CONTROLLING HEALTHCARE COST. A CORE BUSINESS ISSUE -- PREVENTION IS THE KEY

PREVENTABLE ILLNESS MAKES UP APPROXIMATELY 80% OF THE BURDEN OF ILLNESS AND 90% OF ALL HEALTHCARE COSTS.

Should it matter to you as an employer?  Why should you care???

Think about it - what is a healthy employee realy worth

When an employee is not healthy, not well, the business feels the impact long before the medical bills start to accumulate.  Employees who are not 100% healthy are less productive, less efficient, have lower functionality and higher absenteeism.  Due to high blood pressure or high blood sugar or lack of sleep because of stress or anxiety because of stress, people are tired, not thinking clearly, not focused, not able to get the job done or not able to get the job done well.  That’s all before you start to see significant medical costs for treating acute and chronic disease (physician visits, medication) and severe health events.  Health is not a fringe business issue – it’s mainstream.  You want and need healthy employees. 

Help Employees Understand and Take Action

Make it clear that prevention is a priority.  Set up screenings at work, have all employees complete a Health Risk Assessment survey, establish health education forums and exercise breaks (vs. coffee breaks).  Work to create a culture of health.  Make it clear that you value employees and that you REALLY value healthy employees.  Start quoting Benjamin Franklin who said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

What Are the Leading Health Indicators?

According to NIH Healthy People 2010, the leading health indicators listed below will be used to measure the health of the nation over the next 10 years. Each of the 10 Leading Health Indicators has one or more objectives from Healthy People 2010 (a National Institute of Health program) associated with it. As a group, the Leading Health Indicators reflect the major health concerns in the

United States

at the beginning of the 21st century. The Leading Health Indicators were selected based on a number of factors including the importance as public health issues.

            The NIH Leading Health Indicators are—

                        Physical Activity 

                        Overweight and Obesity 

                        Tobacco Use 

                        Substance Abuse 

                        Responsible Sexual Behavior 

                        Mental Health 

                        Injury and Violence 

                        Environmental Quality 

                        Immunization 

                        Access to Health Care 

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - IT'S FIRST ON THE LIST AND FUNDAMENTAL TO PREVENTION

 

Above is the NIH list.  Separately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services developed an excellent report which clearly presents the need for immediate change relating to regular physical activity to effect a healthier nation.  The report uses more than 30 scientific publications to establish and support the relationship between physical inactivity and chronic disease.  Exercise is a key part of prevention.  Make it clear that employees need to get regular exercise to be healthy, to stay healthy.  Show them how to do this within their busy schedules and how to fit exercise into the workday without getting in the way of the work.  It can be done – see www.beproactive.com for ideas. 

What If You Have Chronic Disease?

For people with chronic ailments, exercise used to be viewed as asking for trouble. However, current evidence suggests that in both health and disease, the overall prognosis is better for the exerciser than for the sedentary. For example, a recent study showed that intensive workouts can not only slow the progress of coronary disease, but actually restore lost coronary function when the disease is still stable.

                "We've yet to find a disease state where exercise isn't helpful."
                        Miriam Nelson, Ph.D.  Tufts University

Visit these websites to learn more, convince yourself prevention should be part of the business agenda.

preventdisease.com

http://odp.od.nih.gov/

http://www.healthypeople.gov/About/goals.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/ataglan.htm#top