Healix and First Assistance in partnership to launch medical assessment product for travel
Leading medical risk assessment expert, Healix Group, has expanded into New Zealand with the implementation of its risk screening tool by New Zealand assistance products company, First Assistance.
The partnership gives First Assistance the ability to build the tool into travel insurance sales platforms developed for its own clients, improving the efficiency of its medical screening.
The risk screening tool available from Healix provides travel insurers with the facility to incorporate medical risk assessment into their online and offline policy sales processes in real time, enabling them to evaluate and decide whether to accept increased risks presented by people with a medical impairment.
With an estimated 80% market share in the UK travel medical screening sector, Healix has revolutionised the way pre-existing medical conditions are dealt with, seamlessly integrating the assessment of risk into the sales process.
Prior to the introduction of the screening tool, First Assistance relied on their team of doctors and nurses manually undertaking screening for their travel insurance clients. However working with Healix and using First Assistance’s own in-house IT development team, the tool has now been integrated into First Assistance’s own system enabling them to screen for pre-existing medical conditions on-line.
“The introduction of automated risk screening to New Zealand is an important step forward for the travel insurance industry in this part of the world and has helped streamline the process for our business and clients”, confirmed Mary-Jo McDonald, General Manager at First Assistance.
“Before the introduction of the risk screening tool from Healix, the process for conducting a thorough risk assessment through our medical team was quite time consuming, wholly reliant on having in-house medical expertise, and could be somewhat subjective.
"On-line screening, or a more automated system such as the one we have now implemented in partnership with Healix, avoids the risk of customer dissatisfaction, as it is clear what will and will not be covered. We still have our medical team available to assist customers through the process, however the end result is a lot more efficient, consistent and easy to adjust according to our client’s requirements.”
“The process of assessing individuals is quick and efficient and the tool is designed for use by non-medical staff, seamlessly incorporating the questions into existing on-line or call centre sales processes and allows an assessment to be made at the point of purchase”, concluded Steve Hook, Sales and Marketing Director, Healix. “However, we do also back up the service with a helpline staffed by doctors and nurses, enabling call centre staff to take advantage of real-time medical advice for individual customers whilst the customer is 'on hold'.”
