Application processing time for veterans slashed thanks to SureMed solution

The time taken to process applications for veterans seeking support through Veterans’ Affairs has been slashed thanks to Konnect NET’s electronic SureMed solution.

Medical information is often required from a veteran’s GP or healthcare provider to complete an application for financial assistance relating to injuries incurred as a result of their military service.

Requests for medical information were previously sent from Veterans’ Affairs via email or post. It was taking an average of 74 days to receive that information back from healthcare providers.

The use of SureMed – an encrypted portal that allows third parties to obtain health information – has slashed that waiting time to an average of six days.

Veterans’ Affairs Applications and Entitlements Manager Ann-Marie Tribe says SureMed is fast, efficient and secure and has been nothing short of life-changing.

“Obtaining GP information for applications manually was incredibly labour intensive, the turnaround was very slow, and it wasn’t secure,” she says.

“SureMed has sped the processing time up and provided peace of mind knowing sensitive medical information is being exchanged in a totally secure way.”
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A big help for veterans

The decrease in waiting time for applications to be processed is also a great help to the veterans themselves.

“With a much faster processing time, it gives veterans a quicker response to their application and provides much more certainty for them,” she says.

“Our prime driver is to make it easier for veterans to get the support they deserve.”

Another advantage of SureMed is that more specific information requests can be made.

“That means we receive the documents that contain the specific information we need in a user-friendly format. With the manual process, we often ended up with a pile of extra information that we didn’t need.”
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Supportive SureMed team

Veterans’ Affairs has been using SureMed since the beginning of 2020, following a successful trial period.

Ms Tribe says one of the most time-consuming parts of the manual system was following up with healthcare providers to send the requested medical information.

“SureMed’s team follows up with medical practices for us if the information hasn’t come through, which frees up our staff even more to work on the next claim.”

She says SureMed is easy to use and the SureMed team has provided incredible, ongoing support.

“It makes me cringe to think about going back to the old manual way.”
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A tangible difference being made

Konnect NET is part of Clanwilliam Health. Clanwilliam Health CEO Mike Weiss says SureMed is trusted by health providers as efficient, reliable and secure.

“We’re delighted to bring this innovation to Veterans’ Affairs, who have a passion to deliver better health outcomes to their clients,” he says.

“It’s wonderful to be part of something that makes a tangible difference to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for their country.”
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For more information, please contact:

Maggie McNaughton
Clanwilliam Health Publicist
021 613198
[email protected]