The Company That Solved Health Care by John Torinus

Author:John Torinus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Published: 2010-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

Whatever the percentage, no manager can claim to be doing a good job with health costs if he or she isn’t tackling health issues head on. Any organization without an aggressive program to keep people well and out of the hospital, especially those with chronic diseases, is hurting itself. You don’t need a treatise on epidemiology or macroeconomics to figure out that one.

Our own data for 2008 showed that 14 percent of Serigraph members were treated for one of the six prevalent chronic diseases (coronary disease, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, asthma, or diabetes). That 14 percent was responsible for 55 percent of our health costs. The case is closed on the need to address those six killers!

Further, their claims averaged $10,078 per person, or seven times that of members without chronic diseases in our health plan.

What more needs to be said about the need to manage chronic diseases as part of a health-cost initiative?

Admittedly, the benefits of behavior change to remedy or mitigate conditions of chronic disease are longer term than the attention span of most managers. In most companies, they are invisible. They result in problems not happening. They are cost avoidance. The savings are difficult to measure.

Nonetheless, a number of longitudinal studies have shown that the payoffs are $3-$4 of savings for every dollar spent on prevention and wellness. That’s big enough leverage to not quibble with the numbers. It’s a big enough payoff, not only in terms of dollars but in terms of human happiness, to move to action, to not suffer paralysis by analysis.

So what is Serigraph doing for prevention? For openers, we make all prevention tests free. That means mammograms and Pap tests for women and PSA tests for men are part of the free annual assessments. We now make colonoscopies free if purchased at a Center of Value. In addition, up to $500 per person in prevention is free to the co-worker.

Because it just makes sense to be serious about the health of your employees, we have adopted many best practices for our wellness and prevention program. The components include: • an elaborate point system (see Exhibit 7-3) for wellness rewards;

• no paid sick days are allowed because they can be abused, but wellness days offset that need;

• a 10 percent higher premium for smokers;

• coaching for co-workers who have health issues;

• a free, on-site dietician, nurse practitioner, and chiropractor, who doubles as our ergonomics expert;

• a free primary care doctor whose mission includes prevention, wellness, and chronic disease management;

• formal programs for chronic diseases;

• promotion of a fitness culture;

• tracking health metrics of our co-workers;

• walking paths around our campus;

• an on-site fitness center;

• sponsorship and participation in walking, running, and biking events.

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