GDSs Adding Point-Of-Sale Medical Information

Amadeus North America today announced a partnership with health and medical services information provider HTH Worldwide for an agent point-of-sale database including vaccines, prescription drugs, doctors and medical service providers and health alerts and information, which can be delivered to a traveler's mobile device.

Amadeus' HTH offering has been used by agencies in Canada and the United States for about a month, according to marketing director of Amadeus North America Own Wild, who said that the global distribution system firm previously used another health and safety content provider. Amadeus now has access to HTH's database, which covers more than 180 countries and includes medical coverage plans and such destination-specific healthcare services as prescription drug translation guides, Wild said.

While Amadeus is the first GDS to integrate and sell HTH services, Sabre has signed its own agreement and in the second quarter will begin integrating across its point-of-sale applications including MySabre, GetThere and Virtually There, including its mobile system, according to a Sabre spokesperson.

HTH also is "in discussions" with other GDSs, "but no deals have taken place yet," said Radnor, Penn.-based HTH director of marketing Mike Hartung. HTH also has direct corporate accounts for some of its services including its mobile product HTH Mobile Health.

There is no agency subscription charge, but individual end users can purchase an annual subscription for $34.95 or a 90-day subscription for $9.95. Agents are eligible for a 25 percent commission when booking HTH content.