Medical payments technology company Healthcare Financial Exchange is partnering with startup Infina Connect Healthcare Systems to offer a single card that does double duty as health insurance card and bank card.
Cary-based Healthcare Financial Exchange, or HFX, offers an electronic payment exchange system between doctors and insurance companies. HFX says that its payment network includes more than 27,000 physicians in five states. Infina Connect, also based in Cary, has developed software that gives medical professionals information about the best treatment outcomes and the lowest costs, information a doctor can use in deciding where to refer a patient.
The partnership combines health IT software and debit card payment technologies in single bank card for health plan members. Besides functioning as the health insurnace identification card, the card holder can also use the card to pay for health care services. The card gives instant payment in full, shortening what can be a lengthy payment cycle for pharmacies and doctors.
“The banking world has been employing this technology for decades, and by merging this capability with insurance ID cards, we¹re simplifying the process enormously,” HFX President William Simpson said in a statement.
The companies said that the card can be used for general spending anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Cardholders of HFX can also use the new cards to shop for health insurance, obtain real-time account information, and find health care discounts among other capabilities.
HFX has licensed Infina Connect’s software platform to offer the new health IT capabilities. No financial terms of the licensing agreement were disclosed. But the companies said that they came together to develop the combined technologies ahead of the 2014 implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act.
