Country Correspondent: Aisha Gomez
Many rural communities struggle with a lack of access to specialists. In New Zealand, a life insurance company, Vero Insurance, has partnered with a U.S.-based company, Best Doctors, to offer their rural policyholders free access to health professionals via phone or email. The partnership aims to connect rural communities with more than 50,000 peer-nominated medical experts in over 450 specialties who will provide second opinions on diagnoses and review treatment plans; participants also will have online access to general practitioners. The partnership builds on the success of Best Doctors in Australia; Australians who used this service saw reductions in work absence as well as reduced medical treatment costs.
