Contactless Payments - Transforming Healthcare

Everyone is surrounded by technology in their day-to-day activity, whether they’re using an app to order food for takeout or delivery or transferring funds to someone. And digital-first consumer experiences are continuing to expand across all industries, including healthcare. Patient-facing digital technologies, including virtual visits, online scheduling, virtual triage, and registration were all areas that heavily relied on technology to meet the new needs of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have even grown as we enter a post-pandemic world. This rapid acceleration in healthcare payment technology has become more top-of-mind for hospitals and healthcare systems, even as they are faced with restrictions in how and what types of payment options they can offer. 

Increased Demand for Digital Payment Options 

As a response to the pandemic, consumers have begun shifting their preferred payment methods. According to the latest Experian Global Insights Report, digital payments have taken over traditional modes of payment with 91% of surveyed participants from India preferring online payment methods. As payment preferences evolve, healthcare providers need to consider offering payment options that meet the demands of today’s consumers.

Contactless payments in India have surged 600% in the last three years from 2.5% of total payments in December 2018 to 16% of total payments in December 2021. A contactless payment – a cashless transaction that does not require a card to be swiped at the point-of-service (POS) - offers an easy to use touchless experience, and provides a cleaner payment option that maximizes safety and convince. 

Digital wallet users have also increased post-pandemic. A recent report by Juniper research found that the total number of digital wallet users will exceed 5.2 billion globally in 2026, up from 3.4 billion in 2022. This indicates a drastic shift in consumer preferences for these modes of payments, showcasing the demand for a more digital payment experience. 
This inclination in consumer preferences towards digital payments means that every sector must prepare itself and be ready with the latest technologies. The healthcare market has some incredible complexities in comparison to other industries when it comes to payment processing. The integrations can be exceedingly complex with the expectation to achieve streamlined patient payment workflows within a provider’s existing EHR or patient accounting system. And most healthcare systems may not have the IT bandwidth or expertise to drive necessary improvements to patient payment and billing integrations. 

There are a few solutions providers offering innovative fintech solutions, developed specifically for the healthcare space, helping to automate manual patient payments and billing processes while improving brand loyalty for healthcare consumers. Salucro is one such brand working globally for patient payment solution for the healthcare industry and caters to all payment requirements at one place.

It's time to embrace technology to meet the changing needs of patients and streamline their patient payment experience during health emergencies. With the advent of new payment systems and the adoption of digital payment acceptance increasing, it is more important now than ever to use a flexible payment platform. “We have seen that hospitals and healthcare providers using Salucro’s payment platform were able to provide multiple payment options, seamlessly integrate into their EHR/HIS, and ease the payment journey of their patients”, said Piyush Bhan, SVP of International Business Development at Salucro.

Deliver a Better Patient Financial Experience with Salucro

Salucro Healthcare Solutions India Private Limited is a financial technology company providing payment solutions exclusively focused on the healthcare sector for patient payments and billing. With a vision to provide smooth and secure payment solutions and experiences to patients across the globe, Salucro operates in several countries including the United States, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Salucro’s platform offerings include a complete integrated omnichannel payment solution for on-site and remote patients. 

Salucro solves many common payment collection issues by providing a single interface and portal to accept payments from all modes of transactions such as Cards, e-wallets, payment links, UPI, NEFT/IMPS, payment gateway, cash deposit m/c, and more. This platform can be enabled without disturbing integration with healthcare providers’ existing HIS/HMS systems. 

Many healthcare providers and vendors have been using Salucro’s payment platform, which has been pivotal in helping them in collecting payments from patients for their healthcare services, diagnostic services, home sample collection, and more without having to integrated tens of payment systems and removing manual reconciliation issues.  Creating simple, user-friendly, and flexible payment experiences with concise patient-friendly billing, that integrates with EHR systems is why company is seeing more and more healthcare providers, RCM partners, and financial institutions partner with Salucro to help bridge this gap. 

Salucro Healthcare Solutions refers to the global organization of Salucro companies.