Written answers

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

9:00 pm

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Health the actions he is taking to address uncollected income from private patients; if this is an issue that is being addressed in his talks with consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28486/12]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The HSE and Voluntary hospitals recoup a considerable amount of income from private insurance companies in return for private and semi-private treatment services provided to patients with private health insurance cover. However, lengthy delays often occur between the discharge of patients and the receipt of payment from the health insurance companies.

The HSE has introduced a number of initiatives to improve the claims collection process and facilitate faster submission of claims which will accelerate income collection within the public hospital system. These initiatives include:

· The HSE has tasked hospitals with bringing down the value of claims awaiting Consultant action and hospitals will also target the highest-value claims.

· The HSE has recently concluded the tender process for the roll-out of an electronic claims management system in eleven hospitals to replace the current paper based system. This will be commenced on a phased basis this year, and scoping work has already commenced in five sites.

The implementation of measures to support timely and efficient collection of private patient income is one of the issues under discussion at present between health service management and the consultants' representative bodies.

Furthermore, the Health Insurance Consultative Forum which I established this year, also enables dialogue with insurers on the issue of cost and efficiency, including the issue of income collection.

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