WO2005052717A2

WO2005052717A2 - Information system

Info

Publication number: WO2005052717A2
Application number: PCT/IB2004/003874
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bryan Sidders
Original assignee: Bryan Sidders
Priority date: 2003-11-26
Filing date: 2004-11-25
Publication date: 2005-06-09
Also published as: WO2005052717A3; WO2005052717A8

Abstract

An information system for use in the provision of access to medical services includes a database containing information relating to authorized members of the system and an automated messaging system accessible via a cellular telephone and operatively connected to the database, the messaging system being operable to provide an output message containing information extracted from the database on receipt of a preselected input message from the cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network. The invention extends to a method for providing information relating to the provision of access to medical services.

Description

INFORMATION SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the provision of medical services and access to such services. More particularly, the invention relates to an information system for use in the provision of access to medical services and to a method for providing information relating to the provision of medical services. Further, the invention relates to a method for providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services and to a prepayment system for the provision of medical services.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In the specification the phrase "medical scheme" is to be given a wide meaning and includes both private and state funded institutions such as medical aid administrators, medical aid schemes, medical aid funders, medical aid societies, medical insurance schemes, national health services and the like.

Medical aid societies and medical insurance schemes, as well as national health services, are known throughout the world. Most such schemes require that a user of medical services (e.g. a patient) be provided with some form of identification to prove his membership. Identification may take the form of a membership card having a unique identification number as well as, possibly, further identification material and information relating to the benefits to which the holder of the card is entitled. The use of such cards lends itself to both fraud and mishaps: The cards are easily lost or stolen and may be passed from a member to a non-member who is not entitled to services and who them claim to be so entitled. Confronted with a seemingly genuine membership card, the service provider must either assume that the card is genuine and the holder of the card entitled to be in possession of the card, or must go through a laborious validation process. Further, in many such schemes, providers of medical services must recoup payment from the scheme after rendering services or supplying goods. In the event of fraud or where the details of the patient are incorrect, the provider of medical services may end up being denied payment for services which have already been rendered. Still further, in many parts of the world, even in relatively affluent societies, there are many members of society who are not covered by any form of medical aid or medical insurance at all. Such people often belong to the least well-off stratum of society and they are unable to afford membership of a scheme or do not comply with the entry requirements for a scheme. Accordingly, there is a need for a system which will ensure the accuracy of details of membership of medical aid schemes, societies, and the like and that will be relatively impervious to fraud or error. There is also a need for a system that will enable the provision of medical services (including goods) to sectors of the population otherwise unable to qualify for membership of medical aid schemes, medical insurance, and the like.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an information system for use in the provision of access to medical services, a method for providing information relating to the provision of access to medical services, a method for providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services, and a prepayment system for the provision of medical services, which will, at least partially, alleviate the abovementioned problems.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a functional alternative to a membership card, in the form of a cellular telephone, for use by members of medical aid schemes, medical insurance schemes, state medical services and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method utilizing cellular telephones and cellular telephone technology to verify membership of such medical aid schemes and medical insurance schemes and entitlement to state medical services and the like and to validate the status of such membership, including whether the member is of good standing, and whether his membership is paid up. Such a system may permit a cellular telephone to access a database and/or call centre to enable access to information via a care line or similar service.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system and method for securing payment to a provider of medical services and/or goods, such payment being either immediate or at a predetermined period after the provision of such services and/or goods.

It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a system and method to facilitate access by members of medical aid schemes and the like to medical services and the provision of goods and/or to permit access by non-members of such schemes, funds and the like to the provision of medical services and goods. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an information system for use in the provision of access to medical services, the system including a database containing information relating to authorized members of the system; and an automated messaging system accessible via a cellular telephone and operatively connected to the database, the messaging system being operable to provide an output message containing information extracted from the database on receipt of a preselected input message from the cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network.

The database may be a digital database saved on a data storage medium of a computer processor. The database may have information selected from a list including the following categories of data for each member of a medical scheme: membership details of the medical scheme; biographical details of the members; details of dependants entitled to benefits; benefits to which members and their dependents are entitled; historical information relating to the treatment history of members and their dependents; diagnostic codes associated with such treatment; exclusion provisions relating to modes of treatment excluded from benefits; amount of benefits in a particular category available to the member; and amount of benefits used.

The automated messaging system may comprise an automated call centre platform using voice guidance and accessible via a cellular telephone network.

The preselected input message may include a member's PIN number and the messaging system may be operable to interrogate the database of authorized members of the system and to compare the PIN number provided with the information on the file and to provide information in response to an input message only if the PIN number matches an authorized member number saved to the database. It will be appreciated that members of the public are by now familiar with the use of PIN numbers in credit and debit card transactions as well as for the purchase of air time for cellular telephones. The use of such a PIN number is anticipated to contribute substantially to an increase in the security of systems for the provision of access to medical goods and services and to reduce the rampant fraud which plagues such systems. It will be further appreciated that, instead of a user PIN number which is manually entered by the member, a number or code, such as the cellphone number of the member or the SIM (subscriber identification module) card number of the member, may be used. In these latter cases, the relevant number need not be manually keyed into the cellphone by the member, but may be automatically downloaded from the member's cellphone on connection to the cellular network for the telephone call, as is well known in cellular telephone technology.

The output message may include information selected at the option of the member, the automated call centre platform being operable to guide a caller through a menu of steps in order to facilitate the entering of information, including the member's PIN number, and the selection of information required to be provided by the messaging system. The automated messaging system may be operable to transmit the output message as one of a voice message, a text message, or an image. Thus, it will be appreciated that upon entry of a legitimate PIN number, an image of the medical scheme member and his medical scheme number may be returned for display on the cellular telephone, whereby it will be visible to the service provider and will confirm the identification of the scheme member.

The system may include a caller line identification (CLI) system for identifying a number of a cellphone accessing the system and may be operable to return the output message to that number. The preselected input message may include a service provider's PIN number and the messaging system may be operable to interrogate the database of authorized service providers of the system and to compare the service provider PIN number provided with the information on the file and to provide information in response to an input message only if the service provider PIN number matches an authorized service provider number saved to the database. It will be appreciated that interrogation of the system may be at the instance of the member (authorized user), but will also typically be at the instance of a medical service provider such as a doctor or pharmacist. In one embodiment of the system, the service provider is requested to download suitable proprietary software in order to access the system via his cellphone. Further, the database may include information relating to authorized service providers and may release information only to such authorized providers in response to entry of a provider PIN number.

The system may be operable to receive further input messages containing information for saving to the database. The information of the further input messages may include medical record information. Then, the medical record information may include a diagnostic code.

The categories of data in the database may be flagged so that preselected information is available only to an authorized member on provision of a legitimate member's PIN, while other preselected information is available only to an authorized service provider on provision of a legitimate service provider PIN.

Preferably, input and output messages of the system are transmitted in encrypted format.

Further, the system may include a prepayment system for the provision of medical services, the prepayment system including processing means accessible via a cellular telephone network and operable in response to a data message received via the cellular telephone network to record a fund of credit in a beneficiary account in respect of a beneficiary thereof, the beneficiary being the authorized member of the information system; and in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network to transfer the said fund of credit from the beneficiary account to an account of a medical service provider.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for providing information relating to the provision of access to medical services, the method including automatically extracting preselected information from a database containing information relating to authorized members of an information system in response to a preselected input message from a cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network; and transmitting an output message containing the preselected information in the form of an output message via the cellular telephone network.

The database may be a digital database saved on a data storage medium of a computer processor. Further, the database may have information selected from a list containing the following categories of data for each member of a medical scheme: membership details of the medical scheme; biographical details of the members; details of dependants entitled to benefits; benefits to which members and their dependents are entitled; historical information relating to the treatment history of members and their dependents; diagnostic codes associated with such treatment; exclusion provisions relating to modes of treatment excluded from benefits; amount of benefits in a particular category available to the member; and amount of benefits used. The automated messaging system may comprise an automated call centre platform using voice guidance and accessible via a cellular telephone network.

The preselected input message may include a member's PIN number and the method may include interrogating the database of authorized members of the system; comparing the PIN number provided with the information on the file; and providing information in response to an input message only if the PIN number matches an authorized member number saved to the database.

The output message may include information selected at the option of the member and the method may include guiding a caller through a menu of steps in order to facilitate the entering of information, including a PIN number, and the selection of information required to be provided by the messaging system. The automated messaging system may be operable to transmit the output message as one of a voice message, a text message, or an image.

The method may include identifying a number of a cellphone accessing the system by means of a caller line identification (CLI) system and returning the output message to that number.

The preselected input message may include a service provider's PIN number and the method may include interrogating the database of authorized service providers of the system; comparing the service provider PIN number provided with the information on the file; and providing information in response to an input message only if the service provider PIN number matches an authorized service provider number saved to the database. The method may include the further steps of receiving further input messages containing information for saving to the database. The information of the further messages may include medical record information. Then, the medical record information may include a diagnostic code. The method may include the step of pre-allocating available benefits to a service provider on receipt of a request from the service provider contained in the further message.

The method may further include providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services, the providing of the fund of credit including the steps of receiving, via a cellular telephone network, a data message initiated by a beneficiary of the fund of credit on a cellular telephone; establishing an account of the fund of credit in respect of that beneficiary; and transferring the fund of credit from the beneficiary account to the account of a medical services provider in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a prepayment system for the provision of medical services, the system including processing means accessible via a cellular telephone network and operable in response to a data message received via the cellular telephone network to record a fund of credit in a beneficiary account in respect of a beneficiary thereof; and in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network to transfer the said fund of credit from the beneficiary account to an account of a medical services provider.

According to a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services, the method including receiving, via a cellular telephone network, a data message initiated by a purchaser of the fund of credit on a cellular telephone; establishing an account of the fund of credit in respect of a beneficiary; and transferring the fund of credit from the beneficiary account to an account of a medical services provider in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network.

The method may include the further the steps of issuing a voucher containing a PIN number to a beneficiary of the fund of credit, on payment of a preselected amount of money; and establishing the account of the fund of credit in the amount of the voucher on receipt of a data message received via cellular telephone network, the message containing the PIN number.

The input messages may be entered onto a cellular telephone by means of a keypad in response to prompts presented via an automated messaging system having a voice guidance platform. The data message may be transmitted as a text message.

The method may include the steps of issuing an instruction to a banking institution, or other similar institution, to pay the amount of the fund of credit in the medical service provider account to a bank account of the medical service provider and, upon doing so, to deduct the amount of the fund of credit from the account of the medical service provider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanied diagrammatic drawing which shows a schematic view of a prepayment system for the provision of medical services, including an information system, both systems being in accordance with aspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawing, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a prepayment system, in accordance with the invention, for the provision of medical services. The prepayment system 10 includes an information system, in accordance with a further aspect of the invention.

In use, a user of medical services, for example a patient, purchases a voucher 12 from a vendor having a suitable vending terminal 14. The voucher 12 may be purchased in anticipation of the immediate need for medical services. However, the voucher 12 may also be purchased or provided in advance of such need and without any need for the services being anticipated, i.e. for future use. The voucher 12 is in the form of a printed scratch card having a unique PIN number, as is well known for the purchase of airtime vouchers for cellular telephones, and the like. Members of the public are by now familiar with the use of such PIN numbers and of the need for secrecy in the use of the PIN numbers. Accordingly, it is anticipated that the use of such PIN numbers will lead to an improvement in the security of the system over existing systems for the provision of access to medical services and to a decrease in the level of fraud in comparison with such systems. On receipt of the scratch card 14, the purchaser enters the scratch card number on a cellular telephone 16 and sends an SMS message containing the scratch card number via a cellular telephone network 18 to the medical aid society in respect of which the voucher 12 is issued. It will be appreciated that the medical aid society may not in fact be the operator of the system and that an independent institution may operate the system 10 and hold the funds of credit of the system 10. The medical aid society or fund-holding institution has an automated telephone platform (not shown) connected to a computer server 20. On receipt of the scratch card number information relating to the amount of the voucher 12 is saved on a database 22 to establish an account of a fund of credit available for use in respect of the purchaser. The account may be identified by the purchaser's telephone or SIM card number or by a member's PIN number included in the SMS message. The fund of credit may be saved for some considerable period of time. Instead, the purchaser may wish to avail himself of the services of a medical service provider shortly after purchase of the voucher 12. It will be appreciated that the purchaser may purchase the voucher 12 himself or the voucher 12 may be provided in lieu of a medical aid contribution by an employer of the purchaser or even by the state. Where the purchaser of the voucher 12 is an employer or the like, the fund of credit may be credited to a beneficiary rather than to the purchaser. When the purchaser wishes to avail himself of the services of a medical service provider, such as a doctor, the doctor accesses the medical aid or fund-holding institution via a cellphone 24 and the patient provides the doctor with his PIN number. Instead, the doctor may hand his cellphone 24 to the patient for entry of the PIN number. Further instead, the patient may use his own cellphone 24 and may either enter his member PIN or the cellphone number or SIM card number may serve as a member PIN. In addition, the service provider keys in at least an identification code (the service provider PIN), preferably including the practice number of the medical practitioner, which is compared with identification codes stored on a database 26 of the medical aid society. Only if the service provider identity is verified as being a registered service provider of the medical aid society or the voucher network is the transaction processed. In the event of successful verification, the amount of the voucher in respect of which the scratch card number was issued, or some lesser amount, is transferred from the account of the purchaser 22 to an account of the medical services provider 28 held in a database of such accounts. Preferably, the server 20 of the medical aid society is in communication with various banking institutions via a commercial bank switching network (not shown) or other communications channel. Thus, once the fund of credit is transferred from the account of the purchaser 22 to the account of a medical services provider 28, an instruction may be issued to a relevant banking institution to make payment of an equivalent amount of funds into the account of the service provider. The transfer will preferably be conducted as a computer transfer, access being had to a relevant bank computer server 30. Simultaneously, the amount of funds held in the account of the medical services provider 28 will be reduced by the amount paid into his bank account. It will be appreciated that the system 10 may operate without the need for a banking institution and that the holding of funds and transfer thereof may be a function of the issuer of the vouchers or the operator of the system.

As a further aspect of the invention, the service provider, such as the doctor, may interrogate the database 26 of the medical aid fund to verify the identity of his patient and to establish that the patient does indeed have sufficient benefits available to cover the cost of the consultation or other services or goods. In order to do so, the patient provides the doctor with his membership number in the form of a PIN number. Alternatively, the patient may key the necessary PIN number in to the cellular telephone 24 of the doctor. The PIN number is sent via SMS to an automated messaging system (not shown) of the medical aid society linked to the computer server 20 of the society. It will be appreciated that the PIN number and other information may be sent by any other convenient data transfer protocol or text message system. On receipt of the PIN number and on authorization of the identification of the doctor (service provider PIN), the doctor may interrogate the database 26 via a voice guidance system (not shown) or by means of further SMS messages. Having made a request for information, the requested information is automatically transmitted back to the doctor via SMS. It will again be appreciated that any messaging system or format may be used for transmitting the output information. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an image of the member is transmitted automatically to the doctor on the cellphone (in one embodiment, by means of a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)), thereby facilitating the positive identification of the patient. In this manner, the doctor may verify the identity of the patient, confirm that sufficient funds are available to pay for the services requested, and obtain other information relating to the use by the patient of the services of the medical aid society.

A further facility provided by the system enables the doctor to book or allocate available benefits or funds prior to providing the services to ensure their availability. Preferably, the information system and the prepayment system 10 are used in combination. However, it will be appreciated that this is not necessarily the case and that the two systems may operate independently of one another.

Further features of the information system provide for the service provider to input data to the database of the system. Such data preferably includes at least the conventionally accepted diagnostic codes relating to the mode of treatment provided. The system may be set up to require the input of such diagnostic codes before authorizing the release of funds.

Further, while the service provider is generally is expected to be a medical practitioner or similar service provider, the information system has application in the case of emergency situations. In this case, a paramedic, police officer or other person in authority may access the system on behalf of the accident victim at an accident site. In doing so, it may readily be ascertained whether the victim is covered by any form of medical insurance and, at the same time, a record of the event may be made to assist in later possible litigation or claims against an insurance fund. The paramedic or police officer may issue a road accident fund number which may then be saved on the database to allow tracking of the progress of claims against the fund.

Still further, the database and its link to a cellular telephone network permits medical fund administrators to send messages to members of the relevant fund, such as reminders for the selection of annual scheme benefit options. The relevant member may elect an option by using the information system and selecting his preferred option on his cellphone.

By means of the invention that is provided a system and method for the processing and retrieval of information relating to the provision of medical services via cellular telephone networks. The infrastructure and hardware for such networks are already in existence and readily accessible. Further, there is provided a system and method for the provision of credit and for the prepayment of medical services, using cellular telephone networks and hardware. Once again, such networks and hardware are readily available and accessible.

Claims

1. An information system for use in the provision of access to medical services, the system including a database containing information relating to authorized members of the system; and an automated messaging system accessible via a cellular telephone and operatively connected to the database, the messaging system being operable to provide an output message containing information extracted from the database on receipt of a preselected input message from the cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , in which the database is a digital database saved on a data storage medium of a computer processor.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, in which the database has information selected from a list including the following categories of data for each member of a medical scheme: membership details of the medical scheme; biographical details of the members; details of dependants entitled to benefits; benefits to which members and their dependents are entitled; historical information relating to the treatment history of members and their dependents; diagnostic codes associated with such treatment; exclusion provisions relating to modes of treatment excluded from benefits; amount of benefits in a particular category available to the member; and amount of benefits used.

4. The system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the automated messaging system comprises an automated call centre platform using voice guidance and accessible via a cellular telephone network.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, in which the preselected input message includes a member's PIN number and the messaging system is operable to interrogate the database of authorized members of the system and to compare the PIN number provided with the information on the file and to provide information in response to an input message only if the PIN number matches an authorized member number saved to the database.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, in which the output message includes information selected at the option of the member, the automated call centre platform being operable to guide a caller through a menu of steps in order to facilitate the entering of information, including the member's PIN number, and the selection of information required to be provided by the messaging system.

7. The system as claimed in claim 4, in which the automated messaging system is operable to transmit the output message as one of a voice message, a text message, or an image.

8. The system as claimed in claim 4, which includes a caller line identification (CLI) system for identifying a number of a cellphone accessing the system and is operable to return the output message to that number.

9. The system as claimed in claim 4, in which the preselected input message includes a service provider's PIN number and the messaging system is operable to interrogate the database of authorized service providers of the system and to compare the service provider PIN number provided with the information on the file and to provide information in response to an input message only if the service provider PIN number matches an authorized service provider number saved to the database.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, which is operable to receive further input messages containing information for saving to the database.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10, in which the information of the further input messages includes medical record information.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , in which the medical record information includes a diagnostic code.

13. The system as claimed in claim 9, in which the categories of data in the database are flagged so that preselected information is available only to an authorized member on provision of a legitimate member's PIN, while other preselected information is available only to an authorized service provider on provision of a legitimate service provider PIN.

14. The system as claimed in claim 9, in which data messages are transmitted in encrypted format.

15. The system as claimed in claim 1 , which includes a prepayment system for the provision of medical services, the prepayment system including processing means accessible via a cellular telephone network and operable in response to a data message received via the cellular telephone network to record a fund of credit in a beneficiary account in respect of a beneficiary thereof, the beneficiary being the authorized member of the information system; and in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network to transfer the said fund of credit from the beneficiary account to an account of a medical service provider.

16. A method for providing information relating to the provision of access to medical services, the method including automatically extracting preselected information from a database containing information relating to authorized members of an information system in response to a preselected input message from a cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network; and transmitting an output message containing the preselected information in the form of a data message via the cellular telephone network.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, in which the database is a digital database saved on a data storage medium of a computer processor.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, in which the database has information selected from a list containing the following categories of data for each member of a medical scheme: membership details of the medical scheme; biographical details of the members; details of dependants entitled to benefits; benefits to which members and their dependents are entitled; historical information relating to the treatment history of members and their dependents; diagnostic codes associated with such treatment; exclusion provisions relating to modes of treatment excluded from benefits; amount of benefits in a particular category available to the member; and amount of benefits used.

19. The method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 18, in which the automated messaging system comprises an automated call centre platform using voice guidance and accessible via a cellular telephone network.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, in which the preselected input message includes a member's PIN number and the method includes interrogating the database of authorized members of the system; comparing the PIN number provided with the information on the file; and; providing information in response to an input message only if the PIN number matches an authorized member number saved to the database.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, in which the output message includes information selected at the option of the member and the method includes guiding a caller through a menu of steps in order to facilitate the entering of information, including a PIN number, and the selection of information required to be provided by the messaging system.

22. The method as claimed in claim 19, in which the automated messaging system is operable to transmit the output message as one of a voice message, a text message, or an image.

23. The method as claimed in claim 19, which includes a caller line identification (CLI) system for identifying a number of a cellphone accessing the system and the method includes returning the output message to that number.

24. The method as claimed in claim 19, in which the preselected input message includes a service provider's PIN number and the method includes interrogating the database of authorized service providers of the system; comparing the service provider PIN number provided with the information on the file; and providing information in response to an input message only if the service provider PIN number matches an authorized service provider number saved to the database.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, which includes the steps of receiving further input messages containing information for saving to the database.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25, in which the information of the further messages includes medical record information.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26, in which the medical record information includes a diagnostic code.

28. The method as claimed in claim 25, which includes the step of pre- allocating available benefits to a service provider on receipt of a request from the service provider contained in the further message.

29. The method as claimed in claim 18, in which the categories of data in the database are flagged so that preselected information is available only to an authorized member on provision of a legitimate member's PIN, while other preselected information is available only to an authorized service provider on provision of a legitimate service provider PIN.

30. The method as claimed in claim 22, in which data messages are transmitted in encrypted format.

31. The method as claimed in claim 16, which includes providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services, the providing of the fund of credit including the steps of receiving, via a cellular telephone network, a data message initiated by a beneficiary of the fund of credit on a cellular telephone; establishing an account of the fund of credit in respect of that beneficiary; and transferring the fund of credit to from the beneficiary account to the account of a medical services provider in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network.

32. A prepayment system for the provision of medical services, the system including processing means accessible via a cellular telephone network and operable in response to a data message received via the cellular telephone network to record a fund of credit in respect of a purchaser thereof; and in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network to transfer the said fund of credit to an account of a medical services provider.

33. A method for providing a fund of credit for payment for the provision of medical services, the method including receiving, via a cellular telephone network, a data message initiated by a purchaser of the fund of credit on a cellular telephone; establishing an account of the fund of credit in respect of that purchaser; and transferring the fund of credit to an account of a medical services provider in response to a further data message received via a cellular telephone network.

34. The method of claim 33, which includes the steps of issuing a voucher containing a PIN number to a purchaser of the fund of credit, on payment of a preselected amount of money; and establishing the account of the fund of credit in the amount of the voucher on receipt of a data message received via cellular telephone network, the message containing the PIN number.

35. The method as claimed in claim 34, in which the data message is entered onto a cellular telephone by means of a keypad in response to coached messages presented via an automated messaging system having a voice guidance platform.

36. The method as claimed in claim 34, in which the data message is transmitted as a text message.

37. The method of claim 33, which includes issuing an instruction to a banking institution, or other similar institution, to pay the amount of the fund of credit in the medical service provider account to a bank account of the medical service provider and, upon doing so, to deduct the amount of the fund of credit from the account of the medical service provider.