ARDI Develops Partnership with Acibadem Healthcare Group, a World-Renowned Hospital Network
Georgia’s leading insurance company ARDI and the world-famous hospital network Acibadem Healthcare Group signed a memorandum affirming that the latter has become the network provider for ARDI, allowing Insureds at ARDI to receive treatment in Turkish clinics chain.
This collaboration is an unprecedented event in the Georgian insurance market, giving all those insured by ARDI a unique opportunity to, by using insurance cards purchased in Georgia, take advantage of the services offered by the leading healthcare center.
Acibadem Healthcare Group, which has developed rapidly since 1991 to become one of the leading institutions in Turkey within the field of private healthcare services, operates in four countries with 21 multipurpose hospitals and 16 outpatient clinics.
ARDI Global, an international service center specifically designed for this purpose, is designed to provide ARDI customers all the services they need to be treated in Acibadem clinics. It is enough for the insured to contact the international service center global@ardi.ge and they will receive: complete management of medical services; remote review of individual patient cases online; preparation of all the necessary documents from various medical clinics and laboratories in Georgia; full planning of services to be received in Turkey, if necessary; and finally, co-funding in accordance with the terms of their individual insurance plans and based on prices of leading medical clinics/hospitals in Georgia for the same services.
ARDI’s customers will now have full access to ARDI's co-sponsored medical services as well as a privileged 15% discount on Acibadem's services, such as surgical treatment, hospital therapy, oncology, neurosurgery, cardiology, gynecology, urology, orthopedics, disease prophylaxis, and robotic operations (cyber knife, Da Vinci). The 15% discount will likewise apply to services that are not commonly covered by a standard insurance card, such as plastic surgery, weight correction and bariatric surgery, transplantations of organs and tissues.
As part of this collaboration, ARDI's clients will benefit from a full package of additional services: second medical opinion (SMO) completely free of charge; meeting at the airport; free transfer from airport / hotel to clinic and vice versa; personal Georgian-language manager services at the clinic; 30% discount on travel insurance policy of any term.
This initiative, using a Georgian insurance card in international medical providers, launched by ARDI in 2015, continues to develop and envisages offering many exclusive innovations to its clients in future, including constant access to the world's leading, top-quality medical services and cutting-edge approaches.
“We believe in Georgian doctors and we believe in the Georgian health system. We have very good Georgian doctors at Acibadem. Acibadem is still looking for more opportunities to collaborate with Georgia. This agreement between ARDI and Acibadem is very important for us and for all ARDI insureds, to have an easy access of highest quality healthcare services promptly and with support by their INSURER” - said Murat Pekmezoglu, MD, CIS Region Investments and Business Development Director of Acibadem Healthcare Group.
Following the ceremony affirming the new partnership, GEORGIA TODAY spoke with Japaridze Mikheil, Executive Director of ARDI.
How long have the negotiations been going on?
The negotiations have been going on for months. We’ve had to discuss a range of issues and details to ensure that our services and products are customized to the needs of the local market and clients, taking into account the specificities of Georgia’s health system and insurance sector. One important decision made was that all our clients, current and future, will receive an additional service, i.e. coverage of medical services received in Turkey’s renowned and advanced medical facilities. As a rule, Georgian insurance companies provide coverage only within Georgia and we want to change this practice by giving our customers greater choice should they decide to seek treatment abroad. And if they do so, they will be able to obtain world-class services in Turkey’s leading clinics.
Does it mean that the cost of your customers’ premium will increase?
The service will be automatically added to the package for those already insured by us and included in the package (at no additional cost) for those who will become our customers in the future. For ARDI’s customers, the difference usually lies in the levels of limits assigned to different insurance policies. Legally, there is very little difference, if at all, between the various types of policy. ARDI has been active on the Georgian market for almost ten years, and we have remained true to this principle throughout this time. Our customers are free to choose where they would like to get the needed service. Also, all the preceding, preparatory procedures (for which customers usually need to incur additional expenses) to organize and agree the details of medical services out of country are free for our customers. By sending one simple initial request at following email address, global@ardi.ge organization of full service pack would be started by our highly qualified international medical service team.