Chinese Blockchain Medical Bill Platform Processes $6 Billion
- The e-bill platform is used by 480 medical institutions across the Zhejiang province.
- It has reportedly sped up insurance payouts by 96 times, and cut down the insurance claims procedure from days to hours.
Group of talented microbiologists wearing medical masks and white coats sitting in front of a modern computer, analyzing experimental results. Freepik
China’s Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance has processed almost $6 billion through its blockchain medical billing platform, Chinese news publication QNSB reported on 18 November.
According to the report, the e-bill platform is already being used by 480 medical institutions across the Zhejiang province, and has processed 41.7 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) since its inception.
Chinese citizens can also use the blockchain platform to appoint doctor’s visits, get and pay for prescriptions, as well was record and store their medical bills online.
An official from the Provincial Department of Finance said:
“At present, hospitals with online e-bill function in the province will share data on the platform, and citizens can download e-bills directly on the Internet for commercial reimbursement no matter where they see a doctor. Some insurance companies have started to accept claims online and make real-time payment.”
Designed to reduce the time of issuance and verification of medical documents, the platform reportedly sped up insurance payouts by 96 times. Being part of the government’s “Zheliban” app, which stores all bills electronically, the platform has cut down the insurance claims procedure to three hours, previously being 12 plus days.
Launched in partnership with 11 local comprehensive hospitals in the Zhejiang province earlier this year, the platform has also reportedly reduced the per-patient visit time to 75 minutes from 170.
In order to launch the platform, the local government partnered up with Alipay, Alibaba’s digital payment arm, which provided its Ant blockchain technology.
Last month a hospital in China’s Guangzhou Huadu District launched an electronic billing service that uses blockchain technology. The platform not only helps the hospital with improving its sustainability, but also allows for more efficient billing and immutable, auditable storage of medical information.
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