Managed Care - February 2008 - (Page 1) EDITOR’S MEMO Care Editor M A N A G E D The Wellness Train Is Leaving; Are You on Board? By John Marcille or some time now, the most requested article on our Web site has been one that we did a year and a half ago about employers’ growing interest in wellness programs. To clarify, it was the article most requested by people who work in health plans and pharmacy benefit management companies. If that is the case, we reasoned, it was surely time to devote a large chunk of an issue to wellness programming — how and where it is growing, why it is in increased demand, and what the leading health plans are doing to get their share of the business. This is that issue. You can find varying definitions of wellness programming, but operationally, they all pretty much boil down to get people to avoid behavior that will bring on chronic disease, or at least to delay the onset of chronic disease as long as possible. I’m a plan enrollee. I’d prefer not to get diabetes, and if you tell me how and even give me a little incentive, I might change my behavior in the right direction. My employer agrees. My health plan probably says it agrees, but under the present way we do health care, it might not benefit, since if we were all healthy, health care would be the wrong business to be in. No chance of us all being healthy, thank heaven. In any event, wellness is riding high, and health plans should consider using their expertise, data resources, and business connections to design programs that will appeal to buyers. Or they could ignore this growing source of income. Their choice. But when you consider the Milken Institute’s report that chronic illness costs the U.S. economy more than $1.3 trillion a year, this wellness craze isn’t going away. I could go on, but don’t have to. You’ll find plenty of numbers in all the articles and also suggestions on what to do and how to do it. MC JOHN MARCILLE Managing Editor FRANK DIAMOND Associate Editor F TONY BERBERABE Consulting Editor MICHAEL DALZELL Senior Contributing Editor MARGARETANN CROSS Contributing Editors LOLA BUTCHER JOHN CARROLL MAUREEN GLABMAN MARTIN SIPKOFF Design Director PHILIP DENLINGER Group Publisher TIMOTHY P. SEARCH, RPH Director of New Product Development TIMOTHY J. STEZZI Eastern Sales Manager SCOTT MACDONALD Senior Account Manager KENNETH D. WATKINS, III Director of Production Services WANETA PEART Circulation Manager CONTACT E-MAIL ADDRESSES: Editors: editors_mail@managedcaremag.com Circulation: circulation_updates@managedcaremag.com Advertising: advertising_info@managedcaremag.com Reprints: reprints_request@managedcaremag.com Clinical judgment must guide each clinician in weighing the benefits of treatment against the risk of toxicity. Dosages, indications, and methods of use for products referred to in this publication may reflect the professional literature or other clinical sources, or may reflect the clinical experience of the authors, and might not be the same as what is on the approved package insert. Please consult the complete prescribing information for any products mentioned in this publication. MediMedia USA Inc. assumes no liability for the information published herein. MANAGED CARE (ISSN 1062-3388) is published monthly by MediMedia USA, Inc. at 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. This is Volume 17, Issue 2. Phone: (267) 685-2788; fax (267) 685-2966. Send letters to the editor to Frank Diamond, MANAGED CARE, 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Copyright 2008 by MediMedia USA, Inc. All rights reserved under the United States, International, and Pan-American copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, electronic, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of MediMedia USA Inc. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Subscriptions for individuals or institutions in the U.S.A are $100 per year, $10 per single copy; elsewhere, $120 per year, $22 per single copy. Circulation records are maintained at 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. Inquiries about paid subscriptions: Lisa Gardineer, telephone (267) 685-2789; e-mail: lgardineer@medimedia.com. Postmaster: Send address changes to MANAGED CARE, 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. Periodicals postage paid at Morrisville, PA, and at additional mailing offices. JACQUELYN OTT Major articles are reviewed by appropriate members of the editorial advisory board and/or other qualified experts. Opinions are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institutions that employ the authors, nor of the publisher, editor, or editorial advisory board of MANAGED CARE. www.managedcaremag.com FEBRUARY 2008 / MANAGED CARE 1 http://www.managedcaremag.com
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