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Feature Stories

Safe travels: MEDEX teams with HMI to create health information website for travelers

A leading travel assistance company has teamed with HMI to create MEDEX 360°m global medical monitor, a comprehensive health information website designed for international travelers. 

MEDEX Global Group specializes in providing emergency medical services, security assistance, and insurance to travelers. From its headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, MEDEX coordinates a global network of more than 40,000 health and security-related service providers—including multilingual physician advisors representing more than 30 medical specialties—who help travelers in need of medical evacuation, repatriation, or advice. The Assistance Coordinators and Nurse Case Managers in MEDEX’s 24/7 care center handle an average of 25,000 cases a year, including pre-travel planning and real-time inquiries. 

“MEDEX 360°m is a natural outgrowth of the 300-point credentialing process and ‘white glove’ inspections that all of our providers are subject to. These exacting audits cover all aspects of a facility including medical equipment, procedures, training and staffing, as well as language skills and customs relating to patient comfort and even their location and safe accessibility.” -- Bruce R. Kirby, MEDEX Global Group President and Chief Executive Officer

MEDEX 360°m has been designed as a complement to the real-time services provided by the care center. The website includes profiles for some 236 countries and territories, information on more than 75 diseases and health risks, as well as advice and alerts relevant to travelers. The content is continuously updated by HMI and MEDEX.

“The medical intelligence provided by MEDEX 360°m can help travelers make preparations prior to travel, and good decisions about seeking medical assistance if a health problem arises during their trip,” said Amanda J. Pullen, PhD, HMI Vice President of Knowledge Management & Communication. “Indeed, this program directs travelers to good quality health care options that they might not otherwise have found.”

A team from HMI worked closely with Pascaline Wolfermann, Director of Resource Development at MEDEX, to collect and synthesize health care information from a wide variety of print and online resources, including major medical journals and publications, government reports on health care, and reports and materials generated by non-governmental organizations and international bodies focused on assessing health care indicators in specific countries. HMI and MEDEX also tapped into the experiences of each group’s well traveled service providers. MEDEX physician advisors located around the world helped to review content and layer in their emergency assistance expertise and knowledge of infectious diseases and local medical practices.

MEDEX 360°m also includes a rating system to help users of the site better understand the health risks of their destination country, and the challenges they may face in gaining access to quality medical care. The scale covers diseases and health risks, standards of health care quality, access to health care, and cultural barriers that can impact health care.

Listen to an excerpt of Pascaline Wolfermann's presentation at “World-Class Medicine: Creating Clinical Care Centers of the Future,” HMI's global health forum


(Note: The file may take a few moments to load. Right-click on the icon and select "save target" to download the mp3)

Wolfermann heads a team that travels throughout the world to apply the MEDEX credentialing process. The team evaluates hospitals and clinics, inspects air ambulances, and meets with health care providers and security specialists in the MEDEX network. MEDEX 360°m identifies top providers from MEDEX’s proprietary database of individually credentialed hospitals, clinics, and other resources. MEDEX Global Group does not have any financial interest in the recommended health care providers. Rather, the company utilizes “best in class” criteria to ensure that all clients receive the highest level of care available.

MEDEX Global Group’s membership includes corporate and scholastic clients, though the new medical intelligence product will soon be made available to retail clients as well.

(Read the Wall Street Journal article on the MEDEX project here.)