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The last several years have brought a significant shift in the Western healthcare systems. Providers have started to switch from face-to-face consulting to telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and online communications. This new format requires quick digital payments. That's the primary factor pushing embedded finance in the healthcare industry. Over the next decade, healthcare will account for 17% of the embedded finance sector .
Embedded finance for healthcare optimizes billing, allows patients to pay more conveniently, and streamlines claim processing. Yet, it also has limitations you must be aware of.
As a software development company, we understand all the related benefits and pitfalls from our practical experience. Read on to learn everything you need to know about embedded finance and healthcare.
What are the benefits of embedded finance in healthcare?
Embedded finance in healthcare implies integrating payment, banking, lending, and insurance functionality into medical software. It may be a health tracking app where users pay for a subscription or a healthcare insurance platform allowing you to manage claims.
How does embedded finance affect healthcare? In multiple ways. This technology simplifies the life of practically every party involved in healthcare services, from patients to medical businesses. Let's review what benefits each stakeholder gets.
Benefits for patients
Patients are the most critical element of any healthcare system since they are vulnerable and depend on quality help. Embedded finance in healthcare gives them more control over treatment and simplifies access to healthcare services.
- Freedom and flexibility
Embedded finance for medical patients makes the medical industry more customer-centric. Hence, a patient is the one who chooses the most convenient way to receive services. It may be a telehealth call or a personal visit previously arranged and paid through a mobile app. The payment options also become more versatile. For example, you may scan a QR code or connect your preferred card for one-tap transactions.
- No need to visit offline facilities
Since embedded finance features enable patients to pay for everything online, they don't have to go to banks or pay offline at the hospital.
- Additional services available online
Healthcare solutions with embedded fintech usually have extra helpful features like medicine reminders and health tracking. Thus, patients can access services that are unavailable in traditional healthcare.
- Easy remote access to healthcare services
More patients are covered with quality care when people can receive healthcare services online. You can consult with a doctor miles away sitting on your couch. It's an excellent opportunity for those living in remote areas.
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Benefits for clinicians and providers
Almost 50% of nonfinancial companies , including healthcare providers, already invest in embedded finance offerings. They have multiple valid reasons to make financial services available in healthcare software, such as:
1. Continuous communication with patients
Embedded finance in healthcare enables patients and doctors to stay in touch through convenient subscription-based platforms.
2. Ability to make treatment decisions that benefit patients most
The integration of insurance functionality into EHR allows clinicians to estimate the treatment options covered by insurance to pick the most suitable one.
3. Increased revenue
Through automation that comes with embedded finances, hospitals get more control over revenue streams and reduce debt thanks to optimized claims processing. As a result, providers can increase their profitability and operate more cost-efficiently.
4. Higher patient satisfaction
People like to complete transactions, take loans, request insurance, and manage other operations independently. Hence, embedded finance in healthcare gives providers more satisfied patients that are likely to bring a friend and leave a positive review.
5. Faster payment collection and more patients served
The automation resulting from embedded finances speeds up the payment cycle. Besides, as more patients pay for healthcare services and receive them online, hospitals can handle a larger flow of people.
Benefits for insurers
Since embedded finance solutions often include insurance features, insurers also greatly benefit from such integration. They enjoy a higher level of automation, speed, and transparency.
1. Shorter claims processing cycle
When software automatically forwards requests with the necessary details to insurers, they can process claims faster. It makes their work much more efficient and profitable.
2. More accurate data
Information accuracy increases as embedded finance in healthcare automates many data exchange processes. Thus, the risk of declined claims due to human error is minimized.
3. Additional transparency and data security
When financial and healthcare systems are connected, staff can send data securely. Besides, only a few authorized people have access to personal health and banking information, which boosts security even more.
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Key 3 use cases to embed finance in healthcare
In the healthcare sector, providers usually embed banking and other financial features to serve patients. Still, you can integrate such functionality to simplify payments for staff, enable quick transactions with partners, and more. Here are three prominent use cases:
Health app subscriptions
In-app payments are among the most popular uses of embedded finance in healthcare. Users should have convenient payment options when a software provider chooses paid subscription as a monetization model. Hence, such an app must support digital wallets and top online payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal.
Individualized patient payment plans
Embedded finance can be a lifesaver for people who struggle with soaring healthcare expenses and cannot plan their spending. For example, apps like PayZen use AI to personalize patient payment strategies. It also offers zero interest and fees. Healthcare providers adopt such software to help their patients pay for the treatment and achieve up to 50% increased collections rate .
Up-front pricing and patient insurance eligibility
Clear pricing increases the likelihood of pursuing care for 62% of patients . Since transparency makes patients more likely to choose a clinic, providers try to communicate the cost beforehand. They implement embedded finance in healthcare to inform people about expected out-of-pocket costs before treatment.
Problems of embedded finance in healthcare
The importance of embedded finance in healthcare doesn't mean implementing a fintech solution is a breeze. Both healthcare and financial systems have complicated functionality and security requirements, so you are likely to face many issues, including:
Data security issues
Embedded systems may have CVE, misconfiguration, missing encryption, and other vulnerabilities that allow hackers to steal PHI or financial details. Your task is to protect the data at any cost and develop a regulatory-compliant system. It's also necessary to secure data storage and implement reliable end-user authentication.
Legacy technology
Before embedded finance in healthcare appeared and started to penetrate the industry, most providers already relied on some software. The legacy system is the foundation you may need to migrate from or build on top of. It will put limitations on the technology and approaches you use to embed additional fintech features.
Lack of tech expertise
Both financial services and healthcare solutions require specific engineering expertise. You cannot hire any software developer and hope for a quality result. Requirement analysis, planning, and hiring stages take time and effort. Besides, finding specialists with the necessary skills may also be difficult since they are in high demand.
Under these circumstances, you should consider hiring a third-party software development provider who has a ready team and can share the expertise.
Our experience
Binariks is a software development company providing financial and medical solutions for SMEs and enterprises. We can develop a healthcare platform with embedded financial features from scratch or connect the necessary fintech functionality to your existing software.
As an AWS Consulting, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Partner with ISO compliance, we handle projects of any complexity. Request consulting, occasional help, or end-to-end development, depending on your needs. Learn more about how we work and our completed projects here .
Final thoughts
Consumer demands for convenience result in the growing popularity of integrated solutions across industries. In healthcare, it often takes the form of a healthcare app with embedded banking, payment, or insurance features. Despite being challenging to implement, such solutions are highly beneficial to every party involved. While patients enjoy more convenient financial operations, hospitals grow revenue and can serve more people faster.
Have a software development idea and need assistance implementing it? Get experienced engineers with Binariks.
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