Inaugural Awards recognize the institutions whose work determines how millions of Americans, and patients arriving from around the world, access high-quality, accredited care
PALM BEACH, FL — May 13, 2026 — Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA), a global accreditation organization dedicated to the standards of safe, transparent, patient-centered care, today announced the recipients of its Inaugural Awards at the Medical Tourism and Insurance Summit on Singer Island, Florida. The Awards recognize three organizations whose work has shaped the demand-side infrastructure of American healthcare — the institutions whose decisions determine whether high-quality, accredited care reaches the patients who need it.
The 2026 Inaugural Honorees are:
- UnitedHealthcare Global, recipient of the GHA Excellence in Cross-Border Care Solutions Award, recognized for building the cross-border care infrastructure that connects American hospitals and specialty centers with patients arriving from foreign insurers, governments, and global benefit plans for complex conditions. Philip Brun, CEO, U.S. Networks and Administrative Services at UnitedHealthcare Global Solutions, accepted the award.
- Gallagher, recipient of the GHA Leadership in Self-Funded Healthcare Award, recognized for advancing physician-led, fiduciary-grade benefits consulting at scale, bringing clinical rigor and outcomes-driven strategy to the self-funded employer market, and creating the conditions for higher-quality care to reach American workers. Dr. Christine Hale, MD, MBA, Gallagher's first Chief Medical Officer for U.S. Benefits, accepted the award.
- The Health Transformation Alliance, recipient of the GHA Leadership in Self-Funded Healthcare Award, recognized for catalyzing collective action across more than 50 jumbo self-funded employers covering five million American lives, and for pioneering shared-data, shared-strategy approaches that have advanced centers-of-excellence models and innovation across self-funded employer plans. Lee Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer of the Health Transformation Alliance, accepted the award.
"For nearly a decade, GHA has worked to advance the standards of safe, transparent, patient-centered care worldwide," said Renée-Marie Stephano, Chief Executive Officer of Global Healthcare Accreditation. "But standards alone do not move patients. The organizations being recognized today have built the network architecture, the consulting rigor, and the collective purchasing strategy that determine whether the high-quality, accredited care we work to advance reaches American workers and the international patients who come here for complex care. Recognizing institutional leadership on the demand side is a natural extension of GHA's mission, and the right way to launch a recognition program that will continue annually."
Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of Healthcare Revolution and Better™, added: "The medical tourism industry has spent two decades celebrating the supply side: the hospitals, the destinations, the providers. The leaders being recognized today are doing something the industry has rarely acknowledged at scale. They are the architects of the demand that makes everything else possible. Without organizations like UnitedHealthcare Global, Gallagher, and the Health Transformation Alliance making high-quality care administrable, financeable, and steerable inside U.S. employer and insurance plans, the supply side has nowhere to go. Recognizing them is overdue, and we're proud to host this Inaugural moment at our event."
More than 100 million Americans receive their healthcare coverage through self-funded employer plans, and tens of thousands of international patients travel to the United States each year for specialized care. The Awards mark the first time GHA has formally recognized institutional leadership on the demand side of the U.S. healthcare ecosystem.
About the Awards
The GHA Inaugural Awards were curated by GHA leadership in consultation with senior advisors across the medical travel and employer-benefits ecosystem. Honorees were selected against four published criteria: demonstrated leadership advancing care quality and value for the patients they serve; material scale of impact in covered lives, employer relationships, or international patient volumes; industry influence beyond their own book of business; and a track record of innovation in network strategy, plan design, or care navigation that creates the conditions for higher-quality outcomes.
A formal nomination process and an independent advisory panel will be introduced for the 2027 edition, when the Awards transition to GHA's full annual awards platform.
About Global Healthcare Accreditation
Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) is the first accreditation body dedicated exclusively to medical travel. Its Standards 5.0 for Medical Travel are accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association (ISQua EEA). Over the past decade, GHA has expanded its expertise to provide consultative frameworks across innovative areas of healthcare delivery, including longevity and regenerative cell therapy, telehealth, infection prevention and control, and wellness and hospitality.
Founded in 2016, GHA serves stakeholders worldwide through strategy and program development, accreditation, certification, training, and advisory services. Headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida, GHA is led by Chief Executive Officer Renée-Marie Stephano, JD, and a diverse, internationally recognized global team.
About Healthcare Revolution and Better™
Healthcare Revolution LLC is a Florida company building global medical travel and longevity benefit programs for employers, insurance companies, and individual patients. In strategic partnership with the Medical Tourism Association, Healthcare Revolution operates Better by MTA, a Mastercard-powered platform that connects patients, employers, and insurers to a vetted network of the world's leading hospitals, clinics, and specialty providers. The platform brings the ease and trust that consumers expect from Airbnb or TripAdvisor to international healthcare, giving users a simple way to compare, select, and travel to top-rated providers with confidence. Healthcare Revolution serves U.S. and international employers, global insurance carriers, stop-loss carriers, benefits brokers, third-party administrators, and hospital networks worldwide. The company is led by founder and CEO Jonathan Edelheit, JD, co-founder of the Medical Tourism Association.
Media Contact:
Bill Cook, Director of Operations and Business Development
Global Healthcare Accreditation
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