secure, self service payment for healthcare

SUCCESS STORY: PatientWorks/KioskWorks

Secure, Self ServicePayment For Healthcare

Customer Profile:

Business Focus:

Location:

VeriFone Solution:

An innovative self-service kiosk improves payment collection, automates forms processing, and ensures paymentsecurity standards compliance for healthcare providers.

PatientWorks

Document automation software/self-service solutions for healthcare

Cary, NC

VeriFone Payment Devices, PAYware SIM

Automating Forms Processing In HealthcareAs the population of aging babyboomers has skyrocketed,the cost ofdoing business in healthcare has risenby orders of magnitude. Perhapsnowhere is this challenge more appar-ent than at the patient check-in desk,where manual, paper-based data cap-ture burdens payroll, and where pay-ment collection is inefficient and oftenineffective. Recognizing these trendsand seeking to capitalize on the self-service revolution that has taken rootin other service-related industries,healthcare document automation soft-ware provider PatientWorks sought toautomate the customer-facing aspectsof healthcare transactions. In 2009, itbegan work on a self-service kiosk solu-tion called KioskWorks©, which inte-grates the forms management capabili-ties of its core healthcare software pro-

gram with the patient check-in/check-out process. Among its objectives wereto digitize registration forms and signa-ture capture and to facilitate unattend-ed payment for services and co-pays.

Healthcare Industry Awakens To Payment Security ConcernsWhile the healthcare industry is nostranger to strict compliance man-dates and the need for core systemsto address them (e.g. HIPAA), therequirements of the PCI SSC (PaymentCard Industry Security StandardsCouncil) are a relatively new concernthere. As he oversaw the developmentof the KioskWorks solution, PaulSmetana, VP at PatientWorks, becameincreasingly concerned about main-taining card data security on behalf ofhis customers (healthcare facilities)and their patients. He was determinedto find a payment processing partner

that could help him mitigate thoserisks, a partner he found in VeriFone.“Prior to engaging VeriFone on theintegration of our payment devices,we knew nothing about the ins-and-outs of credit card payments andsecurity,” he says. “They eased ourtransition through the PA DSS(Payment Application Data SecurityStandard) compliance process, savingus at least $20,000 by removing muchof our kiosk software infrastructurefrom the scope of our PCI audit.”

Through its PAYware SIM (SecureIntegration Method) approach, theVeriFone payment solution chosen byPatientWorks/KioskWorks eliminates therisk of any card data ever entering thesolution provider’s software environ-ment. This feature spared much of thePatientWorks© software solution fromthe scrutiny of Trustwave, its QSA(Qualified Security Assessor). “Our soft-

SUCCESS STORY: PatientWorks/KioskWorks

ware never ‘touches’ the card,” saysSmetana. “It simply sends a commandto the MX device that says ‘read thecard and facilitate the transaction,’ soa full audit of the core solution that wesell isn’t necessary.”

VeriFone’s ubiquity in the market-place also saves PatientWorks fromincurring ongoing PCI SSC audit costs,as it is common for the addition ofmerchants or the change of processorsto prompt a new audit. “The QSAs arefamiliar with VeriFone and its SIM soft-ware. The ability to onboard new cus-tomers without the overhead of ongo-ing audits is a competitive advantagefor PatientWorks,” says Smetana.

VeriFone Helps Healthcare FacilitiesPreserve Banking RelationshipsAs Smetana investigated payment pro-cessing providers, he quickly realizedthat many of the processing partners heconsidered would require his customersto change their merchant acquirers orbanks. “Many systems dictate that ifyou want to accept credit cards, youhave to switch to a bank with whichyour processor has a relationship,”explains Smetana. However, VeriFone’sbroad network of banking institutionsvirtually eliminated that headache, inturn eliminating a potential major

objection to the KioskWorks solution. “Regardless of the bank the health-

care provider is working with,VeriFone’s broad network allows it tokeep its bank and take payment seam-lessly,” says Smetana. The facilitationof automated payment acceptance isimportant in healthcare, where smallpatient debts can add up to millions ofdollars in outstanding revenue and neg-atively impact cash flow. In its earlyimplementations, PatientWorks has con-firmed the theory that patients aremore likely to commit to immediatepayment when prompted at a kioskthan they are when prompted by hospi-tal front desk staff. “It’s far more likelythat, when asked about payment at thefront office, the patient will elect to bebilled by mail, or altogether defer pay-ment indefinitely,” says Smetana.

Through its integration of VeriFonedevices with its kiosks, PatientWorkshas also enabled the solicitation and

acceptance of charitable donations, animportant source of operating capitalfor private hospitals and healthcarefacilities.

Signature Capture Enables Forms Automation, IntegrationThe VeriFone devices chosen byPatientWorks feature electronic signa-ture capture, allowing the automated,electronic completion of registrationforms, HIPAA agreements, and dis-charge documents. The digitization ofthese source documents reduces manu-al operations costs for healthcare facili-ties and facilitates seamless data trans-fer across the enterprise.

ConclusionWith the help of VeriFone, TheKioskWorks solution eases the burdenon healthcare facilities’ front deskstaffs and facilitates secure, timelypayments. For PatientWorks, the part-nership creates a competitive advan-tage by facilitating sales and allowingthe integrator to focus on its core com-petencies rather than grappling withthe nuances of payment acceptance.

For more information onPatientWorks, go to

www.patientworks.com.

For more information on VeriFone,talk to your representative or go to

www.VeriFone.com

“VeriFone eased our transition through the PA DSS(Payment Application Data Security Standard) compliance process by removing much of our

infrastructure from the scope of our PCI audit.”

-Paul Smetana, Vice President, PatientWorks

© 2011 VeriFone. All rights reserved. VeriFone and the VeriFone logo are trademarks or regis-

tered trademarks of VeriFone in the United States and/or other countries. All features and

specifications are subject to change without notice. 01/11 00000