South Africa's medical scheme industry is entering "exciting times" during which those with the best membership options and levels of service and attention to detail will stand out from the crowd.
This is the view of Khomotso Mashalane, newly appointed public relations manager at Johannesburg-headquartered Resolution Health Medical Scheme.
Previously employed in the scheme's new business development department, Mashalane believes it is vitally important for an organization such as a medical scheme to communicate consistently and effectively with all of its stakeholders - including existing members, potential new members, service providers, government, staff, and intermediaries.
"It is not sufficient to have good products. You have to be able to differentiate your products and service levels in the market place and maintain excellent relationships with all stakeholders," she says.
One of the country's fastest growing medical schemes, Resolution Health has more than 42,000 principal members and over 100,000 beneficiaries.
Mashalane, a married mother of three children, emphasises the importance of having a corporate culture that majors on teamwork, passion, professionalism, transparency and working towards a common goal.
"We have to concentrate on quality in all aspects of our business and constantly be striving to improve our levels of service," she says.
Corporate social investment is for her another vital aspect of running a successful medical scheme. While Resolution Health has been involved in several social investment programmes - such as providing medical cover for two children's homes in Johannesburg - she wants to take this involvement to a higher level. Further social investments are planned in the near future.
Looking ahead, Mashalane believes the "wellness industry" as she likes to call it, has an enormous role to play in educating people to adopt healthy lifestyles and take more personal responsibility for personal health behaviour and habits.
"Through our Voila! programme, we are rewarding our members for keeping fit through gym membership and for having regular medical checkups and examinations on vital conditions such as cholesterol, glaucoma, pap smears, mammograms and prostate glands," says Mashalane.