Private Healthcare UK Blog
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The Private Healthcare Blog is an exclusive resource of opinions from UK private healthcare experts to help patients simplify their healthcare options. Private Healthcare is the next generation of the hugely successful Private Healthcare UK website which has been matching patients with healthcare specialists since 1997.
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
At the forthcoming Private Healthcare Summit, taking place on Tuesday June 20th, 2017 at our new venue, the QE II Centre in the heart of Westminster, we'll be taking a close look at what's going on in the GCC markets and how this may affect international patient flows into London.
There are many factors that are driving change in the Gulf. And there are some worrying trends for London hospitals, clinics and consultants that rely on the stream of income from high value medical treatment funded by the government or state employers. As we scan and collect information on what is happening in the ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
In the latest data, released this week by LaingBuisson, there may be some good news for the UK's private healthcare sector. Historically, the main driver of patient throughput into most private hospitals has been private medical insurance (PMI). But PMI has been in decline or stagnant for many years. Insurance coverage peaked in 2008 in the UK. Since then, the number of people covered by corporate or individual insurance schemes has fallen. Currently, LaingBuisson estimate that 10.6% of the population are covered by health insurance. The rising cost of private healthcare has been a significan ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
As more and more patient information is stored online and in electronic form, the risk of data theft increases. Private practitioners and clinics must ensure that their data systems are resilient to attack and that they adhere to data protection legislation.
In less than a year, in May 2018, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect, introducing new requirements that will impact on the private healthcare sector and imposing penalties on those who do not comply. Few private clinics and private healthcare businesses have begun to prepare for these additional requi ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
How important is having a unique value proposition in private healthcare? Do our private healthcare providers offer anything “unique”?
In the private healthcare sector, how many private hospital and private healthcare companies have identified what their UVP is AND communicate this to their target audience? The UK private hospital market is dominated by 5 “brands” – BMI Healthcare, Nuffield Health, Spire Healthcare, Ramsay Health Care and HCA Healthcare. But if we examine these five businesses and their key brand messages do any of them stand out? Have any of them clearly identified their com ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
So, the letter from Theresa May is in the post.
But what does this mean for the UK's private healthcare sector?
In the run up to the vote, the “Healthier in the EU” website launched. The campaign's message was that the EU allows the UK to pool resources with our closest neighbours to tackle important issues from public health (air pollution, tobacco, chemicals) to health innovation (medicines approvals, research networks) to large frameworks of healthcare (cross-border healthcare, international patients’ groups). But its pleas didn't convince the voting public.
Challenges to London's pre-emin ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
Private Healthcare UK editor-in-chief Keith Pollard answers the most frequently asked questions that patients need to consider when choosing to go for private for medical treatment.
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Author Name:
Keith Pollard
Phuk meta title:
The Private Healthcare market: Your questions answered
Phuk meta description:
Private Healthcare UK editor-in-chief Keith Pollard answers the most frequently asked questions that pat ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
In a market for private medical insurance (PMI) that has been in decline for some years, one of the significant barriers to purchase and continued use of PMI has been the complexity of the product and the lack of consumer focus.
Recent research by Tällt explored the views of 1,500 UK consumers and highlights the challenges that the industry faces:
70% of consumers say their insurer is harder or no easier to do business with than 2 years ago
The main complaints against insurers are:
The claims process
Too much jargon
Lack of rewards for loyalty
Two thirds of consumers state that their PMI ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
Traditionally, the route to success as a private consultant has been to maintain close links with GPs who act as the “gatekeeper” to private referrals. The referral route for private patients often follows a similar pattern as for NHS patient referrals. It’s one of the reasons why many consultants choose to remain involved in the NHS whilst operating as a private practitioner.
But with the growth of the empowered patient and the ease with which a patient can source and compare information on private consultants and private hospitals online, the pattern of referral and patient choice is changi ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
These were the words in my closing comments at this week’s Private Healthcare Summit in London.
30 years ago, this week, I took my first steps in the private medical sector, and entered the palatial offices of AMI Healthcare (the predecessor of BMI) in Cornwall Terrace overlooking Regent’s Park. It was a very different world of private healthcare to the one that we live in today. It was the boom time for private hospitals. I undertook feasibility and marketing studies for new hospitals and developments of existing hospitals, and I can’t recall a feasibility that concluded: “This is a bad idea ..read more
Private Healthcare UK Blog
1y ago
The latest analysis from the BBC suggests that there couldn't be a better time for private hospitals to promote their various self-pay offerings to UK patients.
The BBC has launched a special week of coverage about the state of the NHS. It will highlight the current underfunding, increasing demand and the resulting pressure on A and E departments and elective surgery.
If you want to understand why the NHS is under pressure, then this excellent analysis by the King's Fund: How hospital activity in the NHS in England has changed over time is worth a read. Despite what the government tells us ab ..read more