Curzon Consulting supports Bupa with launch of new fees for surgeons and anaesthetists

Private healthcare and insurance provider Bupa has launched a new fee model for surgeons and anaesthetists. That transition was supported by advice from professionals at Curzon Consulting.

Recent years have seen the UK’s National Health Service underfunded and inadequately staffed – leading to waiting lists stretching to their worst levels in decades. With the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic also putting pressure on those services, citizens who can afford to pay for healthcare have increasingly been going private to expedite their care. Amid this spike in demand, private healthcare practitioners have been raising their prices.

Earlier in the year, it was reported that Axa Health had increased the fees it pays for medical procedures on average by 15%. Competitor Bupa was reported to be mooting a similar move in July, with industry publication Health & Protection revealing Bupa was going to review fee model to access medical consultants.

The move came in the wake of a long-running dispute between the Independent Doctors Federation and Bupa over fees, patient care and other medical processes. These fees had not been rebalanced since the 1990s, while many of the costs associated with private medical practice – such as procurement of medical materials – had increased.

Following the research, Bupa has outlined a raft of changes to its payment structure. Working with professionals from Curzon Consulting, the firm developed a data-driven fee model for surgeons and anaesthetists, advancing value in healthcare.

After accruing external input, Bupa derived a new formula for fee levels. Going forward, the formula will be ‘Clinical time x Hourly rate x Technical factor + Average indemnity cost per patient + Average admin cost per patient’. Meanwhile, hospitals will continue to cover the cost of assistant surgeons and where a second operating surgeon is required, its benefit limits will continue to be chargeable. At the same time, anaesthetic and surgical procedure fees have not been reduced.

This will mean that from the start of November, anaesthetic procedure fees for treatment of both Bupa UK Insurance and Bupa Global patients will increase by between 10% and 28%, depending on the complexity rating of the procedure. This includes the minimum 5% anaesthetic procedure fee increase Bupa committed to introduce in November 2024 and is in addition to the 15% fee increase it introduced last year.

The fee for the least complex and most minor treatments will rise from £117 to £138, while fees for the most complex and serious procedures will rise from £1,208 to £1,425. Meanwhile, surgical procedure fees for treatment have also increased by between 5% and 23% depending on the complexity rating of the procedure – in addition to the minimum 7% consultation fee increases for contracted consultants Bupa introduced in December 2023.

Commenting on the decision, Bupa stated the review has helped ensure its fee model is “fair, independent and transparent, more accurately representing consultant effort and costs”. With the work having been publicly highlighted, Curzon Consulting has also come forward to comment on the engagement.

Chetan Trivedi, a senior partner at Curzon Consulting, said on LinkedIn, “Confidentiality often means we can’t share much about our client collaborations… [this] new, data-driven fee model for surgeons and anaesthetists, helps to bring greater value to healthcare. This initiative reflects our commitment to enhancing healthcare value through thoughtful data insights and collaboration.”

Trivedi’s statement also added special thanks to the Bupa team, “including John Crompton, Harriet Brady, Robin Clark, and many others,” for their “trust and partnership” throughout the project. At the same time,  he congratulated the joint Bupa and Curzon Consulting team of Serban Suvagau, Sarbo Saha, Uduak Ekong and Adrian Stevensen for “delivering a successful outcome for Bupa” and giving “a great example of our Healthcare and Financial Services sectors coming together to drive value for customers.”