hi-tech private Hospital

upsilon

Looking at my private Healthcare,
Some plan have cover for "hi-tech private Hospital"
What do these hospitals do that cannot be done in other one?
Is there some kind of list of conditions that can only be treated in those?
is this only a Cardiac thing?
is it key hole surgery as opposed to cut open like a fish, hi-tech?
Has to be something special to justify such difference in pricing.
( worried)

broker2008

There can be cases of where certain procedures are carried out only in high-tech hospitals as well as other hospials. The high techs will say that they are centres of excellence but there are centres of excellence in private and public too.

High tech hospitals can be some or all of the following: Blackrock Clinic, Beacon Hospital, Mater Private, Hermitage, Galway Clinic & Cork Medical Centre (I think that is the lot) ~ depends on the insurer and the plan.

The differentation takes place under 4 categories:
(1) Listed Cardiac Procedures
(2) Listed Special Procedures
(3) Elective or general Procedures
(4) Day Case Procedures.

The 3 insurers can give little or more cover for these categories which is plan dependent.

There will be cases where one was glad they had 100% cover in a high tech hospital so as not to have to pay a shortfall or a full bill.

There doesnt have to be a price differential depending on the chosen plan.

NuMarvel

broker2008 wrote: »

There can be cases of where certain procedures are carried out only in high-tech hospitals as well as other hospials.

Sorry to nit pick, but are you saying there are some procedures that are carried out only in high tech hospitals, or there are not?

mw3guc

If a public patient needs a procedure that is only available in a high tech hospital, what happens? Are there such procedures in Ireland?
Assuming that they wait their turn in the public system, can a person with inadequate private health cover opt not to pay the differential and avail of this option? I'm a bit confused about this and would very much appreciate clarification

upsilon

same here, I cannot come to term that some conditions could only be treated in a hi-tech H. May be it just means that they have specialized center with specialit doctor in a specific condition, which is normally treated by a general doctor in standard H. but treatment should be the same, shouldn't it?

NuMarvel

I don't think that there are procedures exclusive to hi-tech hospitals, but as broker2008 says earlier, they are centres of excellence for some specialised procedures such as certain types of heart procedures.

That said, it can be the case that hi-tech hospitals are the first hospitals in Ireland to offer particular types of tests or procedures. I know that the Blackrock Clinic was the first hospital to offer PET scans (Positron Emission Tomography, not cats or dogs!). In those types of circumstances, I think the HSE usually enters into an agreement with the hospital to provide the service to public patients at no extra cost to the patient.

mw3guc

NuMarvel wrote: »

I don't think that there are procedures exclusive to hi-tech hospitals, but as broker2008 says earlier, they are centres of excellence for some specialised procedures such as certain types of heart procedures.

That said, it can be the case that hi-tech hospitals are the first hospitals in Ireland to offer particular types of tests or procedures. I know that the Blackrock Clinic was the first hospital to offer PET scans (Positron Emission Tomography, not cats or dogs!). In those types of circumstances, I think the HSE usually enters into an agreement with the hospital to provide the service to public patients at no extra cost to the patient.

Thanks for that information, NuMarvel. If I'm understanding this correctly, it means that if the treatment you need is not covered by your health insurance, you have the option to go public, even if it means a wait.
For those of us who can't afford the large premium required for these high tech hospitals it means we can hedge our bets (somewhat) and cover the usual suspects with our insurance. Maybe not perfect, but half a loaf and all that ...

NuMarvel

Switching back to the public system is nearly always an option (maternity is one exception), but the waiting times on the public system is why we have such a high take up of health insurance in Ireland.

In terms of cover on health insurance plans for hi-tech hospitals, alot of the mid-range plans (Plan B, Essential Plus, Level 2 and so on) will include full or 90% cover in the hi-techs for particular treatments. These vary from plan to plan, but it's usually things like daycase procedures, courses of out-patient radiotherapy and/or specific complex procedures like heart or joint (e.g. hip) operations. Partial cover may also be available for other procedures, but this partial cover can still mean that you end up paying anything up to a couple of grand per night. Your benefit information should include details of your plans covers in hi-tech hospitals.

For most people, this kind of cover in high-tech hospitals is enough. The majority of people are on those mid-range plans, myself included. The premia for plans that fully cover all procedures in hi-tech hospitals (e.g. VHI's Plan E, Quinn's Essential Gold, Aviva's Level 5) are out of most people's reach, and in general it isn't something they should be losing sleep over.

okiss

In regards to health insurance you have your public hospital, private hospital ie St Vincents private hospital and your high tech hospital ie mater private, blackrock clinic ect.
I would look up the following website. www.hia.ie and put in the name of your policy and decide then on the following
a) what type of room do you want in a private or high tech Hospital ( full cost of a private room in the high tech hos are only covered by the very dear health insurance plans)
b) see what cover you have for high tech hospitals ( some health insurance plans cover certain procedures ie cardiac in the high tech hospital)
c) decide if you want to claim money back on gp visit's ect each and look to see if these have €1 excess ( note if see €200 excess it is what the insurance company allow per each visit you pay doctor €60 - health ins comp allow €25 - you have to pay over the health ins allow amount of €200 before you can claim any funds back so 9 doctors visit's before you can claim.)
d) If you are willing to pay an excess ie €50/€125 your policy will be cheaper.
I would look at the excess to see if it is per visit ( you pay the first €50 or €125 euro of you claim and the insurance pays the rest) or if is a shortfall per night of a certain amount. Some health insurance policies will not give any cover in the high tech hospitals or offer cover in for example the Becon clinic.
Some policies will only cover some of the private hospitals.
e) I would also be aware of policies that cover 80% cost of certain procedures - a procedure could cost €10,000 and your insurance may only pay €8000 of this - the vhi have done this recently to some of there plans.
Look for a plan where you know the cash amount you would have to pay if the insurance company does not pay it in full.
f) If you are going to met a consultant or to a hospital for a procedure ring your health insurance company with the name of your doctor and the medical name of your procedure. Your doctor may work in two hospitals and you may have full cover in one and a shortfall in the other. Your health insurer can advise you on this. I hope this is of help.

broker2008

I contacted all 3 insurers a couple of months to ask them was there any procedure covered only in high tech hospitals and they were very wary of giving out any information unless I had a policy with them.

The reason I rang was to try to back up what a broker colleague of mine had been told :that there were a handful of procedures but the insurers might/may not cover these procedures anyway and that there were ones that some but not all insurers cover but they were very specific. Consultants who work in high tech hospitals, with few exceptions work elsewhere. I think I know one of the procedures but unless clarified by the insurer - the call centre is giving varied answers - I'm not going to state so on a public forum.
It is probably right to say that virtually all procedures are also carried out in a public hospital. It is in the interest of high tech hospitals to give impression that they are special etc etc.

It is good to have the access if nothing else.