Frequently Asked Questions for Health Connect

1.    What is the Health Connect Main Panel?

Great Eastern Health Connect Main Panel is our panel of private specialist doctors carefully selected for our Great Eastern Integrated Shield customers.  

2.  What is the Extended Panel?

From 1 April 2022, in support of Multilateral Health Insurance Committee’s (MHIC) recommendations to provide access to a greater choice of doctors and supporting continuity of care for patients, Great Eastern will introduce the Extended Panel of Specialist doctors.

The Extended Panel is a specialist doctor who is currently not on Great Eastern Main Panel, but is on the approved list of panel doctors of the other integrated shield plan provider and is approved by us to be on the Extended Panel.

3. What is the criteria for inclusion in Health Connect Main Panel?

Our specialist doctors are carefully selected based on their years of experience, preferably more than 5 years and record of providing quality service to patients, reasonable fee structures in alignment with MOH guidelines. Our specialists are well renowned in their respective fields of practice in Singapore with a clean professional track record.

4. How many doctors do you have on your Great Eastern Health Connect Panel?

Through our Great Eastern Health Connect Panel, our customers will enjoy access to more than 4,000 specialists of over 25 different medical specialties from our Main panel and Extended panel of specialists for their selection. They included all the relevant specialists in restructured hospitals and more than 700 private specialists.  We are continually expanding our panel to provide the best possible medical expertise and specialist treatment for our customer’s healthcare needs.

We have forged close collaboration with Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), National Cancer Centre (NCC), National Neuroscience Institute (NNI), National Heart Centre (NHC) to provide priority queue in specialist appointment booking. 

5. What are the benefits of choosing Health Connect Specialists?

Our customers will receive end-to-end support for your specialist healthcare and hospitalisation needs (inpatient and day surgery) from the recommendation of appropriate specialists for the necessary consults/treatments, specialist appointment scheduling, to pre-authorisations for eligible medical expenses, right to direct claims settlement between Great Eastern and the hospital/MOH accredited day surgery centre.  

With pre-authorisation issued, customers will also have their co-payment expenses for their supplementary plan capped at $3,000 and be covered for 365 days of post-hospitalisation treatment. 

6. What are the benefit differences between choosing to seek treatment with a specialist who is on Great Eastern’s Main Panel, Extended Panel and one who is neither on the Main nor on Extended Panel?

There is no difference in the benefits whether he chooses to avail treatment from a specialist on our Main Panel or Extended Panel. Please refer to the table below for more information.

From 1^st April 2022, Certificate of pre-authorisation (PAC) is no longer mandatory for customers to enjoy the $3,000 co-payment cap per period of insurance on eligible bills incurred from planned hospitalisation, surgery and/or treatment when they seek treatment from our main panel provider and/or extended panel provider or at a restructured hospital.

However, we would still encourage our customers to apply for PAC for their planned hospitalisation, surgery and/or treatment so that we can pre-assess and pre-approve the treatment costs prior to their treatment. Having a PAC provides customers with certainty on the eligible medical expenses payable before their treatment commences.

* Applicable to lives assured insured under both GSH and GTC plans and where treatment is sought at our Panel Providers or at a restructured hospital

1. Are panel specialists easily accessible?

Yes. Our specialist clinics are located island-wide to provide greater accessibility. We have specially selected specialists across more than 25 different medical specialities on our panel for your personal selection.

View the full listing of Great Eastern Health Connect Main and Extended Panel here.

2. Is it easy to request for an appointment via Health Connect?

Yes, you may request for an appointment via:

• 24/7 online request here. Select a panel specialist, enter your NRIC and date of birth to let us know who you are, enter your preferred dates and submit your request. We will liaise with the clinic and inform you of the confirmed booking through the email and mobile number you provided to us.

• Health Connect hotline at 6563 2233.

We will confirm your specialist appointment within 3 working days from your request. An email confirmation will be sent to you once the appointment is fixed.

3. Can I change my specialist appointment after it is confirmed?

Yes, you may contact the specialist clinic directly to change your appointment.

1. Can I get a pre-approval* for my proposed medical or surgical expenses if I call Health Connect?

You may request for a pre-approval of your planned admission/surgery provided if the specialists are practising in the following in Singapore:

1.   a Restructured Hospital; or

2.   a Private Hospital/Day Surgery Centre and on our panel.

*Assessment of eligible medical expenses is based on the coverage on your GREAT SupremeHealth and GREAT TotalCare policies (if any). For expenses which are ineligible, payment will need to be made upon your discharge

2. Will the process of pre-authorization be any different for both the Main Panel and Extended Panel on the Great Eastern Health Connect Panel?

The pre-authorisation process would be the same, regardless of whether the specialist is a part of the Main Panel or the Extended Panel.

You may wish to request for pre-authorisation via the following ways:

a)      If you are at the panel specialist clinic, you can ask the panel specialist to assist you in requesting for the pre-approval of your medical expenses.

b)      Click to download the online form and email it to Pre-Authorisation@healthconnect.com.sg or call us at 6563 2233 and we will guide you accordingly. Do ensure to allow sufficient time of at least three to ten working days before your surgery date, to submit the form to us for our assessment

3. How is the pre-approval application process like?

Once we are notified of the pre-approval request, here is what will happen next:

• We will let you know our assessment within 3 to 5 working days from the time of receipt of full and complete information for assessment. Once approved, a certificate will be emailed to you, panel clinic/hospital.
• With the certificate, you will not need to pay the deposit for your admission as it will be waived.
• Once you are discharged, Great Eastern settles your pre-approved eligible medical expenses directly with the hospital or MOH accredited day surgery centre/clinic.

4. What are the items included under the Certificate of Pre-Authorisation?

It includes:

• Eligible in-patient hospitalisation expenses
• Eligible surgical expenses
• Eligible doctor's inpatient daily attendance fee
• Eligible medical examinations and tests during hospitalisation, and
• Eligible outpatient treatment expenses (limited to Kidney Dialysis Treatment, Cancer Treatment, Erythropoietin, Immunosuppressants for organ transplant and Long-term Parenteral Nutrition).

5. What happens if my admission details changes, and my certificate will need to be updated?

Please call our Health Connect hotline at 6563 2233 during operating hours or email Pre-Authorisation@healthconnect.com.sg for assistance.

What if an emergency occurs and I have to receive medical treatment as soon as possible, and there is not enough time to contact Health Contact for a panel doctor for pre-authorisation? Would I be subjected to the 5% co-payment of the medical bill under the GREAT TotalCare supplementary plan?

Health Connect service is to assist with the pre-approval of expenses for planned treatment. In an emergency situation, please proceed with the necessary medical and/or surgical treatment.

From 1 April 2021 onwards, GREAT TotalCare (GTC) customers who are admitted into a hospital as a result of an Emergency (fulfilling the contract definition of an Emergency), will have the co-payment amount capped at $3,000 even if there is no certificate of pre-authorisation issued.

1. Are there any medical expenses which are not eligible for request of pre-approval?

Please note the following items:

• Pre and post hospitalisation bills
• Short stay ward
• Pregnancy and childbirth complication
• Accidental dental treatment
• Living donor organ transplant
• Congenital abnormalities
• Psychiatric treatment
• Inpatient Sub-acute Care, Rehabilitation Care and/or Palliative Care
• Overseas treatment

For questions on any of the above, please do call us. The claims for the above-mentioned items can either be submitted via e-filing or manually.

2. Currently I am seeking a medical and/or surgical treatment with a non-panel specialist, should I switch to a Health Connect panel specialist?

To fully enjoy the Health Connect services as our GREAT SupremeHealth customers, you may consider switching to our panel specialists.