Healthcare consumerism: driving better informed choices to reduce costs and increase productivity

By Ronald Loeppke, MD, Chief Strategic Officer, Matria Healthcare

While many companies have tried to address rising healthcare costs by shifting costs to employees or improving their sourcing, a more comprehensive approach that manages expenses and recognizes employee health priorities is needed. The key, many believe, is educating employees about the true cost of their healthcare and directly involving them in finding solutions to slow its growth.

On the minds of everyone who holds a stake in the health of our healthcare system, “healthcare consumerism,” is one of the hottest topics in the industry. Although definitions vary, the term is generally used to describe a partnership between employees and employers regarding how needed healthcare services are used and paid for. The new alliance takes beneficiaries beyond the role of passive patient and allows them to assume new responsibility as knowledgeable and active consumers of health and healthcare.

Empowered with accessible information and decision-making tools, the goal for these new consumers is to play an increasingly active role in managing their health, changing unhealthy behaviors and practicing preventive measures—all of which ultimately reduce healthcare spending.

According to the 10th annual survey of large employers by the National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, more companies are adopting health management and consumer-directed healthcare programs to help control costs. The findings were encouraging: some employers in the study kept increases remarkably low—as low as five percent compared with an average increase of 10 percent—by involving employees in their healthcare decision making. Further, employers reported that, by introducing disease management and lifestyle programs aimed at weight management, exercise and smoking cessation, they foresee continuing savings over the long haul.

The one issue where there is near unanimous agreement is that education is key if these new healthcare consumerism strategies are to succeed. Accurate information on specific health conditions and easily accessible pricing and provider quality information will promote more rational plan choices, more individual responsibility and, ultimately, lower healthcare costs.

Since education and behavior modification are the foundation on which our business model was built, it’s no surprise that Matria’s wellness, productivity and disease management solutions have become invaluable to the employers and health plans we serve.

Employee education is vital.
The proliferation of healthcare websites, interactive health tools and a wide array of health benefit plan and program choices has put an unprecedented number of options at employees’ disposal. More problematic is deciphering all the information, particularly when it is confusing and, often, contradictory. Therein lays the challenge: bringing healthcare information, communications, programs and services together in a way that improves the health of the participants, sustains positive attitudes in the workplace and reduces total healthcare costs.

Matria has a distinguished record of supporting and educating populations in a wide range of markets. Our solutions have become employee benefit staples for many of the nation’s largest health plans, employers and government agencies. Our award-winning health education and communication resources have helped more than a million people over the last decade manage their health, improve their quality of life and show gains in productivity.

Designed to respond to a variety of adult learning styles, Matria offers participants a wealth of tools including:

• Registered nurses available 24/7 to discuss any health issue
• Health education and information online and in print
• Web and telephonic health assessments and interactive health monitoring tools

Seamless integration promotes appropriate usage and user satisfaction. Matria’s Care Advocate plays a critical role in making a healthcare consumerism strategy work efficiently. By providing participants with a central point of contact, our skilled practitioners ensure that all health programs and resources are integrated, coordinated
and used to their best advantage. They work one-on-one with employees to reduce complexity, increase participant and family involvement and help companies:

• Increase employee buy-in and confidence in the benefits progra
• Eliminate avoidable and costly duplication of services
• Improve employee morale and engage workers in their own care
• Speed return to work after illness or injury
• Reduce healthcare costs and increase attendance and productivity

Optimizing consumerism results
From assessing a population’s health needs to developing customized programs to meet the needs of a population of one… from communicating in a way that motivates and educates to tracking and measuring program results… Matria is uniquely positioned to help make healthcare consumerism strategies a reality. We can empower individuals to become wise consumers -- pursuing health in their selection of healthcare services.

For more information about Matria Healthcare and for your complimentary copy of the articles, Good Health is Good Business and Measuring the Total Impact of Disease Management Programs, please call us at 866-882-4580.