Healthcare prescription delivery techniques using a money transfer network

Abstract

A healthcare prescription delivery mechanism using a money transfer network is disclosed. In the healthcare prescription delivery mechanism, a prescription for a patient from a healthcare provider is sent to a designated pharmacy. The pharmacy then processes the prescription and delivers the prescribed medicine to a chosen address of the patient. A payment for the healthcare prescription order is made by either the patient or a third party through the money transfer network to the pharmacy.

1 . A method for providing payment for prescription orders, the method comprising:
 receiving, by an agent device of a money transfer network, information associated with a prescription order;   transmitting, by the agent device, at least a portion of the information to a central server for validation with a pharmacy service;   receiving, by the agent device, a validation determination that indicates the prescription order is valid from the central server;   configuring, by the agent device, a money transfer transaction between a receiving party and a sending party in response to receiving the validation determination, wherein the sending party is located remotely from a patient corresponding to the prescription order and the receiving party corresponds to the pharmacy service;   receiving, by the agent device, payment information from the sending party, wherein the payment information indicates an amount paid in a foreign currency with respect to a currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   converting the amount paid in the foreign currency to an amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   determining whether the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   in response to a determination that the amount paid in the foreign currency does not convert evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service, reducing a fee associated with a money transfer transaction fee such that the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service; and   initiating, by the agent device, the money transfer transaction to provide payment to the pharmacy service for the prescription order.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the agent device, a notification to the pharmacy service that indicates the prescription order has been paid for. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing a record associated with the money transfer transaction at a database. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the device, a message confirming a dispatching of the prescription to the patient. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment information is received via a web page or in person using resources of the money transfer network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the prescription order is associated with a unique identifier, and wherein the method further comprises tracking a status of the prescription order based on the unique identifier. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a tracking request that includes the unique identifier from a requestor device; and   providing a status message to the requestor device that indicates status information associated with the prescription order.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the status indicates at least one piece of status information selected from the group consistent of: whether a notification of the prescription order has been sent to the patient, whether the payment has been received, whether the prescription order has been sent to the pharmacy service, and whether the pharmacy service has processed the prescription order, and whether the pharmacy service has delivered the prescription order. 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for providing payment for a prescription order, the operations comprising:
 receiving information associated with a prescription order at an agent device of a money transfer network;   transmitting at least a portion of the information to a central server for validation with a pharmacy service;   receiving a validation determination that indicates the prescription order is valid from the central server;   configuring a money transfer transaction between a receiving party and a sending party in response to receiving the validation determination, wherein the sending party is located remotely from a patient corresponding to the prescription order and the receiving party corresponds to the pharmacy service;   receiving payment information from the sending party, wherein the payment information indicates an amount paid in a foreign currency with respect to a currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   converting the amount paid in the foreign currency to an amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   determining whether the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   in response to a determination that the amount paid in the foreign currency does not convert evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service, reducing a fee associated with a money transfer transaction fee such that the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service; and   initiating the money transfer transaction to provide payment to the pharmacy service for the prescription order.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , the operations further comprising transmitting a notification to the pharmacy service that indicates the prescription order has been paid for. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , further comprising storing a record associated with the money transfer transaction at a database. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , further comprising sending, by the device, a message confirming a dispatching of the prescription to the patient. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the payment information is received via a web page or in person using resources of the money transfer network. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the prescription order is associated with a unique identifier, and wherein the operations further comprise tracking a status of the prescription order based on the unique identifier. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 14 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a tracking request that includes the unique identifier from a requestor device; and   providing a status message to the requestor device that indicates status information associated with the prescription order.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the status indicates at least one piece of status information selected from the group consistent of: whether a notification of the prescription order has been sent to the patient, whether the payment has been received, whether the prescription order has been sent to the pharmacy service, and whether the pharmacy service has processed the prescription order, and whether the pharmacy service has delivered the prescription order. 
     
     
         17 . A system for providing payment for prescription orders, the system comprising:
 one or more processors configured to:   receiving, by an agent device of a money transfer network, information associated with a prescription order from an agent device;   transmit at least a portion of the information to a central server for validation with a pharmacy service;   receive, by the agent device, a validation determination that indicates the prescription order is valid from the central server;   configure a money transfer transaction between a receiving party and a sending party in response to receiving the validation determination, wherein the sending party is located remotely from a patient corresponding to the prescription order and the receiving party corresponds to the pharmacy service;   receive payment information from the sending party, wherein the payment information indicates an amount paid in a foreign currency with respect to a currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   convert the amount paid in the foreign currency to an amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   determine whether the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   reduce a fee associated with a money transfer transaction fee such that the amount paid in the foreign currency converts evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service in response to a determination that the amount paid in the foreign currency does not convert evenly into the amount in the currency accepted by the pharmacy service;   initiate the money transfer transaction to provide payment to the pharmacy service for the prescription order; and   a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit a notification to the pharmacy service that indicates the prescription order has been paid for. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising creating a record associated with the money transfer transaction at a database stored at the memory. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the prescription order is associated with a unique identifier, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
 determine a status of the prescription order based on the unique identifier in response to a tracking request received from a requestor device; and   provide a status message to the requestor device that indicates status information associated with the prescription order.