Patient survey FAQs

As New Zealand’s largest health insurer Southern Cross would like to understand more about your experience of treatment funded under your Southern Cross policy, as well as the impact your treatment has had on your overall health and wellbeing. By telling us about your experience and the impact of your treatment on your quality of life, you’re giving us insight into what’s working well and what could be improved.

As part of this we may choose to share your anonymised survey results with healthcare providers and facilities, and/or publish them in the future to allow comparison of experiences and reported outcomes.

The survey questions were developed by EuroQol (based in Holland), The University of Oxford and CFEP (Australia). The questionnaires are internationally validated. These questions are used internationally, including within organisations such as the NHS (the UK’s National Health Service).

We collect information about your experience of treatment and the impact your treatment has had on your quality of life. You’ll be asked multi-choice questions about your experience with your healthcare provider and the facility, and to provide any comments. Please ensure that you do not include any identifiable information about yourself in your comments to ensure that your feedback remains anonymous

No, this survey captures patient reported outcome and patient experience information only.

We’ll use the anonymised survey responses to help us understand members’ experiences of treatment by specific healthcare providers and facilities and how the treatment impacts their quality of life. As part of this we may choose to share the anonymised survey results with healthcare providers and facilities, and/or publish them in the future to allow comparison of experiences and reported outcomes.

Any Southern Cross member who has received prior approval for a selected treatment and has an email address registered on their policy will be sent a survey. Participation is entirely voluntary and it will not affect your Southern Cross policy in any way.

Only the member who underwent the treatment should complete the survey. If the member is under 18 years old, their parent or guardian may complete the survey on their behalf, or if English is not the member's native language, someone could help them enter their feedback.

Where the member who had the treatment does not have an email address listed with us, we will send the survey to the policyholder. If you’ve received a survey for someone on your policy, please forward the survey on to them to complete.

Depending on the type of treatment you have, you may be asked to participate in a one, two, or three-part survey.

If you are participating in a one-part survey, if you have had a surgical treatment you will receive the survey three months afterwards. If you have had a specialist consultation you will receive the survey within two-three days.

If you are participating in a two-part survey, you will receive the first part after you obtain prior approval and must complete this before your treatment. The second part will be sent three months after your treatment.

If you are participating in a three-part survey, you will receive the first part after you obtain prior approval and must complete this before your treatment. The second part will be sent three months after your treatment, and the third part six months after your treatment.

You may also have indicated you’d like to be contacted for a follow up phone interview. These are conducted by Buzz Channel and the details are confidential to you and the interviewer. If you are selected, someone from the team at Buzz Channel will contact you within 2 weeks of indicating your interest.

This survey is only sent via email and must be completed online.

The survey will take about 5 - 10 minutes to complete depending on the treatment you had.

Yes. If you exit the survey before it is finished, your completed responses up to that point will be saved. When you return to the survey via the link in your email you’ll be able to pick up where you left off.

The survey is open and can be completed for one month from after you receive it. If your treatment takes place within that month, the survey will close the day before your treatment. A reminder email will be sent 14 days after the first email if you have not completed it.

No. In order to keep the responses anonymous these surveys can only be completed online.

Where the member who had the treatment does not have an email address listed with us, we send the survey to the policyholder. If you’ve received a survey for someone on your policy, please forward the survey on to them to complete.

Only the member who underwent the treatment should complete the survey. If the member is under 18 years old, their parent or guardian may complete the survey on their behalf or if English is not the member's native language, someone could help them enter their feedback.

Where the member who had the treatment does not have an email address listed with us, we send the survey to the policyholder. If you’ve received a survey for someone on your policy, please forward the survey on to them to complete.

We are conducting this survey through a third party (Cemplicity) to ensure your responses remain anonymous. Cemplicity has undertaken an independent data security assessment to ensure that your personal data is handled securely and according to our privacy statement.

Once you’ve completed the survey, Cemplicity will remove any information linking you to your survey response and provide us with anonymised information only. Southern Cross has no way of connecting any survey answer to the individual who gave that response – unless the individual identifies themselves in a free text comment. It is your responsibility to ensure that you keep your comments free of identifying details such as (but not limited to) your name or treatment date.

For the purposes of the monthly prize draw, Cemplicity will tell us the name of the monthly prize winner (but without linking this to your survey response).

No. You may be asked to complete a survey by your hospital, either during your discharge process or once you are back at home. This is unrelated to the survey that we (Southern Cross Health Society) have emailed you.