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In the dynamic world of global business, international assignees play a pivotal role. Companies send their top talent abroad to lead projects, manage branches, and foster partnerships, but this comes at a high cost. Deploying an employee with a three-member family on a three-year assignment can exceed US $1m, and four in ten assignments are unsuccessful. The success of these assignments depends not only on professional capabilities but also on the quality and continuity of medical care received. Poor healthcare can lead to untreated illnesses, stress, and increased organizational costs due in part to medical evacuations.
To mitigate these risks, companies must work with insurance carriers to prepare, support, and manage the medical needs of their assignees. Proactive outreach and ongoing support from clinical teams can help employees navigate healthcare challenges, access quality healthcare locally and ease uncertainty. In critical health situations though, outsourced air ambulance services ensure objective decisions based on patient needs. A holistic, clinically led provider credentialing program ensures qualified medical evacuation partners are available when needed.
Connected care: Expertise along the care continuum
The transition to a new country can be daunting for international assignees and their families. Beyond the obvious challenges such as cultural adjustments and language barriers, there can be significant concerns about healthcare and safety. Where do I go for medical care? How do I pay for services? Is the provider and the facility properly equipped to handle my procedure? These concerns are real which is why proactive outreach and ongoing support from insurance carrier’s clinical teams – from inquiry to discharge – can significantly help employees mitigate these challenges and easy uncertainty.
Let’s look at a real-life example: A 14-year-old in Nicaragua had attempted suicide and was admitted to a local hospital. The parents contacted UnitedHealthcare Global, which facilitated a guarantee of payment (GOP). Intelligence experts determined that the local facility lacked adequate psychological care, and no nearby facility could provide the necessary treatment. Given the complex political situation in Nicaragua, an evacuation to the home country was essential. UnitedHealthcare Global sent a nurse to accompany the child, ensuring he was never alone. Assistance teams coordinated an air ambulance to the U.S., where the child received successful inpatient treatment. The medical director collaborated with local providers to ensure the treatment plan was appropriate. A dedicated nurse managed and monitored the case, keeping employers and family informed and assisting with outpatient care. Post-treatment, UnitedHealthcare Global handled repatriation and navigated re-entry challenges. The same nurse continued to provide medication management, education, and resources to the family.
This model exemplifies the comprehensive value of providing continuous care and support throughout the entire process. By facilitating immediate medical attention, managing complex international medical evacuations, and ensuring ongoing care post-repatriation, this approach allows carriers to more effectively protect the health and wellbeing of individuals globally.
Transforming treatment: Embracing shared responsibility in medicine
The concept of transforming treatment by embracing shared responsibility in medicine involves recognizing that the provider-patient relationship is not just one-to-one. Multiple administrative functions in care settings and emergency services contribute to ensuring the quality and safety of care delivered. Three key features that make these scenarios successful are the intimacy of handovers between teams, healthcare intelligence, and clinical expertise.
- Cross-functional teams interact daily, sharing insights and updates about patients’ conditions, which eliminates information gaps.
- Healthcare intelligence involves the strategic gathering and analysis of data to make informed decisions that improve patient outcomes and service efficiency. If a facility or the physician is not qualified to perform the procedure and an evacuation is deemed appropriate, clinical teams leverage credentialing intelligence to select suitable air ambulances, streamline admissions, transfer records, and manage payments, ensuring assignees focus on their jobs, confident in their family’s care.
- Clinical expertise, combined with healthcare intelligence and mapping technology, helps guide individuals to the right care.
This integrated approach ensures that patients receive appropriate and safe care, enhancing the overall quality of healthcare services.
Medical evacuations: Ensuring objectivity and patient safety
A medical evacuation, in any instance, adds a layer of risk to the patient. At UnitedHealthcare Global, we only pursue an evacuation when the local healthcare is deemed inappropriate or incapable of properly treating a patient’s condition. We do not recommend moving a patient who does not need be moved if the local healthcare is appropriate.
In critical health situations where patients need to be transported back home or to a better-equipped facility, carriers can use outsourced air ambulance services. Outsourcing these services allows carriers to remain objective, making decisions based solely on the patient’s needs rather than any affiliations with service providers, and significantly reduces potential risks associated with transportation during medical emergencies. This is where the value of having a holistic, clinically led provider credentialing programme for medical evacuation providers shines through. It ensures that when local healthcare fails, the most qualified medical evacuation transport partner, with the right medical services on-board, can be called in to assist.
The role of proactive support in the success of international assignments cannot be overstated. As demonstrated by UnitedHealthcare Global’s model, when clinical services, healthcare intelligence, and assistance teams work in concert, the quality of decision-making improves dramatically, directly enhancing the expatriate’s quality of life. For international HR and benefits managers, adopting such an integrated approach can be a game-changer, ensuring that their employees can perform to their best potential while feeling secure and valued. This not only boosts the success rates of international assignments but also positions the company as a preferred employer globally. In the evolving landscape of global business, such proactive and comprehensive expatriate support has the potential to define the leaders in international human resource management.
About Pascaline Wolfermann
Pascaline Wolfermann is the director of healthcare intelligence for UnitedHealthcare Global. With a background in international relations and languages, she began her career by managing healthcare logistics during a cholera outbreak in Iquitos, Peru, and later worked extensively across Latin America. Today, Pascaline leads the healthcare intelligence team dedicated to enhancing global healthcare access and quality, focusing on the critical role of resources and infrastructure in healthcare delivery.