Insured persons who want to change the fund usually require telephone and electronic service times that go beyond normal office hours.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Dusseldorf In the majority of statutory health insurance companies, organization and processes have received a digital boost from the corona pandemic. “For the insured, this is often reflected in better service and digital service offerings,” states Thomas Lemke, Managing Director of the DFSI Ratings rating agency.
In the GKV quality rating 2021, it is primarily regional health insurance companies such as BKK Bosch that have caught up in terms of service compared to the previous year. The market now seems to be exhausted in this regard. “Across the entire field, a high level can be ascertained here, which, unlike in terms of financial strength and the range of services, has also been maintained over the course of the year,” observes Lemke.
Digital service offerings such as our own apps, which offer the possibility of sending sick reports electronically to the cash register quickly and easily, have become indispensable due to the corona pandemic – at least for the health insurance companies that want to be ahead in the market.
In addition, insured persons who want to switch to another fund usually require telephone and electronic service times that go beyond normal office hours. Against this background, the denseest possible network of branches is becoming less and less important as a decision criterion.
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On the other hand, cash registers can score additional points with special offers of help. This includes, for example, arranging midwives and specialist appointments. Even before the pandemic, obstetricians were desperately wanted, especially in large cities.
Emergency services abroad are being used more frequently again
The lockdowns have exacerbated this situation. In this phase, pregnant women particularly appreciated it when they received active support from the employees of their health insurance company.
On the other hand, the international emergency service, which some health insurance companies have in their program, was less in demand during this period. But since the rules have been relaxed at many borders and travel has increased again, the tide has turned.
Especially for health insurance members who have not taken out a separate travel health insurance abroad, it is interesting to know whether their insurance company has its own offer in its program. Should you unexpectedly fall ill on your trip or have an accident, the emergency service of your health insurance company will arrange for German or at least English-speaking doctors and clinics on site and, if necessary, organize a return transport to Germany.
Insurance expert Lemke and his team did the check in individual cases and evaluated the scope and quality of the customer care of the 70 examined health insurance companies as part of the GKV quality rating. To do this, they focused on the general range of services.
A relevant checkpoint was: Has the hotline been outsourced to an external call center or is it staffed by professionally qualified employees who are familiar with social and health law and can provide the insured with reliable information?
Consultants with foreign language skills are in demand
The duration of the daily office hours was also included in the assessment. DFSI also inquired and assessed at the end whether consultants with foreign language skills or, if necessary, interpreters were available.
“Especially when it comes to sensitive health issues, insured persons are grateful if they can communicate in their mother tongue if they don’t speak German well enough,” says Lemke. For a good rating in terms of service, however, customer performance also counts.
“During the pandemic, Germany proved that it has a very good and efficient health system compared to many other countries – and many people recognize that, as surveys show,” observes Lemke. But exactly how satisfied are the insured with the service provided by their health insurance company?
To find out, DFSI used external and internal customer satisfaction surveys carried out by the health insurers themselves. They standardized the experts and thereby made them comparable with one another. “Such surveys are sometimes not necessarily representative,” says Lemke, limiting the informative value. “But it is still a good reflection of the fact that the health insurance system is well received by the majority of the insured.”
Nowadays, customer satisfaction surveys can also be carried out quickly and comparatively inexpensively via digital channels. For many companies, they are now an integral part of their customer marketing. Surprisingly, however, there are still some large, high-performance providers among the health insurance companies who do not initiate a survey among their policyholders.
“Of course we included these funds,” explains Lemke. “However, they then received zero points in the ‘Performance’ discipline, which meant that they achieved a correspondingly lower value in customer service overall.”