What is Second Medical Opinion?
If you ever feel uncertain about your medical condition, or feel you have been misdiagnosed – this is when you need to use Second Medical Opinion services. This is a very popular option many expatriates in China prefer to use. In particular, due to need for having a better understanding of local health practices. Which is why many insurance companies offer such services on top of regular insurance protection. Sort of a value added services.
Why would I need second medical opinion in China?
If you are looking for a peace of mind and want extra certainty for your medical conditions – using second medical opinion will be a great choice. Through this, you will get extra reassurance through insurance company’s own medical team. They will go through your diagnosis and all medical report, and highlight if there is any discrepancy in your treatment plan.
When can I use it?
If your China health insurance plan has second medical opinion services, you are welcome to use them. Make sure to check policy wording of your plan regarding any waiting period. With some companies you may need to wait a couple of month after insurance plan was first purchased. before you can utilize those benefits. Once waiting period is gone, this will not apply again if you renew on the same plan structure next year.
How to use those services?
Checking policy wording of your insurance plan will be a good start. Quite often there are clear guidelines on how to use such services. Generally speaking, you have to get a diagnosis first with a licensed medical practitioner. Should you feel need of a review by another doctor, or simply double checking if everything was alright, you will need to contact your insurance hotline team. They will arrange their second medical opinion team to review and get back to you with feedback. Quite often large insurance companies employ their own doctors for those matters. Smaller tier insurance companies outsource it to third parties. Regardless what option it is, after contacting hotline support you will be assigned a doctor of their own. They are referred as Case Managers. All future communication will go through them.
Keep in mind that using second medical opinion doesn’t use any benefits from your policy structure. However, there might be some restriction regarding how many times per year such services can be utilized.