Managed Care - February 2008 - (Page 37) over the past five years. “Also, it’s easy to understand what the incentive is. It allows individuals to decide how they want to use the incentive. You may want to apply it to health care or golf lessons. It’s customizable. And then, as the benefit plan changes, you don’t have to restructure how the money applies to the premium.” IBM started out offering several different avenues to the $300 maximum available to wellness participants. There’s a $150 rebate available for workers who promise to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity three times a week for 12 weeks. More than half of its workforce has signed up for the preventive health care program: getting health care tips and identifying personal needs for mammograms, cholesterol tests, and other exams, and using a personal medical record through WebMD. There’s also a program — good for another $150 — for weight management and nutrition. It urges Frank discussion workers to keep food diaries to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. “It’s a compassionate voice,” says Udeh, “well “Weight management is more structured,” adds trained, that makes them feel like a human being so Young. “The employee sets the goal and in return they can talk confidentially on the phone and have gets recommendations on calorie intake and activa frank discussion. ities, and there is a reassessment at the end.” To get Hannaford’s wellness insurance discount, A new program has joined the mix: A 12-week spouses covered by the company health plan have activity project for employees with chilto sign up for the program. Age is no didren. Three months of regular activividing line: If you are young, healthy, ties have to be completed, including a and have an acceptable body mass index, At Union Pacific, self-assessment of nutrition in the the company still wants you to attend when it comes time household. During the 12 weeks, parthose weekly health sessions so that a ents and children eat meals together, red flag can go up when you start to tipfor a health screening, cook together, and exercise together, ping the scale toward unhealthy — or managers are expected using an online program to map their better yet, help stop you from starting progress. the transition at all. to take part to help As for the doubters, including some “Normally, you don’t provoke that show that they’re bloggers who rose up to scoff at a propart of the population to wake up and committed. think of their health,” says Udeh. “They’re gram aimed at a low-cost population, not missing work or spending a lot on Young has this to say: health care. But it’s now that you want “Obese children cost a certain perthem to set good habits and lifestyle patcentage more in the health spending terns so they don’t develop these problems.” in the time they’re children. Another huge factor is Some companies are targeting an even younger that if the parents have sick kids, their productivcrowd. ity is impacted. The parents are going to lose time, IBM wants its employees and their kids to think and they’re going to be concerned.” about health, and it is willing to hand over $300 to If you add up everything — the lost work days encourage them to do it. “It does get people’s atthat are saved, reduced medical costs, and so on — tention,” says Joyce Young, MD, IBM’s well-being IBM estimates that its wellness program has saved director, of the cash it’s been offering to workers $100 million to $130 million every year over the “In going to Aetna, we got an integration of all the employees’ health information,” Udeh adds. Aetna gets the health information harvested during the weekly outreach sessions along with all the data on weight and blood pressure from the annual health assessments that are part of the program. Lab diagnostic tests have been added along with the pharmacy data from their claims. “It’s an integrated data platform,” says Udeh. “And employees can go in and see it for themselves. Twenty-five percent of our employees have filled out a personal health record. I can go in and see, for example, when my last mammogram was done, or what scripts were filled.” Each worker is given a health assessment score, and when the number rises into the danger zone — as it has for 12 percent of the company’s workers — they get a special call to make sure they understand what is wrong and how they can help deal with it. FEBRUARY 2008 / MANAGED CARE 37
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