IRDAI launches one-stop health insurance portal

Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurer (rohini) will provide all health insurance related information to people who wishto buy a policy and help insurers to settle claims quickly

Have you felt frustrated because of unnecessary delays for your health insurance claims or confused about which hospitals offer cashless treatment in your city You are not alone. Many health insurance holders who have raised a claim have faced this.

The Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) of India has launched a dedicated portal that not only offers on a single platform all the information you may need on health insurance, but will also serve as a link between hospitals and insurance companies to improve the claim settlement process.

Here is everything you should know about the new portal ‘ROHINI’ and how it can be of help to insurance policyholders or health insurance purchasers.

Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurer (ROHINI) IRDAI-promoted Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) has come up with a portal known as the Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurer (ROHINI). The portal is a single platform having all health insurance related information like treatment facilities, costs, and a list of all IRDAI registered hospitals and nursing homes. Currently, the ROHINI hospital database has over 35,000 hospitals, with more hospitals being added over time.

Each hospital is provided a 13-digit globally unique ID while IIB is also undertaking a geo coding programme, based on the physical address verification of each hospital. Once done, all hospitals and their medical records will be linked between hospitals and insurance companies through the ROHINI platform. This move is significant in speeding up the health insurance claim process, something that has been a big grievance for the common health insurance policy holder.

IIB to now monitor health insurance claims The Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) will now have a hands-on role to play between insurance companies, hospitals, and insurance policy holders. With information linked seamlessly to the portal, the IIB will be monitoring all aspects of insurance claims, hospital records, update information etc.

How you can use the ROHINI portal to your advantage When selecting a health insurance plan, you may be inundated by multiple choices. With a swathe of insurance companies operating and each having multiple plans and tie-ups with various hospitals, getting the right information is sometimes difficult.

Easy access to information: Now, with the ROHINI portal, all you have to do is to log on to the portal at https://rohini.iib.gov.in/ and look out for the list of hospitals in your city that are connected with various health insurance plans. The treatment facilities on offer and the cost of treatment is also provided on the portal, making it easy to understand your health insurance plan and choosing the most relevant one for your needs.

Faster claims and less insurance frauds: The portal is also a step towards making insurance claims fast and reliable, by cutting out insurance frauds due to fake hospital information. Many a time, the common man with a genuine claim is also delayed, especially when insurance companies look up information about a claim. With the ROHINI portal in place, there will be a direct and seamless connectivity between hospital records and insurance companies, making it easy for companies to authenticate genuine claims.

Know any change of address instantly: You do not have to worry about getting updated information if the hospital linked to your insurance policy changes location. With the ROHINI portal, hospitals will now be able to broadcast address or contact information changes to all concerned, including policyholders and insurance companies. Also, if you ever need to get the updated information on any hospital, all you need to do is to search the database at the ROHINI portal.

Real-time area-wise healthcare analytics: With all information available electronically on one platform, the IIB can monitor the health claim trends of various places and provide analytics to health insurance companies as well as individuals. This will help companies to offer better services and fix premiums based on the trends in various places. Individuals can know their vulnerability to various diseases as per the trends in their geographic location. This also helps in opting for a cover for the high-risk diseases you are prone to contract due to your geographical location.

There is also a proposal of having a dedicated Health Insurance TPA of India Ltd, to manage health insurance claims. This would gradually move out external TPA administrators, offering a more transparent and hassle-free claim settlement process for health insurance policyholders.

The writer is the CEO of BankBazaar.com