A new app allowing Tasmanians to locate a practitioner, get a quote, pay for their consultation and claim their private health insurance benefit using a new one-stop location on your smartphone is set to make healthcare management easier and improve health outcomes across the state.
HICAPS Go, which was launched in Tasmania today, provides patients with a simple and transparent experience which gives them more visibility on their out of pocket expenses before they see their healthcare practitioner and facilitates a completely digital process to pay their bill.
NAB General Manager of Health, Cameron Fuller said the app also makes it easier for patients to locate, book and manage a health practitioner appointment.
“We have re-imagined this experience for the digital age and built an Uber equivalent for Australia’s private healthcare ecosystem,” Mr Fuller said.
“Using the HICAPS Go app, users get more transparency in the cost process and much greater convenience and flexibility, helping to improve the trust between them, their practitioner and their health fund.
“This really is a market-leading experience in Australia, providing a simple and convenient end-to-end experience from booking, to cost transparency and payment capability.”
St.LukesHealth is Tasmania’s largest not for profit health fund and will be one of the first to adopt the HICAPS Go platform in Tasmania for its Membership.
St.LukesHealth CEO Paul Lupo said HICAPS Go provided consumers a simpler and easier way to find providers, to manage their healthcare and greatly improve the member’s experience.
“Through simplifying healthcare management and improving communications with members, we hope HICAPS Go will encourage more people to visit a healthcare professional sooner rather than later and provide them with greater affordability and control of their health care costs to deliver peace of mind,” Mr Lupo said.
“This preventative approach will ultimately improve our members long-term health outcomes, assist them to navigate the health care system and demonstrate the real value proposition of health insurance for our Tasmanian members.
“We are also excited that our customers will be able to, in real time, see how much they will be out-of-pocket with their private health benefits prior to a visit to a health practitioner. Our members will have greater transparency around their benefit levels and how much can be claimed on services.
“Using the HICAPS Go app also means our members will be the first to have access to a digital membership card and keep us aligned with our member’s growing demand for online services.”
Kellie Wilkie from Bodysystem PHYSIO, said the new digital extension of HICAPS would vastly improve transparency for customers.
“The added transparency and visibility on the cost and out of pocket expense right up front in the process is hugely beneficial for customers,” Ms Wilkie said.
“As a practitioner, it also means I get to spend more time with my patients and less time on administrational needs because HICAPS Go does all the processing digitally.”
HICAPS Go currently has more than 67 practitioners on board the platform in Tasmania with another 450 joining soon – and more than 1500 nationally – with a focus on physiotherapists, chiropractors, myotherapists and osteopaths.
St.LukesHealth is the latest private health fund compatible with the platform, joining Medibank, AHM, nib, HIF, Phoenix Health, PeopleCare, Teachers Health and Teachers Union Health.
More practitioners and health funds will be added to the platform as roll out continues across the state and around the country.
HICAPS Go has been developed by NAB in partnership with Medipass, an Australian tech start-up who specialises in connecting patients to their providers and health funders.
As Australia’s largest business bank, NAB has a dedicated Specialised Banking segment which includes NAB Health; a team of health specialist bankers work exclusively with businesses and professionals in the healthcare industry across the country. HICAPS Go leverages the current NAB-owned HICAPS payment/claiming terminal system.
Find out more about the HICAPS Go experience here: https://www.hicaps.com.au/go
– How HICAPS Go works –
• The HICAPS Go app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and via the Google Play store.
• Patients simply download the app, enter their private health membership details and credit card payment details.
• This creates the connection to patient’s health fund via the HICAPS system (the NAB-owned payment and claiming system) and enables patients to get visibility from their fund for any applicable contribution towards their consultation (and any out-of-pocket expense).
• Post consultation, patients can instantly claim health insurance benefits and pay only the gap portion using the app.
• For practitioners and health funds, digital bookings and electronic claiming and payments reduce administration burden and manual processing, freeing up time for value-adding activities and more time with patients.
– About NAB Health –NAB Health is a group of specialised brands (NAB Health, Medfin and HICAPS), financial solutions and dedicated health bankers who partner with healthcare providers to manage challenges and opportunities in the healthcare sector. The NAB Health Digital Hub offers advice and service to practitioners, from buying a practice, running a business, investing, insurance, super and tax requirements to selling a business: www.nab.com.au/health
– About Medipass –Medipass is an Australian fintech, based in Melbourne. The company was established on the belief that a better health system demands better ways to connect and pay. We build digital health-grade payment solutions, connecting patients, practitioners and payers in ways that drive system efficiency and better experiences of care. For more information on Medipass, visit www.medipass.com.au.
NAB General Manager of Health, Cameron Fuller