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This is why we recently launched a Continuous Process Improvement initiative to continue to find ways to bring greater value to clients. As our clients deal with tighter budgets and other constraints, we understand our clients’ needs to improve business practices and uncover savings. To address these needs, we will be using our Continuous Process Improvement initiative to stay on track with cost-effective solutions for employee health and productivity. We officially launched our initiative in December 2008 with a cross-functional team of trained associates, who will focus on reducing the amount of non-value-added activity within our business processes. A non-value-added activity is any activity that consumes resources and does not add value to the service we provide our clients. Our first round of process improvement projects will create and implement streamlined customer-focused improvements in areas such as biometric screenings and contract execution. These initial projects will be completed by early February. Our trained associates will then apply their knowledge of Continuous Process Improvement methodologies to help us enhance our solutions in the marketplace and the quality of the experience felt by our clients—and their employees—as they partner with HealthFitness. As we put in place these improvements, we are confident that our new initiative will be a win-win for our clients and HealthFitness, as it will allow us to spend more time doing what we love—collaborating with clients to improve employee health and productivity—and less time dealing with inefficiencies. We look forward to making impressive gains with our process improvements in 2009 to ensure we deliver even greater value to our clients this year, and for many years to come. Yours in good health,
Inside HealthFitness In his new position, McConnell provides leadership to all aspects of HealthFitness’ business and corporate development activities, including identifying global sales opportunities for the company’s health and productivity solutions as well as working on the development of new client-driven services. “Mark’s great wealth of experience in the health arena will be a very positive asset for HealthFitness,” said Gregg O. Lehman, HealthFitness president and CEO. “He is a great leader, motivator and strategic thinker and a perfect fit into our culture, which is committed to work in partnership with employers to manage their health care costs and to create a culture of health that supports employees’ personal health goals.” At Healthways, McConnell was responsible for leading a team that grew Healthways’ employer business from less than 100 employers to more than 1,000 employers in three years. Prior to Healthways, he was the health plan manager of health care initiatives with Kaiser Permanente, a health care organization, where he worked in conjunction with General Motors Corp. As health plan manager, he facilitated General Motors’ value-based purchasing health care strategy, conducted health maintenance organization quality evaluations in the eastern U.S., and chaired General Motors’ HMO pharmacy management and depression management supplier development programs to share best practices. HealthFitness Commits to NCQA’s New Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation Under the new program, organizations that provide wellness programs can earn the status of “NCQA accredited” by demonstrating how they focus programs to fit employer or plan sponsor needs, how they appropriately safeguard private information, and how they target wellness and health promotion actions to individuals based on identified needs. Organizations that go further and provide data about how well their programs change behavior and improve health can earn the status of “NCQA accredited with performance reporting.” This status adds an additional standard that assesses 10 performance measures reported by the organization. The performance measures will allow for comparison between programs. The measures include: • Staying Healthy: The percentage of adults who do not have a core risk such as obesity, smoking or physical inactivity. • Participation: The percentage of adults who have a core risk factor and had at least one contact. • Risk Reduction: The percentage of adults with a core risk factor that reduced their risk. Health plans, disease management organizations, managed behavioral health care organizations, and wellness and health promotions providers are eligible for accreditation. The program officially launched in December 2008 and surveys will commence on April 1, 2009. NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. To learn more about the NCQA accreditation, visit www.ncqa.org. Industry Insights In the study, data was examined from 41,736 men who were tracked for 18 years as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and 86,214 women who were followed for 24 years as part of the Nurses’ Health Study. Participants completed diet questionnaires every two to four years, which included coffee consumption. As coffee consumption rose among more than 125,000 study participants, the risk of death decreased for both men and women. However, the results were most significant for women who drank four to five cups daily. They had up to a 26 percent reduced risk of death, particularly from CVD. Source: Lopez-Garcia, E. “The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with Mortality”. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2008 June; 148(12):904-914.
Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions
This study assessed the cost-effectiveness (dollars per quality-adjusted life year or QALY) of seven public health interventions to promote physical activity in adults and followed disease incidence during a lifetime. The interventions focused on four strategies recommended by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services: communitywide campaigns, individual health behavior change, social support, and physical activity information and opportunities. Each intervention was compared to a no-intervention alternative. The study also looked at the risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. When compared with no intervention, the cost-effectiveness for populationwide physical activity interventions ranged between $14,000 and $69,000 per QALY gained. A QALY is a measure of outcome that takes into account both quantity and quality of life. Even the most expensive intervention, such as the diabetes prevention program, proved to be cost-effective. All interventions also reduced chronic disease incidence, with the impact ranging from up to 15 cases per 100,000 for colorectal cancer to as many as 476 cases for each 100,000 for coronary heart disease.
Source: Roux L, et al. “Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions”
Am J Prev Med. 2008 Dec;35(6):578-587.
On-site Health Centers among Hot Topics at Recent National Business Group on Health Conference Highlights from the solutions-focused event included: • An overview of EMPAQ (Employer Measures of Productivity, Absence and Quality), a set of standardized metrics and benchmarking tools developed by the National Business Group on Health to help employers evaluate the effectiveness of their health and productivity management programs. More than 7,000 companies representing 16 million employees submitted information for use with EMPAQ in 2008, up from more than 4,000 companies representing 6 million employees in 2007. Annual summary information for EMPAQ provides companies with benchmarks for average costs year over year for short-term disability, long-term disability, workers’ compensation and group health. The summary information also shows how average group health costs per covered employee vary by company size. Average group health costs per covered employee among companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, for example, were $5,972 in 2008. This compares to the average group health costs per covered employee for companies with 50,000 or more employees, which was $4,266. EMPAQ is a free tool for NBGH members. Visit
www.empaq.org for more information.
• Trend information on on-site health centers. According to Hewitt Associates survey, “Trends in Employer On-site Wellness and Health Management,” overall demand for on-site clinics remains steady heading into 2009, as employers seek to manage costs and improve employee health. The survey also reports that integration with other health management programs continues to be a hurdle for success with many on-site clinics. Caterpillar Inc., a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, gas engines and industrial gas turbines, was a presenter at the conference, discussing
its plans to open a near-site clinic in 2009. Caterpillar’s Medical Director for the Human Services Divisions Steven Goldman said the company’s reasons for implementing the clinic included improved productivity and better management of health care costs. Caterpillar’s near-site clinic will provide primary care, an on-site pharmacy and radiology and will be directly linked with health promotion programs, he said. The clinic will open near one of its Midwest plants.
Best-in-Class
Practices At HealthFitness, we bring 30-plus years of experience in improving employee health and fitness along the continuum of care, and we are experts at creating a culture of health that motivates individuals to choose healthier, more active lifestyles. For a health care benefits provider with a new fitness center opened in January 2008, for example, HealthFitness is effectively engaging employees in health improvement—and it shows. This site has an eligible population of 3,400. Within 11 months of opening the center, HealthFitness has generated enrollment of 652 members, meeting the 12-month target one month in advance. Additionally, HealthFitness is exceeding the number of expected visits per member at this site by 80 percent, generating more than 3,000 visits in November, up from the projected 1,700 visits for that month. The HealthFitness program manager at this site lists one-on-one time with members, effective outreach to every employee and targeted motivational programs as reasons for our success related to participation this past year. For another client, a pharmaceutical company with a new fitness center in 2008, HealthFitness has enrolled 397 members with a monthly average of 2,096 visits, up from the projected 900 visits per month. The program manager at this site cites personalized attention and the ability of HealthFitness associates to build relationships with members as key factors behind our strong engagement. For example, HealthFitness associates at this site partner with each member who joins the fitness center and follow-up with these members on a monthly basis to discuss their personal goals and satisfaction with the center. Interested in learning more about how HealthFitness can help drive engagement at your site? Contact your program manager. Where We’ll Be Next
4th Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Congress |
