COVER FEATURE: POLMED
Stakeholder collaboration is key to POLMED’ s success. How do you build effective partnerships with regulators, providers, and members? Strong stakeholder relationships is one of the Scheme’ s strategic pillars. We achieve this through:
• Close alignment with SAPS leadership, ensuring beneficiary needs are understood and addressed.
• Ongoing compliance with CMS regulations, supported by proactive engagement and transparent reporting.
• Collaborative provider partnerships focused on value-based care, fair tariffs, and improved member outcomes.
• Regular member engagements, ensuring labour and beneficiaries have a voice in shaping their experience.
This approach allows us to build durable, trust-based relationships that support quality healthcare delivery and long-term sustainability.
Trust is the foundation of member loyalty. How do you ensure POLMED remains responsive, transparent, and trusted? Trust is built through consistency, clarity, and responsiveness. POLMED ensures this via:
• Clear, timely communication on benefit changes, managed-care interventions, and essential Scheme updates.
• Multiple accessible engagement channels, including call centres, walk-in facilities, social media, and the POLMED Connect App.
• Strict POPIA compliance and robust data-security measures to protect member information.
• Acting on member feedback from surveys and member feedback tools, with insights used to enhance service delivery.
• Health promotion and education delivered at station level and through provincial symposiums.
By listening actively and responding transparently, we foster strong and lasting member relationships.
What are the opportunities and challenges defining the future of South Africa’ s medical schemes, and how is POLMED positioned to lead? Medical schemes face a shifting trend in the health landscape defined by universal health coverage( UHC) reform, rising healthcare costs, and the burden of noncommunicable disease( NCD). POLMED’ s ability to lead lies in effectively managing these risks while leveraging the strength of our restricted membership model.
• Universal Healthcare Coverage( UHC): POLMED supports UHC. We advocate for aligning treatment of the SAPS with global best practices, where security services often maintain parallel health systems. We also agree with the international best standards, including delivering through partnership envisaged by Sustainable Development Goal 17( SDG-17). The World Health Organisation( WHO) is agnostic on the financing model; no single financing model is perfect, according to the WHO. We agree with leading scholars that the public vs. private funding debate is a distraction; the real goal is maximising health outcomes with available resources. POLMED believes pragmatic mixed financing models are often necessary and effective for the implementation of UHC. We support NHI with caution, with reference to pitfalls and lessons learned from other countries that have implemented NHI( e. g., avoid overcentralisation; ensure clarity in benefits design; avoid undermining existing functional systems that create financial insecurity for vulnerable groups).
• Escalating Healthcare Inflation: Rising private healthcare costs pose sustained pressure. We counter this through value-based provider partnerships, tariff negotiation, investment in ICT, and strong FWA controls.
• Growing Burden of Disease: Non-communicable diseases significantly impact utilisation and costs. POLMED prioritises preventative care, early disease detection, and structured chronic disease management programmes.
While the future will bring complexity, POLMED remains well-positioned through strong governance, financial resilience, member-focused benefits, and a proactive strategy aligned with long-term sustainability.
Our strategic planning is focused on ensuring that we can continue to serve our members effectively as the landscape evolves. sabusinessintegrator. co. za 11