Training the next generation of health entrepreneurs through Altron's MediSwitch

Issued by Altron tmt for Altron
Johannesburg, 11 Oct 2017

Medical students receive excellent clinical training, but they often graduate not knowing how to run a practice as a business. MediSwitch, a unit of JSE-listed Altron, is helping to change this by investing time and resources in training medical students by giving them advice on entering the business environment as healthcare practitioners.

MediSwitch, which has trained over 200 students, offers practice management talks once a year to University of Witwatersrand physiotherapy students, as well as University of the Western Cape dentistry students.

Mteto Nyati, Altron Chief Executive, said: "Healthcare is one of the focus areas for growth for the Altron group, and the MediSwitch team is not only offering healthcare practice solutions to the healthcare industry, but also extending their expertise to benefit medical students in getting them ready for the business world.

"Entrepreneurship and small and medium businesses are the bedrock of SA's economy. It is generally accepted that small and medium businesses contribute about half of SA's gross domestic product. Our training allows medical professionals to focus on why they went into healthcare practice in the first place," he added.

Doloress Nkosi, Services Manager at Mediswitch, said: "Many students coming out of university are not always equipped in terms of setting up a practice. They face challenges with billing and dealing with medical aids, which includes understanding the importance of coding correctly so they can receive payment timeously.

The company's practice management advisory sessions for the medical students cover a range of topics such as: which medical bodies to register with, the importance of location, practice administration, management of patient records, claims and online payments, as well as improving cash flow.

"Providing medical students with the right skills to successfully run their own practice is important to the Altron group - expanding healthcare to all sectors of society in South Africa, and providing young entrepreneurs with the skills to stimulate economic growth, reduce unemployment levels, and contribute to alleviating poverty," concluded Nkosi.

MediSwitch is a leader in electronically delivering claims from healthcare professionals to medical schemes and administrators for quick payment. Its purpose is to eliminate paper from the system, replacing paper claims with cost-effective electronic transactions, which increases efficiencies and reduces costs for all stakeholders.

Allied Electronics Corporation

South African listed Allied Electronics Corporation (Altron), through its principal subsidiaries, Allied Technologies (Altech) and Bytes Technology Group (Bytes), is invested in telecommunications and IT. The Altron group employs more than 8 000 employees globally.

Founded in 1965, Altron has a direct presence in eight countries, including South Africa, the UK and Australia, on four continents through its various businesses. In addition, the group's strategic partnerships with leading international technology companies gives it access to leading technology capabilities and products from across the world, including Asia, Europe and North America.

The majority of the group's revenue and headcount are derived from the local market in South Africa, where the group is headquartered.

The group's primary focus is in providing innovative solutions in the fintech, healthtech, safety and security, and learning and development verticals that have a meaningful impact on society by addressing challenges facing communities in South Africa, the continent and beyond, while delivering shared value for all its stakeholders.

MediSwitch

MediSwitch pioneered Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for healthcare in South Africa and revolutionised practice administration with the electronic claim submission and management process. MediSwitch solutions drive higher efficiencies in the businesses of funders and healthcare professionals, thereby facilitating:

* Improved cash flow;
* Reduced exposure to financial risk;
* Reduced administration hassle and expense; and
* Tools that provide greater financial management control in the healthcare facility.

There are close to 30 000 healthcare professionals, including all retail pharmacies in South Africa, that benefit from using MediSwitch for the electronic submission of claims.

www.altron.com
JSE code: AEL

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