Preserving the integrity and confidentiality of cardholder data is important across the business landscape. However, nowhere is it more relevant and urgent than in the healthcare and telemedicine arena. If you serve patients remotely, it is in your best interests to understand secure tokenization and how it can make online payment processing as safe and trustworthy as possible.

What is data tokenization?

Understanding tokenization in payments is vital before you can determine its benefits for your medical office. The word “token” denotes a random string of data that has no actual meaning in and of itself. However, it takes on significance when it replaces sensitive details such as credit card numbers or sensitive patient information. Once the original data is linked to the token, there is no way for a cybercriminal to decipher the code to reveal the hidden information.

Not so long ago, tokenization was thought to be beneficial primarily for merchants whose customers needed to provide credit card account numbers and security codes in order to make purchases. However, today’s medical providers are discovering an ever-increasing need to collect patients’ payments in innovative ways beyond simply accepting cash, checks, or a credit or debit card at the reception desk. This is especially true with the recent increase in High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) and the upsurge in telemedical practices such as yours. So why should you invest time and money in bringing tokenization to both your in-person and remote patients? 

1. Leverage enhanced security.

Doctors and other medical providers are well aware of how crucial data security continues to be. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has created national standards designed to protect medical records and health information and provide individuals with more control over their sensitive data. The law even specifies how and when records can be released.

Tokenization enables your support staff to securely save patient details and payment methods in such a way that these facts cannot be stolen or sabotaged. When your patients know that you take the confidentiality of their sensitive data as seriously as they do, you will foster an environment of increased trust. Particularly in an environment where face-to-face interactions with clients are less frequent or do not occur at all, this trust is vital in fostering compliance and strengthening the doctor-patient relationship.

2. Streamline the payment process for you and your patients.

Tokenization allows you to securely save all patient data, including their payment details, in your files in a way that hackers can’t exploit. That is because you are only retaining the token, with the actual information securely stored in a data vault off-site.

Even so, you can still have opportunities to automate the payment collections process. Once you do, you can discuss various payment options with your telemedicine patients before or during your phone call with them. During this conversation, you can offer to securely save a payment method so that future expenses can be covered with minimal delay or confusion. Automation also gives you the ability to easily set up a recurring payments schedule, a courtesy that is particularly appreciated by patients facing larger balances.

3. Offer maximum patient control.

When payment and health information are securely stored by your office, patients can begin to have a greater degree of autonomy. For those people who would prefer to steer their own billing, tokenization allows you to offer an online portal. This can be used to customize payment plans and schedules, set up a digital wallet to keep track of saved payment methods, pay a bill, or scan their accounts to review their past financial history.

4. Communicate with patients in diverse ways.

The same digital technology that promotes added security also gives you numerous ways to distribute information to your patients. After setting up your systems appropriately, your staff can quickly email or text notifications about upcoming or late payments. Furthermore, a friendly thank-you note can be generated once a payment is received. Additionally, friendly reminders can be made by phone and electronically about upcoming telemedical appointments, helping to reduce no-shows.

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in 2020, telemedicine became, for many patients, the only vehicle they could use to interact with their physician. Although in-person visits remained crucial in the treatment of many conditions, being able to speak and interact visually with a provider over the phone or online provided a means for both diagnosis of existing conditions and ongoing preventative treatments.

Although COVID-19 has receded to some degree, the benefits of remote audio and video appointments remain. That is good news for you as a telemedicine provider. However, you can no longer count on patients automatically accepting remote appointments.

People now have numerous choices again when seeking a provider. If your telemedicine practice is to succeed, you need to give your clients the best of both worlds: medical interventions of the highest quality, coupled with the convenience and security of accessing these services from home. Ensure that your online payment processing systems comply with not only HIPAA but also with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). That way, you’ll be doing all you can to see that your valued patients’ sensitive health data and payment information are being stored and transmitted at the highest level of security available today.

Payment tokenization is one of the most effective ways to maintain compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and PCI DSS. When you implement it, you protect yourself and your practice from the psychological, financial, and legal perils that can befall you should a data breach occur. Additionally, you offer your patients the highest standard of data protection while simultaneously using technology to create and build an enhanced relationship with them. Trust leads to compliance, which in turn means better long-term outcomes for the patients you serve.