A PATIENT REWARD LOYALTY PROGRAM IN HEALTHCARE, FINALLY!

Pittsburgh, March 26, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthereum LLC, a startup company founded by a doctor, aims to introduce a loyalty program for patients utilizing blockchain technology. Healthcare is a team effort between providers and patients. Providers and hospitals are scrutinized daily by private and government agencies, academia, and social media, but little is spoken about the accountability of patients. For care coordination, providers must rely on patients to do their part. How so? Patients must be proactive and engaged. For instance, medical appointment "no-show" rates are as high as 20%. Patients are ghosting appointments! Care quality surveys are not being completed even though they are a healthcare reporting mandate set by government agencies, and there is little patient interactions with insurers to determine coverage, copays, and deductibles. Lastly, there is little to no in-between-office-visit patient communication. All this is a recipe for the current high cost of healthcare. Do we blame the providers or patients? Absolutely not! There is no incentive and delayed gratification (better health) does not appear to be a motivator. "I wish there was a way to reward my patients who follow instructions," Dr. Steve Chung, a urologic surgeon says, "and make them feel appreciated for being proactive about their health." 

Healthereum has introduced a loyalty program that rewards patients for time spent engaging in their health. Attendance to appointments is rewarded digital tokens, but a no-show leads to tokens being forfeited. Completion of care surveys is rewarded as well, and patients may confirm services provided before the insurance bill is sent to insurers. Lastly, providers have a conduit to reach out to their patients with messages tailored for each diagnosis, using automation. As patients participate in the loyalty program, reward tokens are amassed. What do they do with the tokens you may ask? That's up to the providers because over time, they will need to resupply their tokens. The only source for tokens is from their patients. A healthcare token economy is created!

The benefits a provider may see are higher attendance rates to appointments, meaningful survey response rates, insurers paying providers more quickly (less risk of fraud), and better patient engagement with messages. Not only will it improve long term health, but patients will immediately see reward tokens adding up. Unlike the hotel and airline industries, the patients may use their tokens with every provider and hospital using Healthereum, globally. Eventually, Healthereum will have a platform that allows pharmacies and retail and food industries to participate in an individual's health using the same utility token.

Grand vision, yes, but Healthereum has now developed core products for healthcare providers to pilot. Development of the complete platform is ongoing, but it's a labor of love for good health.

By partnering with individual healthcare providers as well as hospitals, insurance companies, and other health related entities, Healthereum will establish a broad network of products and services that will support an individualized, micro-level approach to patient health. For further information regarding Healthereum's benefits, please visit Healthereum.com.

Steve Y. Chung, MD
Healthereum LLC
4124499064
chungsy@healthereum.com