Category Archives: Uncategorized

Women seek women when it comes to business

By Lisa Gillespie January 10, 2012 Birds of a feather flock together, and it seems the saying also rings true for small business owners looking for a financial advisor. According to a new study released yesterday by The American College, … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

HHS proposes regulations for health care reform measures

By Edward I. Leeds and Clifford J. Schoner July 14, 2011 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed two sets of regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to changes that will take effect … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How to effectively select a ‘workforce well-being’ vendor

Value is the glue that galvanizes the workforce and better aligns the interests of each organization’s leadership with its employees. But such value cannot effectively be delivered without the expertise of a service provider that specializes in a more robust population health solution. The critical ingredient to realizing short-term savings as well as a lasting return on investment, is the provider’s track record for achieving enterprise wide improvement goals and a strong return on the dollars spent on enhancing employee work capacity achievements.
The vendor evaluation process should include a review of the comparative effectiveness tools, techniques and best practices for creating meaningful productive interactions and personalized experiences customized to the company’s demographics and industry.
HVWW involves a high-touch, high-impact client engagement execution strategy, with C-suite executive champions, coupled with a robust, neighborhood health assurance wrap-around capability that fuse the interests of employers, employees and community providers who become change agents through meaningful productive interactions and personalized experiences.
Vendors must change the way buyers and sellers think and do a better job of delivering a new C-suite message that is believable and actionable. Vendors must promote employee accountability and engagement, as well as successfully manage competitive benefit costs and employee health risks.
To yield hard returns, CEOs must steer cross-functional work teams toward fostering a HVWW culture. This is accomplished with the help of vendors that target the entire population, including disengaged employees, embrace meaningful use of health achievement benchmarks and metrics, create C-suite visibility for innovative HVWW indices, support individual financial security aspirations and align meaningful incentives.
Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Health of U.S. workforce declining

By Andrea Davis April 14, 2011 It’s no surprise that unhealthy employees cost employers big bucks. But a new workforce wellness index shows that the unhealthy behaviors of the U.S. workforce cost employers an average of $670 per employee annually. … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Insurance, Self Insured Health Plans, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Generics Superior First-Line Antidepressant Therapy, Express Scripts Study Confirms

Depression is a major cause of disability in the U.S. and accounts for more than $83 billion in costs annually, according to the Express Scripts2009 Drug Trend Report. Experts have long advocated that using generics could reduce pharmacy costs for healthcare payers, without leading to treatment failure or increased medical costs in the short term.

In the study, patients starting generic selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and generic selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) had a discontinuation rate of 44.2 percent, compared to 46.8 percent among those on brand-name SSRIs and SNRIs. However, drug costs for those starting on generics were almost 50 percent lower. Total healthcare costs were about 20 percent lower – an average of $3,660 in patients starting on a generic compared to $4,587 for those starting on a brand-name drug.

The study has significant implications for plan sponsors looking to reduce costs while maintainin Continue reading

Share
Posted in Health Care, Prescription Drugs, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment