Wellness

Mark Head CSO at Viverae provides a weekly post on his top Health, Health Care, Wellness, Insurance and Benefits articles.

5 big insurers want more clout in Washington

This is not particularly surprising news. However, it is interesting that it’s so explicit. The perennial debate of health insurers as benevolent patrons or venal predators of the citizenry can’t get much more polarized, but this move is particularly interesting since the insurance industry already has a prominent lobbying arm, the AHIP. One thing that strikes me as a likely undercurrent is a desire on these players’ part to be sure that no matter which way the third-party payer system goes – private or single-payer, that they have a hand in its formation.

Apps by themselves can’t change people’s behavior

So is the excitement surrounding mobile health wearing off before it really gets started? Probably not. But the article highlights what we here at Viverae are clear on: devices are tools. People still need to understand what a tool is used for, and perhaps more importantly, how to use it, and why they should use it…. That will continue to highlight the value of employer-based plans that give the distribution and use of mobile healthcare tools some incentivized context.

Christakis founds company to map social-networking research to health care market

Some of you may recall Nicholas Christakis’ groundbreaking study released in 2007 that posed the question, “Is obesity contagious?” Christakis’ study covered 12,000 people over 32 years and discovered startling correlations in obesity levels between spouses, siblings, and friends. His latest effort as co-founder of MedNetworks is to apply his theories of how social influence can be directed to improve health outcomes and healthcare marketing.

Judge rules that individual mandate of health reform is unconstitutional

It was bound to happen – it’s okay to require people to have auto insurance, but to require health insurance is unconstitutional! So said U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson, setting up a battle that’s likely to head to the Supreme Court.

Health reform worries CEO’s but may boost wellness programs

As we’ve regularly highlighted, the emergent model for healthcare is a shared decisions model. Especially where the employer is the real payer of health care costs, it’s eminently sensible to engage employees in doing their part through self-care, wellness, and taking personal responsibility. While many companies haven’t wanted to “go there,” it seems clear that health reform is nudging at least some reluctant business owners (42% say they are likely to boost wellness efforts).

Contemplations
‎"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Mark Head, CSO at Viverae is a weekly contributor to the Viverae Blog. Do you have a comment, question or article for review? Please leave a comment--you can follow us on twitter at @viveraehealth

Mark Head CSO at Viverae provides a weekly post on his top Health, Health Care, Wellness, Insurance and Benefits articles.

PCP shortage may put medical home model out of reach

Commenting on key provisions of health reform, University of Michigan lead study author John Hollingsworth observes, “There are too few primary care physicians.” This issue will get even worse if Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates actually get cut as much as the PPACA bill prescribes. The study notes that specialist physicians spend 650,000 collective work weeks on care that could be handled via the medical home model. But that means there have to be enough PCP’s to pick up all that work….

500 million will use mobile health apps by 2015

That is huge growth. There are over 17,000 mobile health aps in the iPhone and Android stores, but 3/4ths are paid apps, and half target healthcare professionals. But over the next 5 years, it is expected that paid apps will drop to about 15% of the total available. Stay tuned to this blog, as we will be keeping a keen eye on this core disruptive innovation.

Out of 17,280 adults, only 2 meet 7 criteria for optimal heart health

I’m not sure I even need to comment on this, just read it. And we wonder why our health insurance costs keep rising. Remember, insurance costs are rising because health care costs are rising. Part of the reason why healthcare costs are rising is that there is more demand for medical services to fix health issues associated with unhealthy lifestyles. Doh!

Exercise “doesn’t work” for some?
Just when we all think we “know” that physical activity improves health, comes a study from Finland that says, “not necessarily.” This is a very interesting read, but noticeably absent from the study was any consideration of other factors such as nutritional habits, stress impacts, and other lifestyle factors. It was also a very small study (175 participants), so it is a stretch to project across large populations. So, while this deserves the time to read, we should still keep in mind that the benefits of increased physical activity across large populations are extremely well-established and not likely to be threatened by this small, if fascinating, study.

Healthcare sector among largest business users of iPads

Whether actually using Apple’s brand, or other tablet technologies, yet another twist on mobile health is making inroads, particularly in hospital settings. Pharmacy, emergency, dietary, home health, hospice, nursing supervisors – all of these areas and users are poised to benefit from tablet computing – and at a fraction of the cost of bulky portable computer stations.

Contemplations
“Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.” -_ James Baldwin_

Mark Head, CSO at Viverae is a weekly contributor to the Viverae Blog. Do you have a comment, question or article for review? Please leave a comment--you can follow us on twitter at @viveraehealth

November is national Diabetes awareness month. Viverae will spend the month focused on awareness, Type 2 prevention, and preventive care options for Diabetics. The following article was written by Kristi Hatfield (MS, RD, LD), a member of Viverae’s Clinical Team and the Viverae Care Center.

20 Healthy Snack Ideas for Diabetics

The goals of these healthy snacks are to maintain a blood sugar level within normal limit and to combine a protein source with a carbohydrate when choosing a snack. This combination allows for slowing the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream, improving blood sugar levels and increasing satiety with snacks.

The following snack portions include 1 carbohydrate choice and 1 protein choice:

1. ¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese with ½ cup pineapple

2. 1 cup cubed cantaloupe or raspberries with 6 oz. light vanilla yogurt

3. 6 oz. light yogurt and ¼ cup low-fat granola or 3 Tbsp. of wheat germ

4. 6 whole grain crackers with 1 oz. low-fat cheese

5. 6 whole grain crackers and 2 medium sardines, 1 lemon wedge

6. 3 cups light microwave or air popped popcorn sprinkled with reduced-fat parmesan cheese

7. 2 sheets of graham crackers with 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter or almond butter

8. 1 cup raw veggies (i.e., celery, carrot sticks, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper) with 1/3 cup hummus dip

9. 12 small pretzels with 1 oz. light cream cheese

10. 1 small apple with 1 mozzarella string cheese stick

11. 2 sugar-free rice cakes with 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter

12. 12 baked tortilla chips and ½ cup salsa and spicy bean dip

13. ¼ cup trail mix (i.e., raisins, dried cranberries, peanuts, almonds, dry cereal)

14. ½ whole wheat bagel with 1 oz. light cream cheese

15. ½ toasted whole grain English muffin with 1-2 Tbsp. tomato sauce and 1 oz. mozzarella cheese

16. ½ turkey sandwich with lettuce & tomato & mustard

17. ½ cup tuna salad with 1 tsp. light mayo and 6 whole grain crackers

18. 1 hard boiled egg or 2 egg whites and 1 slice whole wheat toast

19. Bean & Cheese Taco – 1 (6 inch) whole wheat tortilla with ¼ cup low-fat vegetarian refried beans, 1 oz. low-fat cheese and 1 Tbsp. hot sauce

20. Chocolate-Banana Shake (blend: 1 cup low-fat chocolate soy milk, ½ frozen banana, and dash of cinnamon)

The Viverae clinical team is made up of in-house registered dietitians and registered nurses. They interact on a daily basis with members who have the highest health risks. Kristi Hatfield is a special contributor to the Viverae Blog.

Have a snack suggestion or comment regarding this article? We would love to here from you!

Your HRA is an MHA?

Periodically, I have the opportunity to sit through a demo with a group of people who have never seen our technology. I know the demo presentation very well, and one of my favorite parts is when the presenter introduces our Member Health Assessment, more often known as a Health Risk Assessment.

“You may wonder why we call it a MHA, well here’s the deal - we call it a MHA because we found there was confusion around the term HRA which can stand for Health Risk Assessment or Health Reimbursement Account.”

Have you seen the open enrollment documents sent out to employees? You get an encyclopedia’s worth of highly detailed information all broken down to acronyms and cost comparison charts. There is no reason to make this more confusing.

So yes-our HRA is called an MHA. Is that the only difference? Not really…

Listening to our members it became clear that asking someone to fill out 50+ questions in one sitting was not effective. In fact, they hated it. Think about the last time you had to fill out a stack of forms for your doctor. Mid way through you started to lose interest and your answers became less detailed and accurate. You might check YES, when it should have been NO. You might scan through an important section when you should have been paying more attention to the content.

We have all been there, filling out a form that doesn’t seem to have an end. Who has time to set aside an hour out of your day to complete something like that?

Viverae’s main assessment form is relatively short and can be completed in 5 to 10 minutes depending on the method. Method? Members can take the MHA online, over the phone, or even complete the paper form and send it to our office.

Based on the members answers, supplemental questionnaires are sent as follow ups. This allows us to target specific issues, conditions and behaviors without wasting your employee’s time. Let’s face it, you brought in a Corporate Wellness provider to improve health and productivity, not create another distraction.

_We are always interested in your feedback. Feel free to leave a comment or question--I promise we will respond. Also, you can follow us at @viveraehealth .