Award winners 2011 - Lisbon

Air Ambulance provider of the year

Sponsor - Eurami

AMREF Flying Doctors, based in Kenya, is the best-known air ambulance service in the region. With a dedicated fleet of aircraft, from Cessna Caravan, Beechcraft King Air to Cessna Citation Bravo Jets, Flying Doctors provides air ambulance services in Kenya, neighbouring countries and beyond, by private air ambulance or commercial airline with a medical escort. Working closely with local and international authorities, AMREF Flying Doctors goes where others don’t, evacuating mass casualties from conflict zones like Mogadishu, providing helicopter rescue from Mt. Kenya or Kilimanjaro or landing on rough bush airstrips to retrieve critical patients from remote areas.
As an income-generating unit forthe African Medical and Research Foundation, a not-for-profit, internationalNGO,AMREF Flying Doctors supports African communities through its regular Clinical Specialist Outreach Programme as well as the Charity Evacuation Programme. AMREF Flying Doctors, proudly celebrating 55 years of service and expertise next year, is accredited by EURAMI.

Assistance/Claims Handler of the year

Sponsor - Marm Assist

Global Response has, since its inception in 1999, established itself as one of the UK’s leading independent medical assistance companies. With over 70 years’ direct management experience in our sector, we are able to benefit from industry best practice. And through the deployment of sophisticated and market leading technology, which fully integrates our telephony and web based case management systems, our clients and outsourced partners are able to communicate with us via a secure intranet and to have remote access to a comprehensive range of statistical and their own case related information.
Our reputation for delivering service excellence in a multi lingual environment along with our sophisticated cost containment processes positions Global Response as one of the fastest growing and most innovative medical assistance providers in the UK.
With a truly global reach, our operations centres in the UK and New Zealand currently provide assistance services to a diverse range of leisure, corporate and NGO clients.

Cost Containment company and provider of  the year  (to include PPOs and general  services)

Sponsor - WTP Assist

Olympus Managed Healthcare has been successfully delivering healthcare claims administration and cost management services to the international insurance marketplace for 17 years. Olympus’ success can be accredited to meeting its client’s needs through the utilisation of both traditional services and unique solutions.
Olympus, an accredited ISO 9001:2008 company, is committed to ensuring the highest quality service standards. Our clients receive dedicated client management, around-the-clock call-centre access, on-staff medical professionals, comprehensive health provider networks and access to enterprise class technological systems
Olympus delivers a comprehensive healthcare claims and network management solution that offers innovative approaches to managing healthcare costs and adding value to its clients’ portfolios.
The Olympus group of companies operates from its headquarters located in Miami, Florida and through regional offices located globally. Olympus is privately held and 100 per cent management owned.

Hospital/Medical Provider

Sponsor - Dr Colin Plotkin & Sons Consulting

Xanit is a private hospital that is strongly committed to innovation, science and technology, made up of 650 highly qualified professionals. It is an internationally prestigious hospital with the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. In this way we are able to provide an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a high standard of patient care.
Last year, the newly appointed managerial team began working on different strategy lines to turn Xanit Hospital Internacional into a point of reference within the private healthcare sector. Business growth has increased significantly during the past year. We have 12 new heads of departments, combined with 30 new specialists who have joined the hospital’s medical team. We are therefore fortunate to have highly specialised staff at our disposal. Agreements with new insurance companies have recently been signed – we have taken on 15 international organisations and two Spanish ones. We regularly work alongside 50 Spanish insurance companies and 100 international firms.

Insurer/Underwriter of the year

Sponsor - Synergy Aviation

MAPFRE ASSISTANCE is a multinational insurance, reinsurance and services company operating in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. We provide the travel and tourist industry with integrated underwriting, assistance and claims services. We have built a strong reputation for delivering fast, efficient solutions for our clients and their final customers as both a provider of white-label products and with our own brand. We are also the world’s first insurer to automate the whole assistance process ensuring the quickest, most dependable response possible.
MAPFRE ASSISTANCE belongs to MAPFRE S.A., the largest insurance, reinsurance, and financial services company in Spain and Latin America and among the top 10 in Europe. MAPFRE ASSISTANCE is certified as conforming to the ISO 9001:2000 International Quality Standard and enjoys the full financial backing of MAPFRE S.A., which has been rated A1 by Moody’s credit rating agency since 2002.

Intermediary of the year (to include all retailers of  travel insurance)

Global Excel Management

Healix Insurance Services are a leading wholesale travel insurance intermediary. As part of the Healix Group, we have grown significantly since 2006, with our procurement influence now felt across more than £45m GWP. Through the combination of a highly experienced team, exceptional market relationships and cutting-edge technology, Healix adds value to their clients’ businesses at every stage of the product cycle. We pride ourselves on our understanding of every element of the transaction and being able to engage at a detailed level with clients, insurers and service providers alike. Data analysis, coupled with intuitive product insight, is a central theme to our client management process. Our ability to align stakeholders’ expectations within a clear performance management environment means our partnerships prosper over the long term, with step changes giving way to constant refinement. As a consequence, our clients trust us to deliver the best products, all of the time.

ITIJ marketing campaign of the year (judged independently)

Sponsor - ITIJ

Drum Cussac