Business of Well-being

Corporate Wellness with Convenience: The Importance of Mobile Technology and Service

As mobile technology continues to penetrate and transform the world of healthcare, the rewards and opportunities will be plentiful. Indeed, many of those advantages already exist, including email correspondence between doctors and patients, the electronic transmission of medical records, scheduling appointments and procedures, and maintaining communication with physicians, nurses, insurers, employers and workers.


One of the most practical strengths of this ongoing use of mobile technology, which will accelerate with the global proliferation of smartphones and tablets, is the issue of convenience: The ability to make payments for monthly premiums or out-of-pocket expenses, as well as meeting deductibles, purchasing prescription or over-the-counter medications, and maintaining an ongoing dialogue with a primary care provider.


These features will continue to garner attention, particularly as the federal government begins to enforce the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), in which more information - more transactions, purchases and sales of health care-related items - will become commonplace.


The key factor responsible for making these scenarios a reality depends on the quality of the e-commerce engineering experts - the merchant service provider - with the knowledge, expertise, infrastructure, compliance and innovation to achieve these tasks.


Remember, the volume of activity, along with the necessary security to protect sensitive or confidential data, rests with working with mobile technical leaders who understand this subject and its urgency for companies, employers, workers, insurers, hospitals, pharmacies and the many other organizations that play a role in the health care sector.


All of these actors have a valuable contribution to make, but, if we are to make a successful transition to the web, if we are to customize solutions that make credit card processing (which will be the chief means of payment online) successful, then companies - including readers of this article - must perform their own due diligence.


We write these words from our own collective wisdom, based on our appreciation of and anticipation for one of the most significant events in the history of e-commerce. Think, for a moment, of the magnitude of this issue; tens of millions of people, as employees, patients or independent contractors, will be making more medical purchases online -- and, on the other side of those transactions, are the engineering experts who will guarantee this experience is fast, simple, secure and reliable.


In our work as Directors of Total-Apps, where we see the other side of the Internet, the proverbial back-end responsible for making this vast universe of otherwise chaotic and confusing dealings orderly, our advice to companies - our frank admonition for the promotion of corporate wellness - is, again, very clear: Everything relies on the credibility, intelligence and flexible solutions that a merchant service provider can offer.


Again, this point bears repeating because, as consumers, medical patients and members of various online communities, we, as a society, tend to take the Internet for granted. In other words, few of us stop to consider the enormity of the technology - the instantaneous flow of information and the rapidity of responses, from individuals around the globe - that maintains the success of this virtual world.


Now, imagine how technology and medicine will converge - with a mobile workforce - to enhance productivity, increase online transactions (for every conceivable product, like home health care supplies and glucose monitors to heart medication, pregnancy tests and hypertension treatments) and deliver the convenience and security consumers expect.


The only way to achieve that goal, where every purchase, sale and receipt of goods will occur online, is by selecting a merchant service provider with the wisdom to customize solutions for all companies, both entrepreneurial and internationally established.


That means the emphasis in the words merchant service provider centers on the principle that any distinguished brand protects and every consumer expects to enjoy Service. For, without a high degree of service, this heralded world of technology, data, medical news and communication will collapse.


That statement is neither an exaggeration nor a misreading of the forthcoming revolution in health care, where a single credit card may be an individual's principal means of paying for every product, every doctor's bill, every office visit (before or after, online), every delivery of maintenance medication, alternative therapies, supplements, vitamins, herbs, specialized meals, bandages, ointments and even aspirin.


Therefore, yes, it is imperative for every consumer - for every citizen with a stake in corporate wellness, and every individual with an interest in his or her own health - to have the peace of mind that their credit card information is secure.


All of which brings us back to our initial assertion, that this exciting forecast about the healthcare revolution will rise or fall - it will either fulfill the best capabilities of the Internet or collapse upon its own hollow foundation - unless the right e-commerce engineering experts can build, test, refine and perfect the solutions necessary to make this process seamless and seemingly ordinary.


Our passion for this issue reflects our thorough understanding of the technology involved in making this ambition a reality. But, more candidly, and with all due respect to other merchant service providers, we believe now is the time - for companies - for choosing. Now is the time to customize, implement and facilitate credit card payments, without compromising quality, exceeding costs or breaching security.


Now is the time to act - boldly, but intelligently - and research the right merchant service provider to manage this broad portfolio of responsibilities. Based on these criteria, and with eagerness to make convenience (and ease-of-use) a top priority, we can reform healthcare, migrate more purchases online and make these transactions safe, swift and always secure. Everything rests, however, on finding the right e-commerce engineers.


In as much as there is a total app to oversee this campaign, it is Total-Apps, pun intended. Welcome to the new era of health care! The secret to that reform starts with selecting the right professionals, for the right projects, for the right reasons. Welcome to the reinvention of health care, backed by impressive technology and convenience!

About the Author

Rey Pasinli & Jason Taylor are the Executive Directors of Total-Apps (www.total-apps.com), e-commerce engineering experts. Total-Apps is headquartered in Southern California, and is a leading merchant services provider.

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