Information such as who is covered, where they are to be based, what they are covered for and how the claims process works, are all key questions that would help the OH team to understand the terms for any policies in force. They will answer the questions; does the business look after the family too and who will pick up the fees for any vaccinations or medical packs issued by the OH team?

In many cases, the company will have an independent advisor or broker, who can also assist with helping to interpret the finer details of what is and is not covered by the insurance. For example, some insurance policies will include pre-assignment vaccinations and screenings, whilst other will not. Most now cover “chronic” conditions, including paying for insulin for diabetes and inhalers for asthma. It is important to establish these facts for the company and the employees involved to avoid dual expenditure, mainly through lack of knowledge.

2. “Link it up” – Business Travelers
The easiest link is to make a connection when tickets are booked for all business travel and then “systems link” them back to the OH team. For example, an employee might book a ticket to travel for a period of time that is longer than one would expect or to an area that is deemed high-risk at the time of travel. This “travel link” would trigger the possible need for OH intervention; to advise on medical requirements for long stay visits in certain countries. Currently, trips to Asia Pacific or Canada would alert all parties to the SARS epidemic, for example.

If insurance is in place, some providers have the capability to offer website links to their medical and evacuation assistance partners as part of the package. The website, possibly linking through the company’s intranet, would be a useful tool, as they generally provide information on “in-country” facilities e.g. vaccination requirements, nearest hospitals, GP accessibility, useful telephone numbers and local health information. However, it is important to identify that the information does not conflict in any way with any existing OH travel policies for your organisation.

As the political climate changes frequently a few online services now provide minute-by-minute information on the political situation for over 150 countries. As above, travellers will be prepared for travel and covered for a medical emergency and now a company can purchase “access” to services that will repatriate for non-medical reasons. This may plug the gap to ensure your travelers are truly covered and can get out if the situation turns sour.

The wellbeing of an individual traveling includes the situation around them and recently the fast moving political situation causes as much concern as the medical risks. Securite Sans Frontiers (SSF) is one such company that offer a corporate insurance against the new risks of political evacuation and repatriation.

3. Communication/education
Delivering travel health and wellbeing information for regular business travelers is normally more economic to run a one-off programme at the beginning of each year. This will ensure everyone has had at least one OH consultation and advice on general travel medicine and what to expect in certain countries that are frequently visited. They can also be given information and advice of how and when to self-refer back to OH, such as; when their health status changes or their travel patterns alter.

Expatriates and travelers are independent by definition and may not take enthusiastically to a health promotion and education campaign! There needs to be a balance between the need for OH Teams to control and monitor health and enabling self-management. Access to 24-hour help lines, relevant websites on health and political climates and in-house OH information sheets are all ways of achieving this.

4. Insurance and other support
OH teams often avoid getting involved in insurance - yet they are sometimes best placed to know the medical risks and hazards that people will face. Ensuring that the right cover is in place, from a due diligence point of view, is vital. Although OH people do not have to involve themselves with the financial aspects of the insurance contract, their input and advice to the HR or Financial Director is valuable. The advice on the medical requirements of the cover should play a big part in what is finally offered to the employees and their dependents. Any additional benefits suggested by the OH Team, may well have a cost impact on the insurance claims and premiums, but could also save the company money in the long term. For example, if cover for maternity complications was overlooked, and a case subsequently occurred in Japan or USA, the cost to the company could well exceed £40,000. An extra £5,000 to insure for this event may be a sensible investment.

In addition, ensuring support is given for the whole family is important, whether the dependents are going with the expatriate or are staying behind. If the family stays behind when an employee is on long-term secondment a reminder of the benefits package available and how to access it will be well received (employee assistance programme for example)

5. Reduce paperwork
Busy travellers want an easy process that is paper-lite. Keep it clean and reduce paper to the minimum to ensure your traveling audience use OH in plenty of time prior to travel.

Useful websites

Know before you go - www.fco.gov.uk
Political evacuation - www.p-e-r-i.com
Travel medicine web sites – OH magazine have loads of examples form advertiser