Sven Thorslund, a cost containment and travel assistance industry veteran, has joined Quality Health Management (QHM) as Director of Sales.

Mr. Thorslund will be responsible for growing QHM’s international client base by developing new and enhanced solutions and new distribution channels on a global basis. He will report to Patricia Ziomek, who co-founded QHM in 2000 and now serves as its Senior Vice President of Business Development.

With 23 years’ experience in marketing, sales and account management in the cost containment and travel assistance industry, Mr. Thorslund brings a wealth of knowledge, capacity, and contacts to QHM’s expanded sales and services for new and existing clients.

He began his career in 1997 with Global Medical Management, Inc. where he helped its rapid growth while leading the account services and spearheaded a marketing transformation into its new GMMI name and brand. In 2004 he transitioned to US travel assistance business development with Europ Assistance USA (Generali Group), where he played a role in their acquisitions of GMMI and CMN. From 2010 he was at AXA Assistance USA progressing through commercial roles including launching AXA Assistance Travel Insurance in the U.S. and becoming its Chief Marketing Officer.

In 2016 Mr. Thorslund worked as an independent consultant to QHM during the process of QHM’s sale to GBG. He was then re-hired to Europ Assistance USA (now Generali Global Assistance) as VP of Sales and Product Strategy in 2017 where he re-joined GMMI to also lead their sales and account management teams.

“We are very excited to have Sven Thorslund join our team,” said Patricia Ziomek. “Having worked closely with him as a highly strategic industry consultant, we strongly believe he will enjoy the same type of success at QHM that he has had at other companies.”

“QHM’s outstanding leadership and excellent reputation amongst its clients impressed me and I am delighted to be able to join the team to build on its success in the coming years,” Mr. Thorslund commented.

Mr. Thorslund earned an International MBA from University of Göteborg, Sweden and a Master of International Management at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, AZ.

About QHM

Quality Health Management (QHM) is a global medical cost containment company offering solutions to the ever-changing requirements of specialized medical management and claims services across the healthcare industry. QHM has been solving worldwide needs of clients, payers and patients with PPO, administrative and specialty services guided by its original founders since 2000. The company became part of Global Benefits Group (GBG) in 2017.

Europ Assistance USA has launched its Travel Risk Intelligence Portal which is now mobile optimized and can be accessed on any device using iOS, Android, or Windows operating systems.

According to a recent PhocusWright study, 84 percent of business travelers use their Smartphone for business use during travel with more than half using it to research destination information. With the launch of this mobile site, Europ Assistance USA is now able to offer business travelers convenient access to the intelligence and tools needed to ensure they are informed about destinations and prepared in case of an emergency or incident.

Combining the interface of an app and the benefits of a mobile site, the mobile version has all the same features available on the desktop site with a few enhancements. The Travel Risk Intelligence Portal includes geo-location capabilities for one-touch access to destination details, along with the ability to access critical location and emergency information, even when the user is offline.

While safety remains the highest priority for US-based business travelers, when travelling internationally these same business people feel the least prepared to deal with political unrest. These are some of the findings in the second annual Asterisk International Business Traveler Study published by Europ Assistance USA and their partner Drum Cussac. Europ Assistance USA and Drum Cussac polled five hundred US-based business people who had taken at least three trips internationally within the last twelve months.

The number one concern of those polled was safety - including personal security, terrorism, and radicals. 83% of travelers polled stated that safety and the ability to take care of their medical needs while travelling internationally were their highest priority. "The two years of data is very robust," said Guillaume Deybach, CEO Europ Assistance USA. "There's a significant knowledge gap between what business travelers think they know and what they actually know."

The Asterisk study found that the knowledge gap for business travelers continues down to a personal level. While fully half of those surveyed stated that they had required some level of medical care while traveling abroad, almost as many (44%) were unsure if their health insurance company provided them with the same benefits abroad as they receive at home.

Deybach said, "I am not sure what is worse for a business, asking an employee to take on an unnecessary risk or avoiding an opportunity entirely, out of fear. The right tools and intelligence will help reduce these risks, help open new markets, and enable better decision making."

Asterisk is an enterprise travel risk management service from Europ Assistance and Drum Cussac, two internationally renowned and highly trusted assistance and risk management providers. Other highlights from the second annual Asterisk International Business Traveler Study include:

• 45% of respondents said their company does not offer a plan to assist travelers with travel-related emergencies or they do not know about it, with 80% indicating their company does not have a formal emergency or communication plan.
• An overwhelming 90% of respondents felt unequipped to handle a natural disaster or political unrest/riots while traveling, while 82% felt unequipped to find a local doctor.
• Travelers are increasingly concerned about the ability to use their communications devices, such as cellphones, smart phones, and computers - as these are vital links for their security as well as their business.