JSE-listed IT company Faritec has launched an application service provider (ASP) for the medical scheme administration sector.
The new company, FariMed, has also announced its first major contract, awarded by Ingwe HPO, the healthcare administration and open scheme business of African Life Assurance. The value of the contract is projected to be more than R40 million over five years.
Ingwe HPO provides medical aid administration to more than 35 000 families through the Ingwe and Commed medical schemes.
Its MD, Peter Botha, says medical aid administration, although a relatively small portion of the total healthcare spend, can be affected significantly through the application of technology. The deal with FariMed allows Ingwe HPO to save at least 30% in IT costs alone.
FariMed`s Peter Winn says the company was formed in response to the need for a pure ASP model medical scheme administration system that had an integrated financial management system, was independent of any medical administration organisation and was able to ensure compliance with international security standards and local accreditation requirements.
He says FariMed aims to capture 30% of this market within two years.
"We identified the opportunity in a very dynamic market to provide a fresh solution to any size administration business and to give administrators an alternative to committing significant capital and resources to depreciating IT assets."
Winn says that essentially, FariMed enables any administrator to render a fully integrated medical scheme administration and risk management service on one integrated IT platform. FariMed charges for this service on a per member, per month basis.
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