BESTMED: Assisting during COVID-19

A helping hand during difficult times Bestmed’s assistive role

The promise to deliver healthcare that is ‘Personally Yours’ has never been as significant as in this, Bestmed’s 56th year of existence, during which it was faced with a health pandemic. Bestmed remained committed to ensuring that it responds to the needs of not only its beneficiaries, but their service providers, employees and underprivileged members of the community

The scheme is proud to have won the sixth annual BHF Titanium award for Excellence in Creating Access to Healthcare (Organisations). The initiatives aimed to address stakeholders’ needs were the basis of Bestmed’s entry.

PAYMENT ALTERNATIVES

As an essential service provider, Bestmed was able to offer payment relief alternatives aligned with the Council for Medical Schemes’ directives and approvals.

Principal members could opt to downgrade to a more affordable option, subject to their savings accounts not

WELLBEING OF HEARTBEATS (WFH) INITIATIVE

Bestmed partnered with Afriforte to conduct a survey to assess the wellbeing of Bestmed’s employees during lockdown as part of the WFH initiative run by Bestmed’s talent team (human resources). The initiative’s purpose is to understand employees’ experiences, and address fears and concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Departmental debriefing sessions focused on promoting hope and normalising fears through best- and worst-case scenarios.

Bestmed also collaborated with ICAS to debrief individuals with high stress levels. Employees are also encouraged to reach out to their team members, managers and the talent team, or to contact the South African Depression and Anxiety Group for emotional support.

being overspent, without compromising the preventative care benefits and maternity care programme offered across all options.

Bestmed also offered individual qualifying principal members the option to pay premiums from their savings. The scheme made this payment option available until 31 December 2020.

Pensioners, whose premiums are paid from the South African Social Security Agency’s pension grants, could request that their debit order be deducted on the 7th instead of the 1st of the month.

COVID-19 BENEFITS

Bestmed ensured that beneficiaries are covered for in- and out-of-hospital COVID-19-related costs. Regardless of their benefit option, beneficiaries are reimbursed for COVID-19 diagnostic tests according to strict criteria and requirements.

The scheme also covers telephonic and video consultations with healthcare providers during lockdown in accordance with benefit provision as per beneficiaries’ selected options, or from scheme risk as a prescribed minimum benefit.

Bestmed refunds the costs of hand sanitisers bought at registered pharmacies from beneficiaries’ available over-the-counter benefit to support them in their precautionary measures.

DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Bestmed is the first medical scheme to partner with digital healthcare innovator, Intermedix, to offer general practitioners (GPs) a specialist designated service provider network for easy referrals via iCanRefer.

It also provides both GPs and specialists with the iCanScript digital health solution, which allows them to generate digital prescriptions that track and record all patients’ medicine history, as well as find cost-effective generic medicine that appears in the scheme’s medicine formularies. A pilot phase proved to be successful. iCanRefer is being rolled out to more than 1 000 doctors countrywide.

Bestmed also collaborated with Intermedix's parent company, CGM, to make secure virtual consultations available to network doctors via CLICKDOC Video Consultation.

COVID-19 CSI INITIATIVES

Bestmed made funds available to assist members of the community who are struggling financially during lockdown. Operation Hunger is using allocated funds to distribute 1 200 food parcels to vulnerable families in rural and informal settlements countrywide.

Palesa pads are high-quality cloth pads that are washable and can be used for up to five years. Donated kits include three pads, a bucket, cleaning materials to wash the pads and a drying clip.

Bestmed partnered with Inkhazi to manufacture branded three-layer masks, which are being distributed via Unjani Clinics in Tshwane. A total of 1 000 sanitary pad kits and 15 300 branded Bestmed masks are being delivered to eight clinics.

Bestmed employees were part of the solution and generously donated a total of R624 911.73 in their own capacity towards a relief fund, which has been split between sanitary pad kits and food parcels.

Bestmed also donated R120 000 to the University of South Africa, one of its largest participating employers, to help allow underprivileged students to proceed with their studies.

COMMUNICATION

Every effort is made to communicate regularly with all stakeholders via newsletters on best practices during lockdown, mental and physical wellbeing tips, nutrition and access to benefits. This information is also communicated to the general South African population via Bestmed’s social media platforms and blog. Call centre agents were mobilised to work from home so that support to beneficiaries would be uninterrupted. Email, SMS and the website’s ChatNow platform are running smoothly with the maintenance of the turnaround time for queries.

Bestmed is proud to have stayed true to its brand essence of being ‘by members, for members’ during these challenging and uncertain times.

LEO DLAMINI

Bestmed CEO and PO