Employees with a chronic condition, when left unmanaged, can raise the cost of care and health coverage universally. And over the years, the costs for your company can really add up.
According to the Journal of the American Heart Association, for instance, people with hypertension are projected to spend close to $2,000 more in annual health care expenses than those without hypertension. And another study found that the average cost of medical claims per 100 employees is $51,019 for obese employees compared to $7,503 for the non-obese — that’s 7.3 times the difference. [1] The fact is, chronic health conditions alone have been shown to account for roughly 85% of a business’ health care spending.
Employee health can affect much more than dollars and cents. Employees that feel physically healthy are much more engaged, significantly increasing productivity in the office and decreasing the number of days missed from work.
The importance of care across specialties
Whether your employees are in peak health or fighting a chronic illness, it’s important they have access to comprehensive care for their individual needs. Kaiser Permanente provides care across a wide range of specialties, including neurology, cancer, cardiology, orthopedics, and transgender care, just to name a few. And this year, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) rated Kaiser Permanente best in Colorado for:
- Blood pressure control.
- Treating heart disease.
- Preventing childhood obesity.
- Asthma control.
- Cancer screening.
- Mental/behavioral health.
- Women’s health.
- Quality care, innovation, and thought leadership.
Disease management
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To catch conditions early and help members manage their chronic illnesses, look for plans with a disease management program that combines preventative care, specialty care, self-management, and health education. Kaiser Permanente’s complete care approach enables providers to:
- Intervene with patients early to help control or even prevent chronic conditions.
- Automatically enroll members in disease management programs based on health status and patient information.
- Regularly screen members for chronic condition risk factors.
- Customize treatment for each member’s individual needs.
- Provide coordinated care and technology support to increase efficiency in treatment.
- Empower members to understand and self-manage their conditions.
In fact, Kaiser Permanente led the nation in 21 effectiveness-of-care measures in 2018, including prevention and screening, cardiovascular care, and comprehensive diabetes care.
Integration: The key to efficient care
To most efficiently manage chronic conditions, Kaiser Permanente physicians, nurses, specialists, and pharmacists are linked together through an electronic health record. Working as a team, they can immediately access vital, up-to-date medical information, communicate with colleagues, and quickly implement treatments. This is also known as “integrated care.”
Case managers for continuity of care
To meet the needs of members with high-risk medical conditions, case managers provide extra support by ensuring continuity of care between inpatient hospitalizations, transitional care, home care, skilled nursing, medications, referrals to community resources, and outpatient care. They are patient advocates and educators, assisting the physician and empowering the member and family to make optimal health care decisions that will produce high-quality outcomes.
Learn why Kaiser Permanente is better positioned than ever to take care of your employees and support the health of your business. Ask your broker about Kaiser Permanente. Call 303-306-2561 or visit kp.org/choosebetter.
Kaiser Permanente is Colorado’s largest nonprofit health plan, providing care and coverage to more than 640,000 members across the state. This year, 82 of their physicians were named Top Doctors in 5280. Our mission is to give our members high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.
Source: Biz Journals