Trigram America and The George Washington University Launch Employer Forums: Medical Travel 2008 and Beyond

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2008

WASHINGTON & CHICAGO -- Together with The George Washington University's (GW) School of Public Health and Health Services, Trigram America, LLC (www.trigramamerica.com), provider of consulting expertise and resources on medical travel to employers, health plans, and other benefits stakeholders, will co-sponsor a series of forums: Medical Travel 2008 and Beyond. The first forum will be held Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in GW's City View Room, located on the seventh floor of 1957 E Street NW, Washington, D.C.

Leonard H. Friedman, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of GW's Health Services Management and Leadership, and Bruce Barwick, CEO of Trigram America, will welcome attendees and introduce keynote speaker Devon Herrick, senior policy analyst at the National Center for Policy Analysis and author of Medical Tourism: Health Care Free Trade.

The knowledgeable and experienced panel of industry thought-leaders will include:

* Cyndy Nayer, president, Center for Health Value Innovation, a not-for-profit (501c3) organization representing industry stakeholders committed to sharing the evidence that value-based health designs improve health status and reduce health cost inflation

* Tom Johnsrud, principal, Trigram America and Consultant to ParkwayHealth of Singapore

* Paul Brough, CEO, Pinnacle Health, first U.S. preferred provider organization (PPO) to introduce a medical travel benefit option

As a result of attending this seminar, participants will:

* Understand the options for high quality, low cost medical care in destinations outside the United States

* Learn about international accreditation organizations and benchmarks for quality and safety

* Explore initiatives for medical travel insurance

* Discover the experience of payers that are already offering a medical travel program

* Learn about the consumer experience abroad

Media sponsors include the leading employee benefits and broker publications Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser.

Tickets are now available: $295.00 per person, with parking available at the University. To expedite registration, please visit http://trigramamerica.com/GWU/registration.pdf for a registration form and fax it to (202) 416-0075 or call (202) 416-0063 if you need any assistance.

About Trigram America LLC

Trigram America works with its clients to educate, assess and implement the best possible solutions for medical travel. We further client understanding of medical travel and medical tourism, evaluate the benefits, and create and implement programs to generate optimal savings and employee satisfaction. Visit www.trigramamerica.com

The George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS):

SPHHS was established in July 1997, bringing together three longstanding university programs in the Schools of Medicine, Business, and Education. Today, more than 900 students from nearly every state and more than 35 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health.