Konnect

Dr John Cameron at Westmere Medical Centre has found using SureMed to respond to insurer information requests saves time, allows him to provide higher quality information, and is even giving him some of his weekends back.

Up until recently, whenever Dr John Cameron, a general practitioner at the Westmere Medical Centre in Auckland, received a new life insurance information request he tended to stash it with, or under, other non-urgent papers on a side desk where it nagged as a demand that never quite went away. Inevitably, John would end up coming in on a Saturday afternoon to clear a few requests at once. He had just done this the weekend before we spoke. And his still-fresh annoyance with the old insurer request forms underlined the difference he says SureMed is now making for his practice and in improving his lifestyle as well.

Instead of taking up to 30 minutes to locate records and complete, his first two SureMed forms were each done in under ten minutes. He finished them entirely from his desktop, and didn’t need to scout out and photocopy records. All the information he needed was self-populated on to the SureMed form from within his practice management system (PMS) for review. And perhaps best of all, because he knew the requests would be quick, he could fit them in around his day.

Instead of hanging over him, both SureMed forms were turned round within 24 hours. The process even automated direct payment to the practice for the service within ten days.

“Simple, easy and logical,” is John’s assessment of the SureMed service. “You can do this quickly and effectively, and you know the dollars are coming. It’s great. It’s just done.”

With 3800 enrolled patients and four general practitioners, Westmere is a thriving practice. And like doctors everywhere, John says its top priority will always be patients who need referral, with insurance requests coming well down the list.

There is an emotional benefit as well. One of several doctors who provided early input on the content of the SureMed form during its development, he says the old paper-based forms varied with every insurer. Along with having to write comments by hand, this often left him frustrated with the way information was sought. Now, the combination of a simple, more logical form and losing less time, that he could be spending with patients or enjoying on the weekend, results in less irritation – and a task that is easier to get done. 

“Anything that stops you getting angry or wasting time has got to be a winner,” he says. “This area has been something that everyone knew was a problem but no one got around to fixing. I’d say to other GPs, give it a go because SureMed works and it is going to improve your lifestyle.”

“You won’t be doing these things at an inconvenient time, you can do them whenever suits.” He says you can even start to get some of your Saturday afternoons back.

“I’d say to other GPs, give it a go because SureMed works and it is going to improve your lifestyle.”