Simply put, WorldCare’s mission is to save lives. Over the past 26 years, the company has expanded its efforts to provide expert medical second opinions (MSOs) to members with critical and life-threatening conditions around the world. Managing care for individuals with critical illnesses like cancer, autoimmune disease, and cardiovascular disease involves complexity due to the manner in which these diseases affect the human body, and the variety of co-existing conditions that can be involved. While critical illness cases represent only 5% of medical cases, they account for nearly 95% of healthcare costs and require highly specialized medical care. Gaining access to an expert medical opinion can be advantageous for critically ill members who want verification of their diagnosis, insights on treatment plans, and more information about their personal condition before making medical care decisions with their local physician and family members.
According to Founder and CEO Dr. Hassan Sharif, dealing with chronic and complex ailments such as cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach to bring all stakeholders together to exchange insights and experience to treat not just the disease or tumor, but the whole patient. The WorldCare Consortium® teams review patient cases including all medical records, radiology images, pathology reports, and diagnostic tests. Although the patient is not physically in front of the specialist team, the team has all the information needed to review the original diagnosis and treatment plan, make necessary adjustments, and provide a recommendation for the patient’s optimal course of action.
Availing an Expert Second Opinion
Dr. Sharif notes that the billions of dollars spent annually on research to improve care for critical illnesses have created centers of highly specialized knowledge within renowned medical research institutions in the U.S., many of which are part of The WorldCare Consortium®. Specialist teams at these institutions see hundreds of cases a year for their specialty and are best equipped to review and opine on new patient cases. Such insight and research are not readily accessible for most patients ― or their local physicians― in the U.S. or in other countries.
When an individual receives a devastating diagnosis for a critical illness such as cancer, they are typically referred to specialists for confirmation and more information. Often, they will face lengthy wait times or may have to travel significant distances for appointments.
WorldCare connects these two worlds for its millions of members around the globe. The company pioneered the usage of digital file-sharing and advanced telecommunication to enable members to get an expert Medical Second Opinion (MSO) for critical illnesses or life-threatening conditions within two weeks without the need for travel. WorldCare’s MSO service covers over 100 chronic illnesses across 15 categories including neurology, immunology, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and more. Members interact directly with a WorldCare Nurse Case Manager who supports them throughout the process with empathy and care. Upon completion of the MSO, the member and their local physician receive a digital copy of their personalized WorldCare MSO Report detailing insights on their diagnosis, health condition, and recommendations for optimal treatment.
Saving Lives Globally
Dr. Sharif’s passion to save lives by improving access to highly specialized medical experts for physicians and patients across all seven continents has fuelled WorldCare’s growth. Today, the WorldCare team includes medical directors from around the globe, 16 renowned institution providers in The WorldCare Consortium® and a management team focused on international growth.
Call out: Dr. Sharif on leadership: “Future leaders within healthcare need to adopt innovative technology continuously. AI can harness the vast array of healthcare data, but the multi-disciplinary teams and their expertise can uniquely generate tremendous value for patients, physicians, and population health when it comes to effectively addressing critical illnesses.”
He also emphasizes the need to focus on overall patient wellbeing as opposed to focusing on just symptoms, or a particular disease. Â He also sees a greater role for nurses in patient care of the future. According to Dr. Sharif, building rapport, understanding the fears, and concerns of patients will be essential for supporting patient recovery. His views are in line with recent FDA approvals for therapy to support the treatment of critical illnesses like cancer. While traditional healthcare continues to focus on the treatments aimed at the body, growing voices from experts like him can help change the mindset in the healthcare industry.
Operating Remotely during COVID-19
During COVID-19, Dr. Sharif has been bullish about the company’s future. He explains, “Today, our operations span 5 continents, with millions of members around the world. We are adept at utilizing state-of-the-art digital, and video-based telehealth technologies to bring our expertise to members and their physicians wherever they live. So, for us, this is business as usual.”
The future of WorldCare seems promising as they build more partnerships with corporations, insurance companies and other entities to grow membership and save more lives. Recently they have added specialty MSOs to cover mental illness, disability, pain management and in January 2020 they added MSO coverage for complications of COVID-19 for its members.
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