and services purchased by the patient from a healthcare provider at a point of service to an adjudication engine for processing;
said adjudication engine adjudicating said product and service codes substantially in real-time so as to determine a first portion of said purchased healthcare products and services which is to be paid by a third party payor and a second portion of said purchased healthcare services which is to be paid by the patient;
receiving from said adjudication engine an adjudicated settlement transaction at said point of service designating obligations for payment of at least said first portion and said second portion;
formatting said adjudicated settlement transaction as a credit card transaction at said point of service; and
processing said formatted adjudicated settlement transaction in a credit card network for payment of said payment obligations. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification