MedCoins Now Acceptable Telehealth Currency

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Rather than cards or cash, MedCoins valued at $5 each are now the currency of telehealth provider ExamMed.

A new type of currency is king at Atlanta-based ExamMed. The telehealth provider’s platform is used by over 250 providers and now accepts MedCoins as currency, with each MedCoin valued at $5.

Co-founders Faraz Zubairi and Jeremy Trabucco say this form of payment helps consumers separate their costs and aids providers in seeing what they charge for online services. "It's a very simple platform," Trabucco told mHealth News, adding that the currency functions much like a health savings account. "It has a value (that differs from cash or credit cards) that is specific."

They say using MedCoins provides transparency that consumers are looking for and allows them to see exactly where their money is being used. “Cash is one of those things that can be enumerated in lots of different ways,” Zubairi said. “The goal here is on a transactional level to provide an easier way to bundle payments.

“Providers will be able to increase revenue that previously they were not able to capture. The platform also lets providers see how much new revenue telehealth services have helped them capture.” Providers will be able to set up their practice online and determine how much they charge for different services. They are also able to create rewards programs and reward their patients with MedCoins for healthy living.

MedCity News reports the coins can also be seen as an extra layer of security for patients. “[There’s an] increased desire to adopt MedCoins in a day-to-day busy practice setting,” Zubairi said in an email. “And for patients a more seamless and transparent medium for healthcare payments.

One concern is that patients could confuse the MedCoins with the unregulated and controversial BitCoins, but Zubairi says so far that has not been an issue.