The tech companies say they have provided a simple solution for nib members and pharmacies to process claims for pharmaceuticals without the need for members to pay first, claim later.

LanternPay General Manager of Healthcare, Mirinda O'Gorman, said through their “innovative claiming solution”, nib members can now process on-the-spot, paperless claims at their local pharmacy.

“Previously, when members needed to submit a claim for a prescription at their local pharmacy they would have to pay the full amount for the prescription and then submit the claim with their health fund later on,” O’Gorman said.

“Now, through our digital claiming platform, nib members can process their claim on-the-spot while our systems sort out the admin side in the background.

“It’s also browser-based, so pharmacies don’t need to sign up to a particular bank in order to access the claiming system, which tends to be a requirement of other claiming systems,” she added.

LanternPay says that following a successful six-week pilot, the digital claiming solution has now been rolled out to over 1,300 pharmacies across Australia.

nib Group Chief Information Officer, Brendan Mills, said that as nib members continue to embrace technology to interact with nib and make claims, the new solution will make the process even easier while also helping the environment.

“Our members want quick and easy solutions when it comes to claiming which is exactly what this new solution offers. It also provides a better experience for our members, improves operational efficiencies, enables faster claiming times, and is all round better for the environment as there is no longer a need to print receipts,” Mills said.

LanternPay says the new solution also provides pharmacists with the ease of mind knowing their patients can claim easily without the paperwork.

"LanternPay works closely with pharmacies to understand what they need to make claiming and payment easier and enables pharmacists to offer a great customer experience to their patients. We are really proud to be offering these innovative solutions to pharmacies across Australia," O’Gorman said.

LanternPay customer and pharmacist, Andrew Robinson from Amcal Tooronga said their clients are also impressed by the new solution to claiming and it’s made their lives much easier.

"Our clients tell us how much easier it is when we claim on their behalf for private prescriptions and they just pay the balance. It’s made the whole customer experience much more seamless, reducing the time for customers and adding value back to them as a health insurance holder and us as a business." Robinson said.

nib and LanternPay say they are eager to rollout the offering to other health services where more members and providers can experience the benefit of faster and simpler claiming solutions.

“In the coming months, we’ll also be rolling out this claiming service to pathology, with an expectation that we’ll initially be able to automate up to 70% of our pathology claims which will deliver significant cost savings to the business and help to keep premium costs lower for our members,” Mills said.

“We’re also looking at opportunities to expand this even wider so that our members can use LanternPay’s services for everyday claiming, like at their local physio, gym, dentist and chiropractor,” he added.

Civica says it is looking forward to continuing to work alongside LanternPay and nib to expand their services to more pharmacies across Australia.

"We’re also excited to expand this work in more states across Australia alongside LanternPay as we continue to offer our innovative cloud solutions to the health insurance sector,” Civica Managing Director, Vinay Chand said.