I do not remember the last time I found a crumpled 20 dollar currency note in the back pocket of my denim jeans. Well, finding some unexpected cash, especially on days nearing the month-end, was enough to bring a smile to my face.

But now that I look back and think, the reason for empty denim pockets is fintech (not that I am blaming it). In fact, these days, we do not carry liquid cash, but an entire bank account in our pockets and handbags squeezed in a 5 to 6-inch smartphone that barely weighs a few hundred grams.

Full credit of this cashless transition goes to fintech.

Thanks to the advanced and sophisticated mobile technology, the fintech space has literally exploded in the last couple of decades.

Moving forward, as the tech-savvy generation ages, banking and financial services are becoming technically strong and extremely reliable. Once considered a rare perk, mobile banking is now a basic feature/service expected of any financial institution.

The reach of fintech

The fintech ecosystem is booming. As per a study, the global fintech market was close to USD 111,240.5 million in 2019. Grown at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% since 2015, the fintech market is forecasted to touch nearly USD 158,014.3 million by 2023.

The above statistics indeed are promising. However, traveling a little back in time, when fintech initially surfaced in the 21st century, the term was broadly applied to the technology employed at the back-end-system of financial institutions. Since then, the term has evolved multifold and has transformed into a more customer-oriented space.

The fintech ecosystem now serves a variety of industries, including retail banking, non-profit organizations, education, point of sale, investment management, to name a few.

Another important sector that fintech is making a difference in is healthcare. Believe me, you, there is a lot that fintech has given the healthcare system, and there is a lot more coming up. So, stay tuned to learn how fintech plays a catalyst in the healthcare domain.

Prepare for change in the healthcare sector

3..2..1

Let’s begin with some jaw-dropping statistics.

  • As per Research and Markets, as of March 2020, the global adoption rate of fintech stood at 64%.
  • According to a report by FinTech Global, Latin America’s fintech market could exceed USD 150 billion by 2021.
  • A recent PwC survey of financial services companies worldwide displays that amongst the businesses that wanted to collaborate with other sectors for growth, 47% more inclined to join hands with a fintech firm.

Considering the kind of impact fintech has on different sectors, healthcare is expected to gain lucrative benefits by adopting fintech.

Today, the best healthcare enterprises are reacting to disruption with digital and innovative initiatives with the potential to upscale business models and deal with challenges related to increased demand and inflating costs.

This is the reason why it is recommended for CIOs and IT leaders to adopt a digital-first mindset to gain maximum benefit.

How fintech makes healthcare more efficient?

We live in an era where digitalization is steadily transforming every industry, and healthcare is no exception.

Industries from manufacturing to retail, banking, and technology improve operations and customer experience by collaborating with fintech.

On the other hand, even though progress in the fintech arena was exceptional, healthcare was slow toward its adoption until early 2000.

At present, there seems to be a substantial change, as healthcare now heavily relies on technology, right from diagnostics to payments.

Let’s find out how fintech is making a difference in healthcare

Fast-tracking payment processes

The payment process has always been a hindrance in the healthcare space, where a lot of human errors such as misplaced receipts, documentation, and payment verification issues were bound to happen.

Fortunately, even if the adoption of fintech is slow, it is now moving at a steady pace, and things have started to change and accelerate over the last few years.

Getting through payments for healthcare services is now a lot easier, faster, and secure than in the past, and the credit goes to fintech solutions.

The IT guys in the fintech sector indeed are doing a great job and streamlining payment processes for both patients and healthcare facilities.

Reduction in expenses

Especially in the US, healthcare costs can get outrageous and cost a person a bank-breaking amount of dollars to deal with an illness. Sometimes, even insurance can be hefty on the pocket for middle-class families.

But thanks to fintech, paying for healthcare now gets easier with innovation and advanced technologies.

However, to take care of prices, companies such as Gem, DreamQuark, FitSense, to name a few, are doing an exceptional job.

Not just this, but several fintech start-ups in the US are leveraging the goodness of innovative concepts such as blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to eradicate inefficiencies and roll out the most effective payment plans.

Easy access to payment schemes

Fintech helps patients go through complex payment processes in a much simple, easy, and hassle-free way. It also makes it easy for the healthcare institutions responsible for managing these payments.

Complex payment schemes that were not easily accessible to patients delayed the medication as the waiting times were more than ever. But fintech has opened doors to better treatment options and easy procedures that were not accessible to patients.

Apart from simplified payment methods, patients now have easy access to fintech tools designed to make life better.

This includes services such as mobile-based healthcare accounts, options for low-interest loans, easy money transfer, and more.

Improving data security

Did you know healthcare data is valuable in the dark market, and this is the primary reason it catches the interest of threat actors.

This is why healthcare spends a fortune on keeping its data protected. Often time this data has private information related to individuals.

However, by integrating fintech solutions into their processes, healthcare institutions offer patients with enhanced data protection and security. Fintech does this by using blockchain and other secure platforms to keep patient information secure successfully.

Conclusion

In the race to prepare for a digital future, healthcare has taken a wise step to integrate fintech as a part of its process.

With fintech trending in digital payments, healthcare is adopting digital payment modes to enable patients to pay bills using mobile fund transfer alternatives.

It has now become standard and widely accepted by health institutions and people paying health bills.

PS: It is highly recommended to invest in suitable technologies related to fintech in healthcare to streamline billing and payment processes that are tedious and mundane when done manually.

To learn more from experts download our latest whitepapers on finance.