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Differences between Singapore medical concierge and insurance brokers
A recent decision by the Singapore government has put new rules in place concerning doctors giving payments to third parties for bringing in patients. This has put a spotlight on medical concierge companies, as the new guidelines will likely put a pinch on these companies’ pocketbooks. What are medical concierge companies, though? And do how they compare to providers of similar services like insurance brokerages? Pacific Prime Singapore will break it all down here.
New rules
An announcement was made by the Singapore Medical Council on December 14th, 2016 that medical care providers in Singapore would no longer be allowed to provide a percentage of their fee to third party agents in exchange for the agents bringing them patients. This is the result of ethical questions raised by some due to the perception that such a practice could lead to increased prices for all patients. The rule will come into force in January as part of a new medical code of ethics.
Specifically mentioned in the Straits Times article on the topic was that “some, often referred to as a medical concierge, simply collect payment for introducing a patient to a doctor”, and quoted a local doctor in favor of the new rules from the SMC who said that they could be seen as “efforts to clamp down on unethical practices” by medical concierges.
What is a medical concierge company?
Given the seemingly anti-medical concierge tone of the article mentioned above, it would be good to give an honest picture of what they do for their customers. Medical concierge is a type of business that is becoming more and more prominent as of late. A medical concierge company will provide services designed to help clients with matters related to healthy living and medical care. Once a person becomes a client of a medical concierge company by paying their fee, services they may have access to include, but are not limited to:
- Liaising with medical care providers
- Personal chaperone to doctor’s appointments
- Wellness plans and assessments
- Medical travel arrangements
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Medical care provider sourcing
- Medical insurance claim review
- Disease management and advice
What is an insurance brokerage?
An insurance brokerage acts as an intermediary between their members and a large number of insurance companies. In this way, they can offer products from an array of insurance providers, while members only have to deal with one company in order to engage many. Insurance brokerages do much of the legwork that would normally be required by a person looking for health insurance, including compiling data from all available providers and plans, comparing it to the needs of the person in need, and then narrowing down the best options.
This, of course, is the basis for the business model of insurance brokerages, but the services they provide do not end once an insurance policy is sold. Brokers continue to add value to their clients at no extra cost, and many of these services are the same as what medical concierges will provide, including liaising with insurers and care providers, medical care provider sourcing, medical insurance claim review. All of these services are performed for members at no additional cost. The member only pays for insurance policy itself.
How do they compare?
Both medical concierges and insurance brokers strive to do their best for their clients, so that customer satisfaction is high, and members will continue to renew their business. The new laws mentioned previously call out medical concierges for receiving money from the doctors that they refer people to. This could also call into question if a concierge company is referring a client to a particular doctor because that doctor is the best fit for the patient, or because of the existing relationship with a care provider.
On the other hand, insurance brokers’ sole source of income is the insurance companies themselves. However, while this is a fact, it is ultimately the clients that are responsible for a broker to be able to be paid by the insurers. This is why customer satisfaction and making sure that clients see the value in the broker’s services are a primary focus for insurance brokerages.
Insurance brokers that specialize in International Health Insurance can even provide these types of services all over the world, as they work with major insurers that have offices all over the globe that they can rely on to provide them with excellent knowledge of medical systems in any locality. Few medical concierge companies have such broad scope and relationships. So, while insurance brokers will likely not offer all of the services that medical concierge companies do, depending on what you are looking for, they may be able to address your most pressing concerns.
In the end, medical concierge companies in Singapore are being squeezed out of a valuable source of revenue. Whether they find a way around the new rules placed upon them remains to be seen. For the time being, if you think the points above may lead you to choose an insurance broker for your health insurance and servicing needs, contact Pacific Prime Singapore today! Our agents are standing by to provide you with a free plan comparison and a price quotation.
Serena earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. As such, she is an avid advocate of mental health and is fascinated by all things psychology (especially if it’s cognitive psychology!).
Her previous work experience includes teaching toddlers to read, writing for a travel/wellness online magazine, and then a business news blog. These combined experiences give her the skills and insights she needs to explain complex ideas in a succinct way. Being the daughter of an immigrant and a traveler herself, she is passionate about educating expats and digital nomads on travel and international health insurance.
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