Misdiagnosis impacts people in so many ways and often it can be life changing or indeed life threatening. It also costs employer, millions of pounds, due to loss of productivity and doctors’ bills. The problem is, that with many medical conditions, misdiagnosis causes errors and delays in getting the right treatment quickly.

Dr Tobias Lindner from one of the world’s oldest university hospitals, Charite in Berlin, argues for a case for all citizens to hold a globally recognised medical card. Hospitalisation and doctors’ fees are high for a good reason, but to avoid a lengthy stay and further use of resources, a medical card could reduce confusion, waiting and ultimately costs.

In Europe, it can take up to 16 hours to gain a patient’s medical history from the UK, but why delay it? People working abroad should as a standard, have the confidence to know that their medical history, current medication and allergies can be immediately known, and rapid problem discrimination is possible faster for therapy initiation. Essentially, if all employees held a medical card that contained all of their information, this could lead to substantial savings due to illness can be made annually.

Ole Petter Drønen, Medical Doctor in Gran Canaria, backs this claim.  “During ten years as a practising MD on Gran Canaria, I have been reminded daily about patients’ need for medical certainty while abroad. The biggest problem by far has been the lack of knowledge people have about their own health situation.  This lack of information often leads to unnecessary examinations and admissions to hospitals, which steals valuable time and increases the risk of mis-medication.”

This is the employers’ responsibility – whether employees are away for work or leisure, the employer is paying for the holiday time. Should there be a delay in returning to the workplace, due to an accident or treatment at a hospital outside of the UK, the employer continues to pay for the absenteeism. Losses of this kind are preventable and employees should be safe, well and cared for should the worst happen and, if treatment is good, they can be back to work sooner.

The story behind WMC Technologies

Arne Viedung founded World Medical Technologies after his father had a scare while on holiday abroad running out of heart medicine. Luckily, he survived but did not manage to supplement his medicine while on holiday. Arne thought this was a not an acceptable situation for people to find themselves in and he assembled a team of doctors and people from the University of Bergen whom all helped him develop a personal medical emergency card known today as World Medical Card.

The current board includes Professor Michael Nobel, PhD who states. “We help people obtain safe and efficient medical treatment by providing them with the World Medical Card containing an international code system that doctors all over the world are familiar with.”

Click here to find out more about the World Medical Card