Insurance Industry Advances in Digitalizing Real-Expense Claims... "Expecting 1,000 Hospitals to Participate Within the Year"

The insurance industry is accelerating efforts to activate the simplified claims service for indemnity insurance, which is set to be implemented on the 25th.

The Korea Insurance Development Institute announced on the 9th that, through multiple face-to-face consultations with electronic medical record (EMR) companies, 27 EMR companies?including many with a high proportion of claims among the total 50 or so companies?have agreed to participate in the computerization. The number of customer hospitals of these companies is about 1,600, and if all participate in the simplification of indemnity insurance claims, the participation rate will rise to 69.2%, and the proportion based on the number of claims will increase to 78.2%.

The insurance industry has allocated a budget of approximately 120 billion KRW (tentative) for system construction and expansion costs to ensure the smooth implementation of indemnity insurance claim computerization. About 31.5 billion KRW is expected to be spent annually on system operation costs. Currently, the claim computerization system is undergoing testing after completion of construction. The insurance industry plans to actively support the costs for building and operating the indemnity insurance claim computerization system.

The insurance industry and the Korea Insurance Development Institute plan to connect as many hospitals as possible among the customer hospitals of participating EMR companies to enhance public convenience through indemnity insurance claim computerization. A representative from the Korea Insurance Development Institute said, "Considering the discussions with EMR companies that have confirmed participation, we expect to connect more than 1,000 hospitals within the year," adding, "We will proceed with hospital connections at a rapid pace accordingly."

The Korea Insurance Development Institute is currently announcing the 6th expansion project for EMR companies and medical institutions that have not yet participated, urging active interest and participation. The institute is also in discussions with major map application companies about marking hospitals capable of indemnity claim computerization on maps to provide information to the public.