Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly accepted as a means of exchange for a variety of goods and services. The real estate industry has already seen brokers begin to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, so it should not be surprising to see cryptocurrencies penetrate the healthcare service market. The convenience of transparent payments, coupled with the efficiency of the transaction is what the service providers are looking for – from the medical institutions themselves to their patients.
Cryptocurrency has already started to gradually “invade” the health care system. A dental clinic in Kielce, Poland not only gives the option for its patients to pay for treatment dentistry with cryptocurrency, but actually incentivizes it. Everyone who pays using Bitcoin is entitled to a 10% discount. And this is not the only example of selling medical services for cryptocurrency – The Virtual Doctor Project in Zambia works with patients living in remote African areas, making it ideal for the patient to make online payments in the form of cryptocurrency. Additionally, some online pharmaceutical services selling medicine have begun to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Medical tourism is yet another promising area for using cryptocurrency as a means of payment. Even now, many patients who travel abroad for organ transplants, cancer treatment etc., prefer to pay using cryptocurrency.
Of course, cryptocurrency is only just beginning to penetrate the healthcare sector, but the number of medical institutions that are ready to accept payment in the form of Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies is already present and is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. The potential for cryptocurrency use in the healthcare and payment sectors moving forward should not be underestimated.