Medihelp, South Africa’s third-largest medical scheme, has been identified as the medical scheme with the highest satisfaction score and lowest proportion of dissatisfied customers in the medical scheme and municipality industries by the official SAS Index™ 2005.

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According to the official SAS Index™ 2005 results of the survey conducted by Synovate and the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Medihelp obtained an overall customer satisfaction score of 81. This is followed by the City of Cape Town, which showed the highest satisfaction levels amongst the municipalities researched.

Satisfaction measured across industries
One of the unique features of the SAS Index™ is the fact that customer and employee satisfaction is measured not only between competitors, but also across industries. The medical scheme and municipality industries were measured for the first time this year.

Scores are also ranked on what is called the Excellence Index which measures the proportion of people who rated the service that they received as 9/10 or 10/10. On this index, Medihelp scored 60.2, also the highest score of all medical schemes measured. On the Dissatisfaction Index, which rated the service customers received as being 5/10 or less, Medihelp scored the lowest score of all schemes.

Anton Rijnen, Chief Executive of Medihelp, received the award for this achievement at a function held at the dti’s campus in Sunnyside, Pretoria. After receiving the award, Rijnen praised the staff of Medihelp for their commitment to render excellent service to Medihelp customers. “This award proves that Medihelp’s staff put words into action when it comes to customer service,” he said. He thanked Medihelp’s clients for their loyalty towards the Scheme as well as for their positive feedback during the research.

Medical cover essentially a 'grudge purchase'
Albert McLean, Managing Director of Synovate South Africa explained that when it comes to medical schemes, spiralling membership costs and the uncertainty due to changing legislation have exacerbated negative sentiment felt by many South Africans towards what is essentially a grudge purchase, their medical cover.

McLean said that Medihelp and Discovery are the only two medical schemes measured who have managed to overcome the inherent difficulties in the industry.

This achievement follows the recent results of a similar study conducted by TWIG SA in 2004 which also rated Medihelp as one of the two best medical scheme administrators in the country when it comes to overall satisfaction among members, service providers and intermediaries.

In addition, Medihelp was awarded an A+ rating for its claims-paying ability by the renowned independent rating company, Global Credit Rating, for the sixth consecutive year.

The mission of the SAS Index™ is to encourage competitiveness by offering a consumer-driven, objective and neutral measure of competitiveness. The core business of the SAS Index™ is to provide a comparative benchmark of customer and employee satisfaction across industries and between competitors.

SA satisfaction levels higher
In addition, unlike similar studies, the SAS Index™ is comparable to the American (ACSI) and European (EPSI) customer satisfaction studies. When compared to these international counterparts, satisfaction levels in South Africa seem to be higher than those overseas.

The Synovate SAS Index™ study consists of standardised questions, consistent for all industries, and incorporates 27 critical drivers of customer satisfaction and delight for each industry. Importantly, the questionnaire does not only measure performance, but also expectations. All customers who used the service over the last six months are interviewed. Need a quote from Medihelp?Click here.
 

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