Portable Medical Record Technology Now Available to Expatriates

As all expats know, international medical insurance is big business with companies competing for business within a large market pool of demand.  Premiums charged are high, and getting higher annually as we’re repeatedly told that inflation in the medical services industry runs far higher than in the ‘real world.’

So, what do all of these insurance companies do to attract our attention and win our business?  They attempt to offer us more bells and whistles on our policies to attract us and our financial commitment…however, there’s a definite limit to the amount of cover one needs, and this means that at some point, international health insurance companies have to get creative to get our interest.

Last year we saw some companies change the way they offered insurance and move to a more modular, streamlined and cost effective way of insuring their clients’ health – and this year it seems that IntegraGlobal has come up with yet another advantage that they can offer their clients.  Thanks to their IntegraGlobal electronic health records account, powered by Zaptag, portable medical record technology is now available to expatriates.  But is this a gimmick or actually something of maximum benefit to an international citizen?

The idea behind the electronic health records account that forms part of their health insurance product for expats is that you can securely store all the critical information about your health, your contact information, your insurance details etc., and if you’re involved in a medical emergency, practitioners can gain access to all of this information immediately.

What’s more, you can manage the storage and filing of this information, and if you change country, town or just practitioner, you can hand over your medical records immediately, without having to wait for the transfer of details, or without you losing critical historical information that may be of use down the line for a diagnosis or the management of an illness for example. 

We’ve been discussing the technology at Shelter Offshore and it’s fair to say we’re divided in terms of opinion about whether this is a gimmick, technology for technology’s sake, and something that could easily be lost, damaged or fall into the wrong hands – or whether actually, this technology is brilliant !  The fact of the matter is, it exists, and it is a unique selling point in favour of the IntegraGlobal brand of international health insurance – whether you personally think it would be of use and benefit to you and your family is very much a personal choice however.

There is plenty of information about it on the company’s website, so if you’re interested, check it out!  If on the other hand you think it’s a gimmick, don’t worry, there are plenty of providers in the marketplace competing for your business on a basic price competitive level, so you can go and explore their offerings instead.  The most important thing to remember in all of this is that you have appropriate cover in place to protect your health and that of your family…no matter where in the world you’re living.