Cashless payments unattractive to patients

Conference participants of the health sector yesterday discussed problems why hospitals and patients are not attractive to cashless payment.
Patients wait to pay medical service fee at HCMC Medicine University Hospital  (Photo: SGGP)
Patients wait to pay medical service fee at HCMC Medicine University Hospital (Photo: SGGP)
Thirty hospitals countrywide accepted cashless payments; however, cashless payments are not attractive to both patients and infirmaries.
Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Professor Nguyen Tan Binh said that most of medical facilities work to promote cashless payment for medical services and hospitals’ regular spending.
In addition to payment transactions and POS for health check-ups and treatment, some infirmaries have applied electronic payments for hospital fees and tuition, such as bank credit card, treatment cards.
Being one of the first hospitals applying cashless payment in HCMC, the Medicine University Hospital worked with 15 banks to apply Internet Banking and Mobile Banking (QR Code) to help patients to pay treatment fee via smartphones. With these banking services, patients need not queue or bring money as well as cut time and personnel in hospitals.
However, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien pointed out barriers in applying cashless payment because patients are not used to the new payment way and they are not fully aware of convenience of cashless payment.
Besides, software connection between banks and hospital’s system didn’t work well, sha said.

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