Revising corporate chronic care programs
Some companies are putting their employees' health first by offering a variety of chronic care programs like telephone and e-mail consultations to on-site health clinics. Surprisingly, employers are finding that health care costs per member are reduced by a significant margin when employees take advantage of company-sponsored, chronic care consultations, according to the article For chronic care, try turning to your employer, published on NewYorkTimes.com.
"At companies like Pitney Bowes and Quad/Graphics, comprehensive chronic disease management is offered at on-site clinics. Both employers say health care costs have decreased significantly as a result," states the article, adding that Quad/Graphics, a large printing company located in Wisconsin, is boasting a 30 percent reduction in health care costs, which is much lower than the norm for the surrounding area.
Medical home programs
Boeing, one of the world's largest military contractors, recently completed a successful test using a medical home program that monitored and advised employees who had chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
"Specially trained nurses were made available to the employees by phone and e-mail almost 24 hours a day. They worked one-on-one with patients to monitor their conditions and treatments and to help them make the lifestyle adjustments needed to remain healthy," according to the Times article.
When the results were in, Boeing boasted a 20 percent reduction in health care costs per member enrolled in the program.
Support and resources
The article also says that if you suffer from long-term illness and have access to a company chronic care program, "You may well find the encouragement, support and financial and medical resources you need to better manage your illness and to save on your own out-of-pocket health care costs."
Drawbacks
Despite the good results, the article cautions that "chronic care management programs are not without challenges. Arranging for the kind of one-on-one care that has proven most successful is expensive and must be carefully coordinated with the employees' own doctors, who are already stretched for time."
200 physicians polled
The article Physicians believe employers should coordinate with docs to help chronic care patients emphasizes that physicians and employers should work together to help manage the health of employees with chronic illnesses. According to a poll sponsored by the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH), a nonprofit coalition of more than 100 employers, approximately 82 percent of the 200 physicians surveyed gave strong support to the idea of employers using incentives to encourage employees to properly manage their chronic ailments. Seventy percent of the physicians were in support of "reduced or waived copays to increase medication compliance."
Physicians' concerns
But a number of physicians polled admitted they had concerns about employers counseling patients on the care of their chronic diseases. Negative comments like "The employer doesn't know the patient" and "I don't want to lose control of my patient's care" were expressed at the time of the poll, according to the article.
Chicago pilot program
MBGH is also sponsoring a new, 12-month pilot program that will be offered to employees of the city of Chicago who have diabetes, according to the article City to offer pilot program to improve health and lower costs for employees with diabetes.
"Under this pilot, the City [of Chicago] will reduce the cost of diabetic drugs and supplies for PPO participants who agree to have regular face-to-face visits with pharmacists who have been trained as diabetes educators. Union employees participating in the City of Chicago Labor-Management Cooperation Committee, as well as nonunion employees, will be eligible to participate in the diabetes management program, Taking Control of Your Health.
"Diabetes is a growing epidemic in Chicago and across the country," says Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in the above article. He believes that this pilot program will offer diabetic employees "valuable education, tools and support to help them manage their conditions and avoid getting worse."
And if similar employer-based chronic care programs are an accurate yardstick, Chicago should realize a substantial reduction in health care expenditures in return for introducing this unique health care program.
