About WorldMedAssist | Medical Tourism

Our Mission

WorldMedAssist is committed to improving people’s quality of life by providing economic options for high quality international medical treatments.

Having lived in many countries, the founders of WorldMedAssist are familiar with healthcare systems throughout the globe. In fact, one of our founders comes from a family of respected physicians. This experience and knowledge provides us valuable insight into the international healthcare market and is the basis of our high endorsement of our destinations. When compared to other countries, it is easy to see how our destinations can boast unparalleled quality, low cost, and virtually non-existent waiting times.

Our Executive Team

	Wouter Hoeberechts, CEO As the CEO of WorldMed Assist, Mr. Hoeberechts created a company that quickly became one of the leading medical tourism companies in the US. Mr. Hoeberechts is considered a thought leader in the industry and a sought after international speaker. Prior to starting WorldMed Assist, Mr. Hoeberechts owned a management consulting company active in the areas of IT strategy, program management and business process reengineering. In this capacity he consulted to a multitude of companies of varying sizes and different industries, working directly with executive leadership of companies such as GE, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Hewlett Packard, Clorox, King Pharmaceuticals.
	Jim DiFalco, Vice President Business Development Mr. DiFalco has overall responsbility for our corporate sales.  Prior to joining the company, Jim spent six years with Blue Shield of California, a $9.0B health plan focused solely on the California market. At Blue Shield, Jim focused exclusively on mid-size employers, large employers, Taft Hartley groups and Public Sector entities.  He had general management responsibility for all specialty products sold to this market.  During his tenure Jim helped grow Blue Shield’s self funded presence and oversaw a 700% increase in the premium and client base of Blue Shield’s stop loss business. Prior to Blue Shield, Jim held a variety of senior and midlevel sales, product and marketing positions for medical products manufacturers and distributors.  His work included sales management of key accounts including McKesson, AmeriSource Bergen, General Electric and IBM.
	Gulbin Muftuoglu, Marketing Director Marketing executive with over thirteen years of experience in innovation, organizational strategy and building successful brands in different industries ranging from consumer goods to healthcare for companies such as Unilever, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson. Responsible for developing marketing campaigns, gathering consumer/customer insights and building the equity of the WorldMedAssist brand as a differentiated player within the competitive landscape. Experienced in managing teams of senior/brand managers, agencies as well as cross-functional teams to achieve business and marketing goals. Successfully grown mature businesses, established new brands and turned around declining ones. An excellent leader and communicator.

An Interview With Our CEO, Wouter Hoeberechts

When did the concept of Medical Tourism first catch your attention?

At the start of 2006, I read an article about the up and coming industry that allows people to travel abroad to receive medical treatment at a fraction of the cost in the U.S.  Ever since I arrived in the U.S. from The Netherlands, I’ve known that improvements to the US healthcare needed to be made.
My wife’s father is an internationally renowned urologist and professor in Turkey and I became fascinated with the strides that country was making in the delivery of high quality, affordable care.  I started following advances made in other countries like India, Belgium, Mexico and realized North Americans have viable low cost alternatives that are of high quality.

What background do you bring to this venture?

My background is management consulting.  I’ve helped businesses large and small, in multiple industries, develop practical business strategies, manage change, leverage information technology, reengineer customer service functions.

When I examined the Medical Tourism industry, I saw several companies that each did some things quite well, but no single company seemed to pull all the success points together.  With my background in strategy and business process improvement, I knew where the gaps were, and that I could pull together a team of the best minds to manage every aspect of this venture with quality.

What sets WorldMed Assist apart from other medical tourism companies?

In setting up our company we always put our clients’ interest front and center.  For example, we looked very closely at people without any insurance.  They’re at the end of their ropes: the system doesn’t provide for them. We consider it our mission to improve people’s quality of life by putting together a set of options where they can receive economic high quality medical treatments abroad, with every aspect of their care and travel coordinated and simplified.

Another essential component to success in this industry is helping self-insured businesses expand affordable healthcare options for their employees.  My experience is both broad and deep in helping businesses integrate new solutions into existing platforms and coaching them on change management aspects of such a shift.

How do you ensure quality care when you’re several thousand miles away from your patients?

Quality care is job one for us.  We have contracts with experts in all fields related to this industry–doctors, nurses, marketing, customer service, and tourism.  We sign agreements mainly with JCI accredited hospitals that are affiliated with renowned US medical institutions such as Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical.  We look for hospitals that are able to attract the best talent.  For example, in Anadolu, Turkey, 35% of the physicians are US board certified. We also do an exhaustive study of their capabilities, technology deployment—and their ability to create a smooth, pleasant experience for North American patients.

We help each patient select the right facility and medical team for his or her procedure, then arrange conference calls with the medical team to discuss details.  We stay in close touch during the procedure, and relay information back to the patient’s homefront.  We stay connected to patients throughout the experience and maintain close follow up upon their return.  We know that their satisfaction—and resulting word of mouth promotion of WorldMed Assist—is what will allow us to flourish.  If a patient is dissatisfied, we will do anything in our power to make everything right.

Can employers add a medical tourism option into their health plans?

Absolutely, and by doing so, they create a win for their business and a win for their employees.

WorldMed Assist begins by listening to the unique needs of each business, and then creates a detailed, tailored plan that addresses:

• Medical solutions. Which procedures will you offer outside of the U.S., and where?Financial aspects. How much money will you save? Will you provide financial incentives to your employees?
• Administrative help. How do we tie billing and claims management into your existing plan?
• Various other aspects, such as how will you educate employees?