The part technology can play
Technology is a game-changer in this situation, for all parties. But not just any technology. It has to be secure, it has to be compatible with medical coding, GDPR-compliant, intuitive and simple to use.
It’s also vital that it has buy-in from GP practices. When GP practices see the value and use it, then insurers get on board too.
Such technology now exists, with an electronic medical reporting platform. And as with the best technology, it doesn’t just solve the current problems, but opens up myriad other opportunities.
The industry has, for the last 12 months, witnessed an average turnaround of 30-35 days for medical reports. However, the latest technology platforms now make it a reality to turn around medical reports in just five days.
This takes the pressure off GP practices and administration departments within insurers, and it also allows patient involvement which is a great benefit.
Patients are electronically notified by their GP practice and can securely access, review and agree the report prior to its submission to the insurer.
This means that with a claim, where requests for medical information are most prevalent, any issues are picked up early and can be dealt with.
Patient involvement is vital as it recognises Data Controller responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR regulations. It also enables a welcome shift of subject data responsibility from the GP practice to the patient.
The claimant becomes an integral part of the claims journey and the black hole of medical evidence gathering disappears.
As soon as the patient signs off the report, access is granted to the requesting party via a secure data platform, where the encrypted data is segregated on a per-instructing-party basis.
A process that has historically taken weeks and months, is now possible in minutes and hours.
This transformational process is good news for the development of insurance products and claims’ journeys where medical reports or subject data are required, be that for income protection, critical illness or life assurance.
Applications for mortgages, key person insurance, high levels of cover that are reliant on medical reports can all be significantly expedited.
This is particularly valued when time is of the essence, as the consumers’ buying and claims experiences influences the purchasing of insurance products.
If the buying experience is positive then the opportunity to reduce the more than £2.4trn protection gap in the UK is achievable.
Benefits for advisers
Advisers have a much-coveted and highly valued role of being able to advise their clients during the purchasing of protection insurance.
