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Preventive care saves time, money
Point of View by Mary Brainerd
Duluth News Tribune
October 27, 2005
Most of us already know that one way to improve health and lower medical expenses is to eat right, get exercise and not smoke. It's a simple formula and most of us know it, but many of us don't do it.
Why not? It's evident that improving health takes more than simply doling out advice about good habits. Many health-care organizations are recognizing the significant opportunity they have to influence these so-called "personal lifestyle choices."
For years, health care was something that you needed after you got sick. Now, we're starting to recognize that effective health care takes care of your health before you get sick.
The idea isn't new, and it's always made intuitive sense. In the 1950s, Group Health (which later became HealthPartners), for example, became one of the first prepaid health plans in Minnesota to offer preventive care at no extra cost along with eye exams, pregnancy care and well-child visits. Over the decades, health plans evolved to focus more on health-care financing than on prevention and wellness.
Now, as the nation struggles with how to reduce rising health-care costs, we're taking another look at the prevention and disease management model.
Why now? In part, it's being prompted by costs but also by a new wave of demonstrable results. Research clearly shows that there are health advantages and direct economic benefits to prevention and that the most effective approach is a team effort between doctors, insurance companies, employers and consumers. It's why providers are working with high-risk patients to prevent a medical crisis and a trip to the emergency room. It's why a growing number of health plans around the country are offering health-club membership subsidies for their own members who exercise a minimum number of times per month. And it's why more employers are offering wellness programs or incentives to lose weight or quit smoking.
Harnessing these resources produces significant results, and they're no longer anecdotal. Here are some examples from our research foundation:
- A phone-based weight- management program reduced medical expenses by $100 per year.
- People who participated in an eight-week walking program decreased average annual medical expenses by $290 per person.
- Programs designed to prevent coronary heart disease decreased medical expenses by an average of $407 per person per year.
- A prevention program for people at risk of developing diabetes within three years resulted in an average annual savings of $280 per person. Preventing diabetes in just one person who is at risk of developing it reduces medical expenses by an average of $3,500 per year
Results such as these and the others that accumulate each day are more than simple "nice to haves." They are bottom-line imperatives for business. Imagine the potential savings in financial and human costs if we extend these kinds of programs to hundreds, thousands and millions of people. For consumers, it will mean longer, more active and more energized lives -- with less of our money going to health expenses. For health-care organizations such as ours, it will strengthen our mission of keeping our communities healthier. For employers, it will mean happier, more productive employees, reduced heath costs and a chance to help reshape the way we approach health care.
The need, demand and rationale are there. It's now up to health-care companies to respond with more prevention-oriented programs -- and for consumers to expect it.
Mary Brainerd is president and CEO of HealthPartners, which is expanding into Duluth and western Wisconsin.
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