Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore

This great hospital has got lot of publicity in India in last 3 days (Dec. 27, 2012 to Dec. 29, 2012).

We had high hopes for recovery / treatment of first private citizen of India, who was sent for treatment on Government of India expense.

The Interesting phenomenon I came across in 3 days is that more than 60 crores persons living in India have become aware of this hospital that it is a super specialty hospital of world repute for organ transplant.

We receive many phone calls .You will find interesting case studies, which we came across in last 2 days:

Case Study 1:

Phone call received by us from a prospective client who wishes to buy Overseas Travel Insurance policy for 7days so that he can go and get treated in Mount Elizabeth under this policy.

He was rather disappointed to know that Overseas Travel Insurance policy issued by insurance companies does not cover treatment for disease which is pre-existing.

 

Case Study 2:

 

Phone call received by us from a prospective client who wishes to buy Health Insurance Policy for Rs. 2 Lakhs and wishes to go to Singapore for being treated in Mount Elizabeth.

He was surprised to know that

a)      Rs. 2 Lakhs is too small an amount for being treated in this world class hospital, where room rent for lowest single room is Rs. 30,000 or so.  We are not aware of costs for treatment. Our assumption is that it should be very high.

b)      The policies issued by all but 1 insurance company cover treatment within India. The only exception is Religare Health Insurance product where you can get treatment in an overseas hospital (Mount Elizabeth Hospital also) provided you have sum assured of either Rs. 50 Lakhs or Rs. 60 Lakhs.

We come to conclusion that:

• Those who can afford.
• Those who wish to be treated in reputed hospitals like Mount Elizabeth should go in for Religare Health Insurance policy for sum assured of Rs. 50 Lakhs / Rs. 60 Lakhs.

Otherwise let us be satisfied with our world class hospitals- Medanta, Apollo, Fortis etc.

ria@surekhae.com can be reached for details / support in this regard.

Intoxicated accidental victims have better recovery in hospitals

According to recent study of University of Illinoisat Chicago School of Public Health – Injured patients were less likely to die in the hospital if they had alcohol in their blood and the more alcohol; the more likely they were to survive.

Dr. Lee Friedman epidemiologist who was the project head said “However, after an injury, if you are intoxicated there seems to be a pretty substantial protective effect,” “The more alcohol you have in your system, the more the protective effect.” Dr. Lee Friedman is Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at UIC in Chicago.

The project team headed by learned professor analyzed Illinois Trauma Registry data for 190,612 patients treated at trauma centers between 1995 and 2009 who were tested for blood alcohol content, which ranged from zero to 0.5 percent at the time they were admitted to the trauma unit. It is surprising that only 6,733 died in the hospital.

The study examined the relationship of alcohol dosage to in-hospital mortality following traumatic injuries such as fractures, internal injuries and open wounds. Alcohol benefited patients across the range of injuries, with burns as the only exception.

The benefit extended from the lowest blood alcohol concentration (below 0.1 percent) through the highest levels (up to 0.5 percent).

“At the higher levels of blood alcohol concentration, there was a reduction of almost 50 percent in hospital mortality rates,” Friedman said. “This protective benefit persists even after taking into account injury severity and other factors known to be strongly associated with mortality following an injury.”

The findings of this study point:

1. It’s important for clinicians to recognize intoxicated patients but also to understand how alcohol might affect the course of treatment.

2. This study is not encouraging people to drink, the good thing which we find in this study is that interesting projects are undertaken in USA.

I wonder whether any such study has been undertaken in India.

The implication of such study as for  insurance industry in India is concerned is that if a person was intoxicated and is involved in accident his hospitalization claim, claim far car damage everything may be denied.

Let us welcome Liberty Videocon General Insurance Company Limited

Let us welcome

Liberty Videocon General Insurance Company Limited

This company is starting operations from Jan 1, 2013.

This company is 25^th insurance company fromGeneral / Non Life / Health Insurance Segment.

Health Insurance products from this company should become available in first quarter of 2013.