Integrated platform for health insurance claims on the way
System will offer patients more convenient access to their policy details
Patients will soon benefit from an integrated platform that allows faster processing of hospitalisation claims and offers more convenient access to their insurance policy details.
The General Insurance Association Singapore (GIA Singapore), Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA Singapore) and Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) are calling for proposals to develop the end-to-end health insurance claims platform.
After it is developed, the platform will be deployed in a live pilot scheme, with policyholders from participating insurer Great Eastern the first to gain access. It will eventually be scaled up and adopted nationwide.
The platform is a technology solution and its direct users will be healthcare providers and insurers.
It will enable healthcare providers to retrieve details of a patient's relevant policy coverage information for Integrated Shield Plans, and group hospital and surgical insurance to determine if their admission deposit can be waived.
Patients will be able to use their Singpass app to authorise the release of relevant data, such as their medical records and insurance policy details, to insurers and healthcare providers.
The platform also aims to speed up claims processing by allowing healthcare providers to submit claims digitally to insurers on behalf of patients.
Insurers can similarly obtain billing and medical data from healthcare providers.
Healthcare providers can use the platform to provide timely bill information and details about the patients' status, such as the length of their hospital stay, to both patients and insurers. This, in turn, will allow insurers to provide quicker updates on the estimated claimable amount.
IHiS assistant chief executive Guai Eng Chun said the insurance claims process for patient care has been largely paper-based due to the need for information exchanges between multiple systems by various healthcare institutions and insurers.
"This may take up to months and inconvenience patients," said Mr Guai, who added that the integrated ecosystem will bring more convenience to patients and speed up the end-to-end claim process.
Great Eastern, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, National University Hospital and Singapore General Hospital are participating in the pilot. The initiative is supported by the Health Ministry and Monetary Authority of Singapore.
GIA Singapore chief executive Ho Kai Weng said the Call for Proposals, which opened yesterday, aims to build a "unified ecosystem" to improve patient experience by removing cost inefficiencies.
Likewise, LIA Singapore executive director Pauline Lim said life insurers' top priority is to ensure policyholders receive timely and quality support for their healthcare needs.
The Call for Proposal closes on April 26. Interested parties must express their interest and submit their clarifications by March 29. They can visit www.gia.org.sg/project-hiip.html for more information.
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