Electronic payment method for healthcare services between a patient and a healthcare professional

Abstract

An electronic payment method for healthcare services between a patient and a healthcare professional, the patient having an identification device, called a health insurance card, containing information on their social security rights, and the healthcare professional having a strong cryptographic authentication device, called a healthcare professional card, said method being implemented by a computer connected to the healthcare professional card and including a smart card acceptance terminal, and said method includes the steps of: recognition (211) of the health insurance card by the smart card acceptance terminal; acquisition (215) of the amount associated with the healthcare service; verification (217, 219, 221) that the health insurance card is associated with the insured's means of payment; and triggering (223) a payment from the insured to the healthcare professional. An electronic payment system is also described. Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Fig 2.

Description

Title of the invention: Method for electronic payment of a healthcare service between a patient and a healthcare professional technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of electronic payment for a health service between a patient and a health professional, a computer program product and an electronic payment device for a health service between a patient and a health professional. State of the art

[0002] In France, within the healthcare sector, financial transactions between healthcare professionals and patients are highly regulated. The general procedure involves the patient presenting their social security card to the healthcare professional by inserting it into a card reader connected to the professional's computer. The professional also has a healthcare professional card (CPS), which allows for authentication, inserted into a second card reader connected to the computer.

[0003] This will allow the establishment of an electronic treatment sheet establishing the amount of the treatment and its method of payment, a treatment sheet which will be sent to social security organizations and mutuals; collectively referred to hereafter as the paying organizations.

[0004] Thus, in a situation without third-party payment, the patient pays the entire cost of the care by the usual means of payment (cash, check, bank card) to the professional and is reimbursed for all or part of the amount.

[0005] And in the case of third-party payment, the patient only pays his share and the professional receives the remainder from the paying organizations.

[0006] It is therefore observed that, for the patient, there is a double manipulation to be carried out: the management of his insurance card and then that of his method of payment.

[0007] For healthcare professionals, with the very significant increase in payments by bank card, or their dematerialized version via contactless telephone connection, they are obliged to provide an electronic payment terminal (POS) associated with a service contract with their bank.

[0008] Furthermore, the conditions of practice are diversifying. In addition to care provided in a doctor's office or medical facility (health center, hospital, clinic, etc.) and home visits, teleconsultation is developing. However, the latter presupposes that there is no physical or "face-to-face" contact. The creation of the treatment form is done using applications of the "virtual health insurance card" type (unless a degraded method of creating the treatment form is accepted) and payment is mandatory. limited to online payment or transfer type operations, such as for an online merchant.

[0009] This further complicates financial management and, for some patients, it may even be a deterrent to teleconsultation.

[0010] There is therefore a real need for a computer-implemented process and a payment system that resolve all or part of the aforementioned drawbacks. Description of the invention

[0011] To resolve one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks, according to a first embodiment, an electronic payment method for healthcare services between a patient and a healthcare professional, the patient having an identification device, called a health insurance card, containing information on their social security rights, and the healthcare professional having a strong cryptographic authentication device, called a healthcare professional card, said method is implemented by a computer connected to the healthcare professional card and including a smart card acceptance terminal, and said method comprises the steps of: • recognition of the insurance card by the smart card acceptance terminal; • acquisition of the amount associated with the health service; • verification that the insurance card is linked to a payment method used by the insured; and • triggering a payment from the insured to the healthcare professional.

[0012] Thus, the user uses his insurance card as a tool for voluntarily triggering a payment.

[0013] Specific features or embodiments, usable alone or in combination, are: • the association of the insured's card with a means of payment of the insured is carried out in a prior step and is cryptographically sealed by the health professional card; • the sealed association of the insured card with a means of payment of the insured is stored in a server accessible by the computer in order to allow its use in subsequent payment operations; • the amount of the payment takes into account the insured's rights to correspond to a remaining balance; • The insurance card is formed by a dedicated application installed on a mobile phone; • The link between the insurance card and the acceptance terminal is established via a short-range radio link; and / or • The link between the insured card and the acceptance terminal is established by viewing and reading a QR code.

[0014] In a second embodiment, a computer program product includes program code instructions for implementing the above process when the program product is executed on a computer.

[0015] In a third embodiment, an electronic payment system for a health service between a patient and a health professional, the patient having an identification device, called an insurance card, including information on his social security rights and the health professional having a strong cryptographic authentication device, called a health professional card, said system includes a computer connected to the health professional card and including a smart card acceptance terminal and said computer is configured to implement the above method. Brief description of the figures

[0016] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, given solely by way of example, and with reference to the figures in the appendix in which: • [Fig. 1] represents a view of a payment system according to one embodiment; and • [Fig.2] represents a flowchart of a payment process according to one embodiment. Methods of implementation

[0017] With reference to [Fig. 1], a healthcare payment system 101 comprises a server 103 connected on the one hand to the healthcare professional's computer 105 and on the other hand to the paying organization's server 107. The server 103 is also connected to a banking server 109.

[0018] The computer 105 includes a first card reader 111 into which the health professional's card 113 is inserted and a second card reader 115 into which the patient can insert his insurance card 117 and, possibly, his bank card (not shown).

[0019] The operation of system 101 is as follows, [Fig.2]:

[0020] In a preliminary enrollment step 201, the healthcare professional will offer the patient the option of linking a payment method to the patient's health insurance card. The payment method can be of any type that is technically and legally feasible. Typically, the payment method is a bank transfer or credit card.

[0021] The computer 105 reads, in step 203, the relevant information from the insurance card 117 inserted into the reader 115. By relevant information, we mean the information allowing the insured card to be linked to the patient, such as their name and registration number.

[0022] Then computer 105 records, step 205, the information of the means of payment chosen by the patient.

[0023] If the means of payment is a transfer, the computer records the bank details of the patient's account as well as a direct debit authorization.

[0024] If the means of payment is a bank card, the computer records the name, number, expiry date and the security code(s) of the card.

[0025] The pair formed by the data of the insured card and those of the means of payment are then cryptographically sealed together by the cryptographic means of the health professional's card 113, step 207.

[0026] Cryptographic sealing here means a set of encryption and cryptographic signature operations which locks the link between the two types of data, i.e. the health professional's card "guarantees" the link and the integrity of the data.

[0027] After being sent there by computer 105, the sealed record is stored, step 209, in server 103.

[0028] The enrollment phase is then complete.

[0029] The payment phase of a service can then be executed according to the implementation method described below.

[0030] Typically, the patient inserts their insurance card into the card reader 115 at step 211, and it is recognized by the computer 105. The treatment sheet is created at step 213 on the computer 105.

[0031] Based on the information contained in the insurance card, computer 105 determines, step 215, the amount of payment that the patient must pay.

[0032] For example, this amount will vary depending on whether the paying organizations cover the costs with or without third-party payment.

[0033] Using as an index a particular field of the insured card, for example his insured number, computer 105 sends, step 217, a request to access the sealed record stored during the enrollment step to server 103.

[0034] Once received, computer 105 verifies, step 219, the integrity of the sealed record using the health professional card 113.

[0035] It retrieves, step 221, the bank details from the sealed record and uses them to trigger, step 223, the payment of the amount to be paid by the patient.

[0036] For example, depending on the payment method, it will send a direct debit order or a credit card payment order to server 109, via server 103. Depending on the banking security measures in place, this order may be validated. by the patient via, for example, a banking application installed on their mobile phone.

[0037] Figure 1 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments. The breakdown presented is for pedagogical purposes to highlight the different functions. However, it is understood that each block can be implemented using different means or combinations thereof, such as hardware components, software, one or more computers, and / or electronic circuits. Each component may include at least one computer or a control unit. At least one memory may be included in each component. The memory may include computer program instructions or software code.

[0038] Calculators and computers can be implemented using any type of data processing device, such as a central processing unit, a signal processing unit, a specific application integrated circuit, a programmable gate network, etc. Calculators can be implemented as a single controller, or as a plurality of controllers or calculators.

[0039] The different modules are connected to each other by data links adapted to the environment. These can be wired or wireless.

[0040] For the software, the implementation may comprise modules or units distributed in the form of procedures, functions, etc. The memories may be any type of storage circuit. They may be part of the processor circuit, or separate from it and connected via electrical data links. These may be non-volatile memories, hard drives, RAM, flash memory, etc.

[0041] The software product can be downloaded from a communication network and / or stored on a computer-readable medium. It can be directly executable by a processor or be in the form of a high-level language requiring one or more intermediate operations to be executable. The organization of the various programs can also be implemented in a client-server configuration in which all processing is performed on one or more servers, and the healthcare professional's computer only manages the human-computer interface and the card reader(s).

[0042] Thus, the program instructions stored in memory and processed by the computers can be any type of program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted program written in a suitable programming language.

[0043] The computer program instructions stored in memory are such that, when executed by the computer, the latter carries out one or more of the steps of the processes described above.

[0044] The invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the preceding description. This description is to be considered illustrative and given by way of example and not as limiting the invention to this single description. Numerous embodiments are possible.

[0045] In a first variant, the security of the sealed record is enhanced by encrypting it using the healthcare professional's card, so that only the professional, with their card, can access and understand the contents of the sealed record and thus trigger payment. Naturally, the overall system handling personal and sensitive data incorporates best cybersecurity practices to guarantee the integrity and confidentiality of all exchanges.

[0046] In a second variant, the sealed record can remain stored on the healthcare professional's computer. This has the advantage of being directly accessible each time the patient comes to see the healthcare professional. However, it has the disadvantage of requiring the healthcare professional to always have computer 105 with them, whereas there may be situations in which they will use different computer equipment. For example, a practitioner who consults in their office and at the hospital uses their personal computer in the first case and hospital equipment in the second. It is then possible to combine the two storage methods by duplicating the sealed record, with one version stored on computer 105 and the other version on the server 103. This allows for quick access when computer 105 is available and access in all other situations.

[0047] In a third variant, the insurance card 117 can be replaced by a virtual insurance card in the form of a dedicated application installed on a mobile phone, and the card reader 115 can be replaced by a means of reading the virtual card. For example, the dedicated application can transmit information via a short-range radio frequency field of the NFC (Near-Field Communication) type, according to the ISO / IEC 14443 standard, as for contactless payment by bank card. In this case, the card reader 115 has a contactless reading capability. Another example is the display by the dedicated application of a 2D barcode of the QR (Quick Response) type, ISO / IEC 18004 standard. The QR code is read by a camera connected to the computer 105.This last option is particularly well-suited to teleconsultations conducted from the patient's home, as they generally do not have a card reader. However, they can show the QR code to their teleconsultation camera, allowing the healthcare professional to scan it from their screen.

Claims

Demands

1. An electronic payment method for a health service between a patient and a health professional, the patient having an identification device, called an insurance card, including information on their social security rights and the health professional having a strong cryptographic authentication device, called a health professional card, said method being implemented by a computer connected to the health professional card and including a smart card acceptance terminal and said method comprising the steps of: • recognition (211) of the insurance card by the smart card acceptance terminal; • acquisition (215) of the amount associated with the health service; • verification (217, 219, 221) that the insurance card is associated with a means of payment of the insured; and • triggering (223) a payment from the insured to the health professional.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the association of the insured's card with a means of payment of the insured is carried out in a prior step and is cryptographically sealed by the health professional card.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the sealed association of the insured card with a means of payment of the insured is stored in a computer-accessible server in order to enable its use in subsequent payment operations.

4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the amount of payment takes into account the rights of the insured to correspond to a remaining charge.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the insurance card is formed by a dedicated application installed in a mobile phone.

6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the link between the insured card and the acceptance terminal is made by a short-range radio link.

7. Method according to claim 5, wherein the link between the insured card and the acceptance terminal is achieved by viewing and reading a QR code.

8. Computer program product characterized in that it includes program code instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when the program product is executed on a computer.

9. System (101) for electronic payment of a health service between a patient and a health professional, the patient having an identification device (117), called an insurance card, including information on his social security rights and the health professional having a strong cryptographic authentication device (113), called a health professional card, said system comprising a computer (105) connected to the health professional card and comprising a smart card acceptance terminal (115) and said computer being configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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