The new service will speed up the underwriting process, delivering benefits to both providers and intermediaries such as lower cancellation rates, reduction in costs and more rapid completion of cases.
The eGPR service will enable Life insurance companies to request and receive medical reports from GPs electronically. This will reduce the administrative resources and time product providers currently spend on gathering medical information as well as eliminating manual errors that currently occur due to illegible handwriting on paper based reports.
The increased speed of obtaining accurate information will enable providers to make quicker underwriting decisions and lower their cancellation rate by reducing the time it takes to process applications. It will also enable them to provide a quicker service to intermediaries and consumers.
Analysis by The Exchange shows that the eGPR service could deliver cost savings to the industry of around £18 million* per year.
Product providers will have access to a database of all practicing UK GPs from which they will be able to identify those registered to use the eGPR service. They will then be able to send an electronic request for a medical report to the GP together with a patient consent form which is completed by the customer when they apply for a policy. The GP receives the request via e-mail and can securely log-in to the portal from their practice, complete the report and necessary checks on screen and send it back to the provider electronically.
The eGPR service is being developed and run by The Exchange in association with Primary Care Technologies (PCT). PCT is responsible for all interfaces with GPs and will run a help desk for all UK GP practices. The Exchange is responsible for the provision of a secure hosting environment, based on its Exweb portal, as well as all interfaces with product providers and will run a help desk for providers.
Product providers will be charged on a per request basis and the service will be available from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday.
The service has been produced to conform to the security, content and ethical requirements of the British Medical Association (BMA) and has already been approved by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and is expected to go live later in the year.
David Child, chief operating officer at The Exchange, comments:
“The eGPR service will make the process for obtaining GP reports more efficient and less expensive. After April this year GPs will not be remunerated for patients whose records they do not hold electronically so we anticipate a significant take up of the service from the medical profession. This will enable providers to reduce costs significantly and improve the service provided to intermediaries and ultimately consumers.”
