The process of submitting photos of receipts and detailed medical fee statements to insurance company apps one by one after receiving medical care at a hospital is expected to become much simpler. With all major electronic medical record (EMR) vendors deciding to join 'Real Medical Expense Claim 24', the foundation has been laid for 97% of healthcare institutions nationwide to connect with the computerized system for real medical expense claims.
According to financial authorities on the 30th, the proportion of healthcare institutions that have completed actual linkage with Real Medical Expense Claim 24 rose by 15.7 percentage points (P) from 24.7% on January 5 to 40.4% on this day. Compared to 28.4% on April 1, this represents an increase of about 12 percentage points in just three months.
Real Medical Expense Claim 24 is a service where hospitals and pharmacies electronically send medical fee receipts, detailed billing statements, prescriptions, and other documents when consumers request insurance payouts via apps or websites. Patients no longer need to visit hospitals again to obtain paper documents or scan them for upload to insurance company apps.
The core foundation for spreading Real Medical Expense Claim 24 has also been established. This is because the top five EMR vendors used domestically have all agreed to join. Following GC Med-i (formerly UbiCare), E-Zis Healthcare, Bit Computer, and NeoSoftBank, Jeonung IT was also reported to have conveyed its intention to participate to the Financial Services Commission on this day.
EMR is a computerized program used in hospitals to manage medical records, prescriptions, and billing. When EMR vendors join Real Medical Expense Claim 24, hospitals and pharmacies using their programs can also apply for system linkage. Including healthcare institutions that use the top five vendors' programs, the potential connectivity rate for Real Medical Expense Claim 24 is expected to reach up to 97%. With most healthcare institutions nationwide now able to participate in Real Medical Expense Claim 24, it is being evaluated as having effectively overcome a major hurdle.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) presented its goal last May to raise the linkage rate of Real Medical Expense Claim 24 to over 90% by the end of this year and ultimately reach 100%. Even considering that it typically takes about two months for EMR vendors to complete their own system development after joining, the participation of all top five vendors makes achieving the second-half target feasible.
Procedures have also been simplified to accelerate individual healthcare institutions' connection speeds. Previously, EMR vendors had to collect participation intentions from hospitals and clinics and submit them collectively to the Insurance Development Institute; now, healthcare institutions can directly apply for linkage through the Real Medical Expense Claim 24 program. The Insurance Development Institute is also providing direct support for technical requirements needed for computerized linkage, such as security certificates and fixed Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that healthcare institutions previously had to prepare separately.
With a foundation established for 97% of healthcare institutions to connect, completion rates are expected to rise quickly once individual system development and applications are finalized. Financial authorities plan to cooperate with EMR vendors to directly visit hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies facing difficulties in linkage, provide support for computerized connections, and strengthen promotional efforts to inform users about how to use Real Medical Expense Claim 24 and its convenience.
The FSC is also pushing forward with amendments to the Insurance Business Act to expand the obligation to participate in claim computerization to EMR vendors and allow fines to be imposed on non-participating healthcare institutions and vendors. Once the legal revisions and individual linkage efforts for healthcare institutions are completed, an environment will likely expand where consumers can file real medical expense claims without paper documents even at local clinics and hospitals.
in FINANCE
