According to the New Zealand health survey, one in three kiwis have reported experiencing one or more types of unmet primary care needs – and one of the key contributing factors is the cost barrier. While this creates a direct and significant impact on the health of many kiwis that demands urgent action, it can also be devastating for allied health clinics.
Privately owned allied health clinics rely on a regular income flow to not only stay in business but expand employment and invest in new and innovative services to offer better and more diverse care for their patients. While many clinics choose to engage in a variety of marketing avenues including Google ads, social media, SEO work, referral marketing and other strategies, there’s a hands-off set-and-forget option that they are missing out on – and the referrals it comes with: accepting employer aid payments and buy now pay later payments.
Buy Now Pay Later For Allied Health Clinics
Buy now pay later services have come under great scrutiny over the recent months in New Zealand – and rightly so. Most remain highly unregulated, working on a profitability-first model filled with high interest and fees for consumers, without much ethical consideration for its users.
This is where HealthNow is a first-of-its-kind: a dedicated health and medical-focused platform offering a buy now pay later payment option – but doing so ethically with the goal of genuinely advancing the health of its users. While the backend development and processes behind HealthNow are extensive, the mission is simple: to give all New Zealanders the ability to seek and receive the healthcare they need, when they need it, no matter their financial situation – by removing the current financial barriers to better health. HealthNow operates with social responsibility, integrity, and meets a higher level of regulatory compliance than traditional BNPL platforms, operating within the Credit Contracts And Consumer Finance Act (2003).
Integrating the HealthNow platform into your clinic (which is free to set up) means that you allow your patients to spread the cost of their appointment across up to twelve weeks – paying only a fraction of their appointment cost upfront. You get paid in full on the day, by HealthNow. This breaks down the immediate cost barrier to seeking treatment, while being advertised as a HealthNow provider on their platform means you gain additional referrals and patients.
Accepting Employer Aid Payments As Allied Health Clinics
Many businesses are now choosing to forgo traditional private health insurance co-payments, and instead choose to contribute funds to a dedicated digital health wallet for their employees to spend on the health services they need – without the restrictions, strict policies, or annual limits. Employers can choose the number of funds contributed and their frequency.
The freedom employer aid payments offer can be health-changing for people and families. The funds allow employees to do everything from seeking help for health fears or concerns that are still at a pre-diagnostic level (may not be formally diagnosed yet or display acute symptoms, but the person has genuine concerns that are affecting their mental, emotional or physical health on the issue), to being able to purchase nutritional supplements, thermometers and other pharmacy products, to using the funds on unwell family members – because our own health can be very closely tied into the health of our family, something that regular insurance plans do not acknowledge in their black-and-white approach.
Having HealthNow integrated with your clinic means that you can accept payments with the employer aid funds from a person’s digital health wallet – a safe, secure, and private account contained within the app. Knowing that employees have money to spend on health services means that when partnered with HealthNow, these funds can be spent with you, and not a competitor.
Who Can Sign Up For HealthNow?
If you’re a health or medical service, you may be eligible to join HealthNow. Our current partners include both allied health services and other specialities, including:
- Pharmacies
- GP clinics
- Skin check clinics
- Optometrists
- Audiologists
- Osteopaths
- Chiropractors
- Physiotherapists
- Podiatrists
- Nutritionists and dietitians
- Psychologists
- Mental health services
- Dental clinics
- Radiologists
- Dermatologists
- DNA testing services
How Can I Start Accepting Employer Aid and BNPL Payments In My Clinic?
Accepting employer aid and buy now pay later is now a simple and streamlined process, with very few technical requirements for your clinic due to HealthNow’s innovative AI technology. Start by following the free and easy sign-up process as a health provider.
All health wallet holders have the HealthNow app on their smartphone, which is used when it comes time to pay for their health service or product. This is done instantly from the app much like an EFTPOS card – funds are withdrawn from their account and you receive instant confirmation that they’ve been successfully passed to your clinic and you get paid in full on the day.
As a health provider, you incur minimal fees for each transaction, with full transparency and no surprises. There is no cost to sign up or integrate with HealthNow, and all training and support are completely free with no ongoing subscription or monthly charges. HealthNow also offers a free trial period so you can ensure it’s easy and simple to use, and right for your team.
