About our Interaction with Insurance Companies, Immigration New Zealand and ACC

 The interaction that we have with insurers, including ACC and INZ, is quite different from that which we have with you as our patients. 

When we are providing care to you, though we do have to bear in mind the effects any treatments may have on society at large, primarily all the focus is on your needs.  Nothing we do is not in your interests.

That may be quite different when we are completing an insurance medical or preparing a report for ACC as though we are your doctors, in this case we are acting as advisors to a third party and we must be fair and honest in our dealings with them.  This means that we may have to reveal information that may not help your case or that you might prefer your insurer did not know about. 

So how do we square the circle?

Firstly, we make sure that we have your consent to reveal any information.  In the case of insurers, you will usually have to sign a document that allows them to read your medical records if they desire.  In the case of ACC, the ACC45 document you sign when you have an injury gives ACC the right to request your medical records.

Secondly, we only give the information we are asked to provide.  For insurers, this means editing your notes using an electronic system that allows us to include only the requested information.  For ACC, we print relevant consultations then physically cut out information ACC do not need to know before copying the result to send to ACC.

Finally, where it comes to light that there is information that we feel unhappy about providing, we may contact you to allow you the opportunity to review the information we plan to send before it is transmitted.

We do have to be honest in all out transactions - we cannot lie on your behalf whether actively or by omission.  If you do want us to leave certain information out, we will have to inform your insurer.  We can usually manage an acceptable form of words (for example, we may be able to say that "some information not affecting life insurance has been witheld at the specific request of the patient") and usually insurers are happy with this, though they may need to reconsider any offer they make to you.

If you are applying for insurance or would like to know more about the information we may reveal about you, you are more than welcome to ask about the process.  If there is information you do not want to be shared, it is best to let us know immediately as insurance medical requests are often actioned within a few days of their receipt.

Credits:

Insurance definition image:  Alan Cleaver