‘There definitely is a need to implement technological solutions to provide health insurance cover’

Munish Daga, CEO, Remedinet shares details of the recent tie-up with Bajaj Allianz and elucidates how it would be beneficial for the latter, in an interview with Lakshmipriya Nair

Remedinet recently entered into an alliance with Bajaj Allianz for a healthcare insurance solution. Tell us how would the solution help in simplifying operations?

At present, when a patient with a health insurance policy gets admitted into a hospital that offers cashless claim settlement service, the hospital staff e-mails the patient details and policy ID to the insurer and waits for the approval. Similarly, all other information, documents and approval exchange involved takes place manually through e-mails/ fax, etc. These processes being manual are prone to errors and delays and thus, lead to a higher turnaround time.

Bajaj has partnered with Remedinet’s platform to further streamline their cashless claim settlement process and reduce manual intervention. With Remedinet’s technology, these processes go from offline to online where the data entered by the hospital staff flows into Bajaj Allianz’s platform electronically through Remedinet. Thus, when the patient arrives he/she does not have to wait as member validation happens real-time by entering only the member ID into the system. Similarly, all following information and documents are exchanged and processed electronically for a quick response time.

This partnership will help to reduce the turnaround time for responding to queries by 40 to 50 per cent initially.

Are there any more tie-ups in the pipeline, as far as the healthcare space is concerned?

We are in the process of tying up with other private health insurers. However, we cannot reveal them at this point, we will announce in due course.

What are your solutions for healthcare? How will they help to revolutionise healthcare delivery?

The healthcare insurance sector needs to implement innovative technological solutions, which are already being leveraged by other sectors, to make services accessible and affordable for all. Currently, only a minute percentage of the population is covered under some kind of health insurance. As a result, majority of healthcare spending is out of pocket. Rising healthcare expenditures are one of the major causes that drive citizens below the poverty line every year.

Thus, at this juncture, definitely there is a need to implement technological solutions to provide a health insurance cover, not only for in-patient care but for out-patient as well, that can efficiently cater to the diverse and rising needs of consumers. Leveraging technology to build such a system will lead to standardisation of processes, transparent and error-free transactions, reduced turnaround and waiting times, paperless transactions and a process which is completely real-time. Furthermore, such a system will also, automate all processes involved, which in turn, will lead to a bank of structured data that can be used to gain tremendous insight into mapping healthcare usage patterns and trends. With such insight, planning and research for preventive measures can become much more efficient, thus, preparing well in advance for the healthcare needs of the people.

How has the healthcare IT space evolved? Which are the areas that Remedinet seeks to leverage?

Today, services that can be provided at the click of a few buttons are the most sought-after. With every other sector gearing steadily towards mobile technology, it is only fitting that the healthcare insurance sector makes the move too. At Remedinet, we have put our foot in the door by making it possible for the hospital administration to monitor the status of cashless healthcare policies of their patients using an app on mobile phone/ handheld devices. Remedinet is also gearing towards making it possible to submit and adjudicate claims using an app – processing the entire transaction from end-to-end using a mobile phone.

We have also introduced apps for patients/ their relatives accessible on kiosks in hospitals where they can themselves check the status of the claim by using an ID number.

With initiatives such as these, we envision a healthcare insurance industry where people can subscribe to, monitor and utilise health insurance policies using their mobile devices.

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