Launches an initiative to help expectant parents optimise utilisation of health benefits and minimise out-of-pocket spend during incidences of maternity
Medi Assist, a managed healthcare organisation, had processed more than 1,00,000 claims to the tune of Rs 400+ crores related to maternity benefits in 2015-16. The company has launched an initiative to help expectant parents optimise utilisation of health benefits and minimise out-of-pocket spend during incidences of maternity. Optimising maternity costs can be a game-changer for the healthcare industry that is witnessing rapidly rising costs across the board.
Medi Assist members have the added advantage of planning, raising and tracking their claims and their spend using the MediBuddy mobile app and online portal. For policies that include domiciliary cover, expectant mothers can utilise these benefits for routine health checks, scans and investigations. Moms-to-be can use the MediBuddy mobile app to book appointments for these check-ups at their preferred medical centre and their preferred date and time.
When the time comes for planning arrival of the baby, the GPS map-based network hospital search helps parents-to-be compare birthing centres based on a range of parameters – room types, facilities and amenities available, doctors and specialists on the roster, cost and more. Medi Assist’s pan-India network of over 10,000+ hospitals and medical centres ensures that expectant mothers can choose a birthing centre of their choice either at their city of residence or closer to their maternal homes.
As the D-day nears, the family can plan an eCashless hospitalisation from the comfort of their home using their MediBuddy mobile app. With eCashless, the couple gets full visibility into the estimated cost of care, the value of co-payment if applicable and the out of pocket expenses they should plan for. On the date of admission, the mom-to-be is green channelled into her preferred room with no waiting time.
With targeted programmes to create awareness about benefits among policy holders, and with sustained efforts to bring about a behavioural change towards advance intimation and planning, Medi Assist aims to positively influence the manner in which families plan this most exciting journey of lives.
“Maternity is often the single largest contributor, accounting for as much as 30 per cent, of health benefit spend among most of the corporate group medical policies that we administer. It is our endeavour to work with our insurer partners and help our corporate customers, not necessarily reduce this spend, but extract greater benefit from it, and importantly reduce out of pocket expense for the family,” says Satish Gidugu, COO, Medi Assist.
“Our aim is to, one, reduce out of pocket expenses by encouraging efficient utilisation of benefits; two, reduce cost of care by promoting cashless hospitalisation at discounted tariffs; and three, further optimise spend by planning an eCashless hospitalisation at a preferred network birthing centre, with full visibility into cost of care,” explains Gidugu.
EH News Bureau