ANNUAL REPORT 2007: Thoughts on Health Care Reform
By David Grossman, MD, pediatrician and medical director of preventive care
There is no doubt: The affordability of health insurance has become one of the critical issues facing our society and the institutions that pay these costs.
Employers who purchase health coverage have begun to wonder if the prevention of chronic conditions and improved management of existing conditions might well reduce their health care costs. But is there evidence? In fact, the evidence is building.
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional recommendations endorsing work site health promotion programs, calling these effective strategies for improving health, as well as for increasing productivity. A series of employer-based studies examining the return on investment for such strategies show yields of anywhere from $1.70 to $3.50 for every dollar invested.
Research focused on the impact of lifestyle changes on health outcomes also is increasingly persuasive. This has led employers to greatly expand their interest in primary and secondary prevention programs as a way to reduce acute care and complications resulting from missed preventive opportunities.
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Group Health has a long tradition as a leader in preventive care. We are recognized internationally for our integrated care systems, a reputation recently bolstered by our electronic medical record and multifunctional Web site for patients, purchasers, and providers. As employers asked us how we could help them with wellness and disease management, it became clear we could apply our knowledge of integrated systems and health technology to assist employers with health promotion for all of their employees, not just our existing Group Health members.
The result is Momentum, a suite of health solutions designed by our medical staff to help employers promote better health among employees using our deep knowledge about prevention and the tools we have mastered.
Momentum makes clinical and human behavioral sense: We look at employees' lifestyle preventive needs as well as their medical histories. Incentives built into Momentum encourage workers to use an array of resources at our Web site or to call health coaches for one-on-one help. It blends science with savvy human intervention.
Momentum is designed to help employees stay healthy, and by doing so help employers stay healthier financially.
"People in business who understand the value of strategic planning automatically see the value in Momentum," says Dr. David Grossman, shown right, with colleague Nisha Melwani.
David Grossman, MD, MPH, is medical director of Preventive Care and a senior investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies. He is an active, board-certified pediatrician and was appointed in 2008 to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Dr. Grossman came to Group Health in 2004 from the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center.
