Singapore:Call for proposals to develop integrated platform for hospitalisation claims

The cross-sector alliance between Singapore's healthcare and insurance sectors, represented by the General Insurance Association Singapore (GIA Singapore), Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore) and Integrated Health Information Systems (IhiS) have jointly announced a Call-for-Proposal (CFP) to develop an end-to-end health insurance claims platform to improve patient experience and enhance operational efficiency.

This initiative aligns with the nation’s move towards a digital, innovation-driven economy that would bring wider benefits to Singaporeans.

Benefits of platform

The integrated platform aims to bring the following benefits to patients, healthcare providers, and insurers:

• Convenient access to patient’s insurance policy details – Healthcare providers will be able to retrieve details of patient’s relevant policy coverage information for Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) and Group Hospital and Surgical Insurance (GH&S), to ascertain if admission deposit can be waived.
• Faster claims processing – Healthcare providers can submit claims digitally to the insurers on behalf of patients, and insurers can obtain necessary billing and medical data digitally from the healthcare providers.
• Seamless authorisation of data release – Patients will be able to authorise the release of relevant data, including medical records and insurance policy details, to insurers or healthcare providers, digitally through their Singpass app.
• Timelier exchange of data – Healthcare providers can provide timely bill information and updates of the patients’ status, including the length of hospitalisation stays, to both patients and insurers. This allows insurers to quickly provide updates on the estimated claimable amount.

Once developed, the integrated platform will be deployed as a live pilot with policyholders from the participating insurer being the first to gain access. The end objective is to scale the platform for nation-wide adoption.

Participants

The participating organisations for this pilot include KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, and The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited (GEL). The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Health and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Mr Ho Kai Weng, chief executive of GIA Singapore, said, “The demand for healthcare and insurance services is expected to exponentially increase alongside Singapore’s ageing population, with one in four reaching 65 years of age or older by 2030. This Call-for-Proposal aims to build a unified ecosystem to improve the patient experience by increasing interoperability between the healthcare and insurance industries as well as eliminating cost inefficiencies.”

Ms Pauline Lim, executive director of LIA Singapore, said, “Ensuring policyholders receive timely and quality support for their healthcare needs is the foremost priority for life insurers. This cross-sector pilot programme reflects the insurance industry’s commitment to leverage digitalisation to future-proof its ability to meet increased patient demand by enhancing the end-to-end hospitalisation experience.”

Mr Guai Eng Chun, assistant chief executive, IHiS, said, “Traditionally, the insurance claims process for patient care has been largely paper-based due to the need for information exchanges between multiple systems by different healthcare institutions and insurers. This may take up to months and inconvenience patients. By bringing together healthcare and insurance institutions and facilitating a harmonised and secure data exchange, we look forward to playing an active role for public healthcare in co-developing an integrated ecosystem which will bring more convenience to patients and speed up the end-to-end claim process.”

Timetable

- 15 March 2021: CFP opens

- 29 March 2021: Interested parties must express their interest and submit their clarifications

- 26 April 2021: Deadline for final submissions

Source: Asia Insurance Review

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