FAQs

Do you have a question?

What is Best Doctors?

Best Doctors is a company that connects MLC Critical Illness insurance clients and their families¹ with leading specialists to provide medical advice regarding a serious illness without having to leave home.

Using its global network of over 50,000 leading medical specialists (who have been nominated by their peers), Best Doctors provides MLC Critical Illness insurance clients with comfort and reassurance when:

• they may want to be sure about the condition they suffer
• they may feel they need help deciding between the various treatment options available, especially at this stressful time;
• they may wonder whether they really need surgery;
• they may feel sceptical or confused after accessing information from multiple sources (for example, look up breast cancer online and you're likely to find 34 million pages of information);
• they may not understand their diagnosis; or
• they may question why their symptoms don't seem to be improving.

The use of Best Doctors is entirely your choice and is optional.

1. Family means you (as the insured), your spouse and your dependent children.

What's the history of Best Doctors?

Established by Harvard University medical specialists in1989, Best Doctors is a privately-held company. It now operates in 30 countries, covering more than 15 million members, and has access to over 50,000 medical specialists.

Who selects the ´Best Doctors´?

Best Doctors believes that doctors and specialists are the best qualified to evaluate the experience and skill sets of other specialists and to identify those who are at the peak of their field. Only current medical specialists within the Best Doctors network nominate and vote for peers to join.

As part of the process, the specialists are asked the same question:

If you, or a family member, need a doctor in your speciality, who would you refer them to?

The result is the ultimate vote as to who is the doctors' choice.

Who can use this service?

To see if you're eligible for Best Doctors, check here

Do I need to make a claim to use the service?

Eligible MLC clients can voluntarily access this service regardless of whether you have submitted a claim or the status of that claim.

Does Best Doctors deal with my illness or condition?

Best Doctors will arrange leading specialist medical advice about critical illness, chronic or degenerative conditions, regardless of whether it's a listed condition under your MLC Critical Illness insurance.

If you would like to discuss whether advice is available for your particular situation, call Best Doctors at 1800 186 088.

Please note: consultations regarding acute care (emergency room) cases, pregnancy and mental health conditions are not available through Best Doctors.

How does Best Doctors work?

If you or a close family member is eligible for the service, one call to Best Doctors is all it takes to set the process in motion.

A medical professional from Best Doctors in Australia will become your dedicated point of contact and support you throughout the entire process called 'InterConsultation'.

They'll note your medical history and document any questions you may have.

• You'll need to sign a consent form so Best Doctors can collect all your relevant medical information.
• This may include:
  • medical records,
  • imaging studies,
  • treatment plans,
  • surgical reports, or
  • pathology, including test results and biopsies.

This entire InterConsultation process is completed without you ever having to leave home.

What happens once your medical records have been collected?

At the request of the Best Doctors in Australia, a team of medical experts in Boston (including Harvard-trained specialists) review your case in rigorous detail by:

• identifying the important issues in your case,
• identifying specific questions or concerns you may have, and
• distilling the specifics of the case into a detailed Clinical Summary.

Best Doctors then searches its global network of 50,000 leading peer-nominated medical specialists, to identify who is best suited to review your case.

The leading specialist receives your medical information and conducts a thorough analysis of your case. The specialist then writes a report based on your key issues and concerns.

Prior to sending this report to you, a medical professional from Best Doctors in Australia will call and review the key findings of your report with you.

You will then receive your report that you may want to share with your doctor.

How long does this process take?

On average, you should receive your InterConsultation report within 15-20 business days after all the relevant medical information and reports are received by Best Doctors. That's if pathology doesn't need to be reviewed.

Are there any costs associated with the service?

Doctors aren't paid to be listed in the Best Doctors network, nor does Best Doctors accept payments from doctors to include them in the network. In fact, MLC has paid for access to this medical advice service for our clients with MLC Critical Illness insurance.

Best Doctors doesn't employ doctors, but calls on the appropriate specialist in their network to review on cases in their area of expertise.

When one of these specialists participates in an InterConsultation process, he/she is paid a consulting fee – there is no charge to you or your family for this process.

However, when accessing the service, you may have to pay for faxing or mailing any completed information and consent forms to Best Doctors.

Will my local doctor/s be familiar with Best Doctors?

MLC has recently introduced, on an exclusive basis in Australia for clients with MLC Critical Illness insurance and their families¹, Best Doctors medical advice service. As such, your local doctors may or may not be familiar with Best Doctors.

Best Doctors is forming an Australian-based Medical Advisory Board. One role of this Board is to help educate doctors, at a local level, about Best Doctors.

From an operational perspective, Best Doctors collects medical records, diagnostic tests and pathology through departments of the hospital where you or a family member has been treated.

If Best Doctors needs to approach your doctor to request your medical records, they will fully explain the service.

Best Doctors will also have to show that they have your permission to collect medical records, and the reason/s for doing so.

Over the past 20 years, Best Doctors has established itself in 30 countries worldwide and has experienced acceptance with treating physicians in about 98% of their cases.

1. Family means you (as the insured), your spouse and your dependent children.

How can Best Doctors help local doctors?

These days, it's virtually impossible for any doctor to stay informed of the evolving techniques, medications and treatments for every medical condition.

As a result of sharing your Best Doctors InterConsultation report with your treating doctor/s, leading medical specialists may provide them with valuable insights. These may be regarding complicated medical conditions, and additional information on innovative diagnostic and treatment protocols that might not be readily available.

What personal information is provided to MLC if I use the Best Doctors service?

MLC has arranged for Best Doctors to provide you with this exclusive medical advice service.

Rest assured your privacy is fully protected.

• MLC will not receive a copy of your InterConsultation report from Best Doctors.
• Nor will we accept your InterConsultation report in support of a claim.
• Best Doctors will not share the names of participants with MLC.
• MLC will not ask you for a copy of the InterConsultation report, nor will we accept a copy of the report from you.
• If a copy of an InterConsultation report is received by us, it will be promptly returned to the sender.
• If received, a copy of your InterConsultation report will not be retained on our system.

However, your local treating specialist (with your permission) may use information from the InterConsultation report when submitting medical information to MLC.

Will the Best Doctors service affect an insurance claim?

Best Doctors will not share their findings with MLC and your use of the service won't affect our assessment of a claim. The Best Doctors InterConsultation report cannot be used to support a claim with MLC; nor will MLC request a Best Doctors report in connection with a claim.

However, your treating specialist may, with your consent, share information from the Best Doctors InterConsultation report with MLC. Your privacy will be protected throughout the process.

If, as a policy holder of MLC Critical Illness insurance, you have any further questions please call Best Doctors on 1800 186 088.

Disclaimer

Best Doctors isn't insurance (including health insurance) and it doesn't replace your relationship with your current doctor or medical specialist. Information about the history of Best Doctors and choice of specialists was sourced from Best Doctors. MLC reserves the right to withdraw the service at any time or to change the terms on which the service is provided to customers. Copyright 1998-2009 Best Doctors. All Rights Reserved. Best Doctors, the star-in-cross logo and InterConsultation are trademarks or registered trademarks of Best Doctors in the European Community, the United States and in other countries and are used under license.

The information provided here is for general use only and has been prepared without taking into account any particular person's objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before acting on this information, consider the appropriateness of this information having regard to your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should obtain financial advice specific to your situation before making any financial investment or insurance decision.

MLC Nominees Pty Limited (ABN 93 002 814 959 AFSL 230702 RSE L0002998 Trustee of The Universal Super Scheme R1056778 ABN 44 928 361 101 SFN 281440944) is the issuer of MLC Life Cover Super. MLC Limited (ABN 90 000 000 402 AFSL 230694) is the issuer of MLC Personal Protection Portfolio. MLC Nominees Pty Limited and MLC Limited, both of 105-153 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060, are members of the National Australia Group of companies.

The combined Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for MLC Life Cover Super and MLC Personal Protection Portfolio will provide information about these products. You should consider this disclosure document before making any decision about whether to acquire a policy.A copy of the PDS is available upon request by contacting the MLC Client Service Centre on 132 652 or you can download it from the Forms & Brochures page on the mlc website