Sickness benefit, rehabilitation, aids: In the event of illness, quick and competent help is important. A current rating shows which providers customers are satisfied with.
Customer service of the health insurance companies: Who best looks after the insured Photo: picture alliance / Zoonar
Dusseldorf. Those who are healthy rarely have contact with their health insurance company. If a person becomes seriously ill, they need sick pay, rehabilitation or medical supplies. Then it's not just the scope of services that counts. Equally important are quick answers, competent advice, dedicated contacts and uncomplicated applications.
“Service is always important when insured people need services,” says Yvonne Vollmer, head of the health and patient protection department at the Hamburg Consumer Center. “Unfortunately, it is usually only then that it becomes apparent how good the service is in individual cases.”
The current rating from the German Financial Service Institute (DFSI) provides guidance. The institute examined the service of statutory health insurance companies (GKV) in four areas: classic service (40 percent), customer performance (25 percent), digital service (20 percent) and branch network (15 percent). Customer performance is based on satisfaction surveys and willingness to recommend your own health insurance fund to others.
“From our experience, it is not uncommon for incorrect information to be given over the phone,” says Vollmer. "Notifications are not always worded well, accurately and understandably. Recipients of sickness benefit feel like supplicants and feel harassed." Such experiences are also reflected in the willingness to recommend others.
Personal closeness remains important
Digital offerings are becoming more important. But personal advice is still required, especially when it comes to complicated insurance questions, rehabilitation applications or care services. “Many people value the opportunity to have a personal conversation, especially when it comes to complicated insurance questions, applying for rehabilitation, long-term incapacity to work or organizing care services,” says DFSI Managing Director Thomas Lemke.
Several regional general health insurance companies perform particularly well in terms of their branch network. “Our branch network is an important part of our self-image,” says Katja Zeidler from AOK Plus. The fund operates 130 locations in Saxony and Thuringia and wants to expand the network to 160.
The AOK Sachsen-Anhalt achieved the highest rating among the regional health insurance companies. It maintains 44 customer centers. In the DFSI data set, one office has around 19,400 insured people.
AOK Baden-Württemberg also has an extensive network of locations. Among the cash registers open nationwide, Barmer is in the top group.
Methodology
The German Financial Service Institute (DFSI) evaluated the customer service of statutory health insurance companies in four areas.
The comparison gives the most weight to the classic service (40 percent). A quarter is accounted for by customer performance, which is made up of the satisfaction of the insured and their willingness to recommend others. Digital services make up 20 percent of the overall rating, the branch network the remaining 15 percent.
However, the number of locations says little about waiting times and quality of advice. “You shouldn’t equate a dense branch network with an automatically higher quality of advice,” points out Lemke. “Neither a particularly well-equipped app nor a large number of branches alone guarantee good customer service.” The interaction of different contact and support channels is crucial.
Competence and accessibility count
Good service is more than just an accessible hotline. The DFSI also takes into account the qualifications of the advisory staff, medical advice hotlines, foreign language offerings and additional services. This includes arranging appointments with specialists, advice on rehabilitation and aids, finding midwives and emergency services abroad.
The AOK Rheinland/Hamburg achieved full points in the classic service. Your telephone advice is available around the clock. In addition, the “AOK-Clarimedis” advisory team provides support with questions about diagnoses, treatments and medications.
The Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) also does very well. It offers telephone support available around the clock and the TK appointment service, which supports insured persons in arranging appointments with specialists.
AOK Plus combines a 24-hour service hotline with a callback service, medical advice and personal contacts on site. “Such offers are particularly important for insured people who need regular support,” says Lemke. This applies in particular to those with chronic illnesses, people with disabilities, those in need of care and their relatives.
Digital service around the clock
A lot has also happened in digital customer service. “Digital services are in increasing demand,” says Andreas Storm, CEO of DAK-Gesundheit. The app is the “service center for your pocket” and is well received. At the same time, DAK promotes the “digital competence” of its customers so that they can use the offers.
Health insurance apps have long offered more than just submitting photographed invoices. They bundle communication, administration and benefits processing, enable digital advice and manage bonus programs.
Barmer and TK are ahead when it comes to digital service at cash registers that are open nationwide. The regional health insurance companies are Bergische Krankenkasse and AOK Plus.
Overall rating: Who performed best
In the overall rating service, the Techniker Krankenkasse and DAK-Gesundheit score “excellent” and are therefore the best among the health insurance companies open nationwide. TK is particularly impressive because it combines high customer performance with extensive classic and digital offerings. At DAK, personal and digital service are among the strengths. Barmer sets the strongest accents in digital service and receives the grade “very good”. At the regional level, AOK Plus and AOK Bayern show that a dense branch network can be combined with efficient telephone and digital support.
“Ultimately, what matters for insured people is not whether a health insurance company achieves full points for as many individual services as possible,” says Lemke. “It is much more important that she can be easily reached via the desired communication channel if necessary, can provide qualified advice and that insurance matters can be dealt with easily.” Good customer service means, above all, making access to medical services and personal support as easy as possible.
