Memorial Medical Center joins innovative HealthTransaction Network

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center has become the first Niagara County provider to join an innovative healthcare network designed to improve access to affordable, high-quality care.

Called HealthTransaction Network, the new service uses ATM-like cards to facilitate the availability of primary, preventative and wellness care services to people who are uninsured or underinsured at discounted rates. Health Transaction Network has the potential to benefit:

• Consumers, who can take advantage of discounted rates at participating hospitals and health-care providers
• Employers who cannot afford to provide traditional health insurance for their workers

Registered participants receive a photo ID card with a biometric fingerprint scan to prevent abuse and fraudulent use. Once registered, individuals or their employers can load any dollar amount onto the card and use that money, as well as cash or their own credit or debit cards, to pay for services such as annual physicals, electrocardiograms, mammograms, and other routine diagnostic tests such as cholesterol screenings.

“The current economic downturn has left a significant percentage of area residents uninsured and underinsured,” said Memorial Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Anthony F. Zito. “HealthTransaction Network gives them an affordable option.”

HealthTransaction Network was founded by Joe Wolfson, a Western New York resident best known as the inventor of the Cartel and Metroteller automatic teller machine networks.

“The parallels of what we did in the electronic banking world and this are truly amazing,” Wolfson said.

Zito noted that people who participate in wellness and preventative care, including annual physicals and routine diagnostic testing, stand a better chance of identifying serious medical conditions before they become critical problems. That leads to better patient outcomes and less expense for healthcare providers, he said.

Routine health and wellness services at Memorial are available to HealthTransaction Network members at a 40 percent to 50 percent discount off the regular prices charged to patients who are not part of a contracted group. To learn more about HealthTransaction Network, call 278-4664 or visit www.htnnet.com.