Services
   

Case Studies

 
    Allianz Worldwide Care's commitment to superior service means that we provide peace of mind and reliable service to our members and clients. Please read the following brief examples of support we have provided.

The first case shows the great care we take in looking after members and their families in time of a crisis. The second is an example of how the advice one member received from our MediLine nurses put her at ease. The last example demonstrates how our implementation of cost control benefited one of our corporate clients and enabled our member to receive first class treatment.
 
   

Repatriation

One of our members, a German client, suffered a fatal heart attack in the USA. Allianz Worldwide Care got involved not only in the repatriation itself, as included on the client's Table of Benefits, but also in sourcing all of the necessary documents. This was extremely beneficial to the family who did not speak any English at all.

We sent the documents from one authority to the next, speeding up the actual process of releasing the body and interacting with each authority as required on behalf of the family. The family were extremely thankful, as they could not have handled this complicated process by themselves.

Allianz Worldwide Care supervised the transfer of the remains all the way to the funeral home in his small German hometown. This is a strong demonstration of how Allianz Worldwide Care "going to extra mile" to provide the best possible service to the family in such distressing circumstances.
 
   

MediLine

Allianz Worldwide Care recently launched a medical advice line service, MediLine, for members, which provides comprehensive medical advice and information on symptoms and treatments. This free, confidential service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

Although it is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, our members have found it a convenient, useful and valuable service, especially those based abroad in a country where they don't speak the language. It is sometimes difficult to assess if a medical problem is important enough to see a GP and this facility allows our members to discuss medical problems in a general and confidential manner.

One member, who had just been expatriated to Germany, rang to enquire when her son who had caught chickenpox could return to school and mix with other people. "Although my son was obviously feeling better I was unsure when he was able to mix with other children and did not want to risk sending him back to school if he was still infectious. I rang the Allianz Worldwide Care MediLine and was so impressed with the service. The nurses were so thorough and helpful and advised me that once the scabs had dried up that my son was no longer infectious. They also reminded me that he should not mix with pregnant women as well as people who have not had chickenpox before. I would definitely recommend this service to other expatriates looking for medical advice and tips that they would not necessarily need to go to their doctor for. The fact that the service is available in English was invaluable and speaking to a registered experienced nurse gave me peace of mind."
 
   

Cost Containment

In 2004, one of our members, a 36-year old mother of two with advanced breast cancer contacted our Medical Services department. She had endured surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and her last hope was an allogenic bone marrow transplant. This is a procedure that is no longer considered to be experimental, although it can still have varying results.

This lady sent in a Treatment Guarantee Form for the above-mentioned procedure from the MD Anderson Center in USA (she had Worldwide cover, although she was UK-based). The estimated costs totalled US$215,000.00.

Allianz Worldwide Care's Head of Medical Services decided to research this further and, after a week, sourced an equally experienced state-of-the-art institution in Europe, namely the renowned University Clinic Innsbruck (whose Chief of Staff was actually a former colleague of MD Anderson's Chief of Staff).

The treatment in Innsbruck was quoted for around US$105,000.00, which meant a saving of US$110,000.00 despite the care being of an equally excellent standard in the Austrian clinic as it would have been in the USA. Here, we maintained the standard of care in the eyes of the member, and significantly reduced the financial impact of that treatment to the employer's premium.
             
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