Point of service transaction management for service facilities

• US 7,567,925 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2003
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ImageVision.net, LLC (Waystar Holding Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Imagevision.net Incorporated (Invoice Cloud, Inc.)
• Inventors: Blessing, Ken, Clementoni, Brian, Millary, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil; Frantzy
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAHAM, CLEMENT B
• Application Number:
  US10/719,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20040153405A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,076 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 38, 705/39
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/22 Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/40 for data related to laboratory analysis, e.g. patient specimen analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/00 ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

The present invention enables the collection by credit/debit card payment of customer co-pay and self-pay charges via an integrated point-of-service transaction management system and method. The system and method of the present invention may assist health care facilities in the collection of co-pay and self-pay charges at the time service is rendered. The present invention can be implemented anywhere cash, checks, credit cards or debit cards are accepted for payment.

Claims

1. A computerized, integrated point of service transaction management system for use by at least one health care service provider, comprising:

at least two points of service within a single one of the health care service provider;

at least one computing terminal, each having associated therewith at least one processor, at each of the at least two points of service at the single health care service provider; and

at least one computerized transaction database associated with each of the at least one processors for relationally and electronically tracking, within said database and by the single health care service provider, remotely from each of the at least one computing terminal, at least one customer of the single health care service provider, self-pay payments due from the at least one customer to the single health care service provider, and overdue self-pay payments of the at least one customer due to the single health care service provider;

wherein the single health care service provider provides at least one new service transaction a geographic location proximate to at each of the at least two points of service, and wherein each of the at least one new service transactions is rendered to at least one of the at least one customer;

wherein the at least one computing terminal employs the at least one processor to communicate with the at least one database via at least one network to provide, within the at least one database, a tracking correlating the at least one customer and the at least one new service transaction rendered to the at least one customer, wherein the tracking correlates to an increased collection rate of at least one of the self-pay payments and the overdue self-pay payments from the at least one customer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the single provider is a health care facility.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a registration, wherein the registration of the customer occurs at one of the at least one terminals, and wherein said at least one database stores registration information, associated with the customer, as entered by a user of the at least one terminal.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising an account manager, wherein the registration information stored in the at least one database is accessible and manipulable via the account manager.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the registration is imported from a second remote database.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a payment collection system, wherein the customer is requested to select to self pay or co pay, and is requested to select a payment method for entry to the at least one database, by the payment collection system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the payment method is validated in real time via the at least one network, and wherein the payment method is selected from the group consisting of cash, check, credit card, and debit card, and wherein the validation is recorded in the at least one database.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one administrator communicatively connected to each of said at least two terminals via the network, wherein the at least one database is batch updated with data from each of the at least two terminals in real time at a predetermined interval determined by the at least one administrator.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one new service rendered to the customer is written to the at least one database and correlated with the customer.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an administrator, wherein users of the system are assigned at least one level of access in the administrator.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a reporting system, wherein a user is provided access to the at least one database for retrieving at least one of the group consisting of customer records, service provider records, and administrative records.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one terminal accepts information via at least one of a keypad, touchscreen, and card reader.

13. A computer readable medium for an integrated point of service transaction management system, the computer readable medium having thereon resident at least one program comprising instructions, which instructions, when executed by a computer processor, perform the steps of:

accessing at least one computing terminal at each of at least two points of service at a single health care service provider; and

providing access to at least one computerized remote relational database by the single health care service provider via the at least one terminal;

wherein the single health care provider provides at least one differentiable service at each of the at least two points of service, and wherein each of said at least one differentiable service is rendered to a customer;

wherein the at least one computing terminal communicates with the at least one relational database via at least one network to track at least two of the at least one service rendered to the customer, self-pay payments due from the customer for a first of the differentiable services, self-pay payments due from a customer for a second of the differentiable services, past due self-pay payments from the customer for a first of the differentiable services, and past due self-pay payments from the customer for a second of the differentiable services; and

wherein the tracking correlates to an increased collection rate of at least one of the self-pay payments and the past due copayments self-pay payments from the at least one customer.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, fun her comprising registering, wherein registering of a user occurs at the at least one terminal via entry of the user into a registration system, and wherein said at least one database stores registration information of the user entered.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, fun her comprising managing, wherein the registration information stored in the at least one database is accessible and manipulable via the managing.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the registering is imported from a remote foreign database.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising a payment collecting, wherein the customer is requested to select a payment method and to self pay or co pay, via the payment collection system, and is requested to select whether discounts are applied.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the payment method is validated in real time via the at least one network, and wherein the payment method is selected from the group consisting of cash, check, credit card, and debit card.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one database is batch updated in real time at a predetermined interval.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one service rendered to the customer is written to the at least one database.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising administrating, wherein users of the system are assigned at least one level of access within the administrating, and wherein the administrating monitors the at least one database.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, further comprising reporting, wherein said user may access the at least one database for retrieving at least one of the group consisting of customer records, service provider records and administrative records.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one terminal accepts information via at least one of a keypad, touchscreen, and card reader.

24. An integrated point of service patient transaction management system, comprising:

at least two points of service within a single health care provider;

at least one computing terminal at each of the at least two points of service at the single health care service provider, wherein a patient service is offered at a first of the computing terminals, and wherein a non patient service is offered at a second of the computing terminals; and

at least one relational transaction database for tracking, remotely from each of the computing terminals, at least one customer of the single health care service provider, and at least one transaction selected from the group consisting of patient service self-pay payments due from the at least one customer at the single provider, nonpatient service payments due from the at least one customer at the single provider, overdue non patient service payments of the at least one customer due to the single provider, and overdue patient service self-pay payments of the at least one customer due to the single provider;

wherein the terminals communicate with the at least one relational database via at least one network to provide to the health care service provider, within the at least one relational database, a tracking correlating the at least one customer to the at least one transaction from the at least one customer.