Employee Wellness : Should we be monitoring the RoI

Investment in wellness programs is not the self-starter that many would like to believe when it comes to implementation in corporates all over the world. HR managers seem reluctant to adopt despite the benefits being there for all to see based on the implementation in some companies.

As a case in point a recent article , talks about implementation in Lincoln Industries in a 565 employee blue -collar plant environment which has seen a savings of $2 Million for an investment of $400,000 including three full-time employees dedicated to health and wellness. They have also monitored other benefits that accrue and while productivity and morale are difficult to quantify the savings that they have seen in safety witnessed in Worker Compansation claims which have come down from $0.5 Million to $10000 signify the tremendous benefits this offers.

With the advantages of this being obvious, it is difficult at times to understand the reluctance of HR managers and Management teams to implement such programs. One wonders, if industry and country specific data were to be made available would the case for these implementations be stronger.

Indian health insurance – a major opportunity?

For most of the private general insurance companies in India, health is one of the fastest growing lines of business. Growth in health insurance premium income in the last year ranged between 39 per cent and 686 per cent and many general insurers have made statements regarding the strategic importance of health insurance as a line of business for them.

“The economic changes witnessed in India in the last few years are starting to have a major impact on both the provision of healthcare and the availability of health insurance. There is a unique opportunity to capture market share, whilst the market is relatively young and in a dynamic phase of development for early entrants. The insurance companies that offer innovative consumer-friendly products, whilst concentrating on building robust underwriting and claims ‘gate keeping’ protocols for their health insurance business, are likely to be the winners.” Interesting.

Health Insurance: Waking to consumer-centered Health Records?

“Health insurance plans are in a unique position to make a contribution through consumer-focused Personal Health Records,” says America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) President, Karen Ignagni.
The insurance industry representatives reveal that core health data stored in the insurer-maintained Heath Records would include patient histories, medications, immunizations, allergies, risks, and plans of care.
We, at Healthizen, believe that initiatives like this will go a long way in creating a seamless and efficient health care system that truly benefits the consumer.

It would not be long when the insurance companies in India also wake up to the fact that a consumer-driven Health Records platform, offering interventions to the consumer to keep him healthier and more attuned towards his/her health, is a value-add which not only supplements the insurance product, but also makes for a lot of business sense, resulting in improved bottomlines and enhanced goodwill. It also establishes the insurance company as a partner in my health than a mere “reimburser” of my medical expenses.

We also believe that the consumer demand for electronic personal health records and online health services will take off when consumers trust that their personal information will be protected; which brings us to the importance of having a neutral platform for information storage, as compared to platforms being made available by insurance companies, or healthcare providers. A neutral third party platform also insures data migration and connectivity with a larger set of stakeholders, thereby benefitting the end-consumer.

Healthizen is our endeavor to offer such a platform to the Indian consumer.

Right to Health Information

The Right to Information Act (RTI) is arguably the most powerful piece of legislation passed by the Indian government. It is designed to ensure transparency in the working of public organisations and allows citizens access to information about what government bodies are doing – and not doing!

Don’t you think we should also have a Right to Health Information Act, just like we have a Right to Information Act, to help patients to get access to their own medical records. Sometimes these are locked up and hidden away from patients – so that doctors and hospitals block patient access to something as basic as to what their diagnosis is and what treatment is being given for this.

Patients, and their family members need to know that they have a legal right to access their own records. And that no one can refuse to share this with them. Unfortunately, the big hospitals often act as bullies, and refuse to provide this basic documentation to patients.

We had a similar case with one of our corporate client, who got their annual health checkups for employees done at a leading hospital in Mumbai. Since the corporate wanted to provide the Healthizen platform to their employees for managing their and their family’s health, they wanted all their medical records uploaded and accessible on the website. To the HR manager’s utter disbelief, the hospital refused to provide the records to the HR manager on the pretext that it is a policy issue.
So much so for people thinking that their medical records are safe and secure at the healthcare providers!!!

Online Health Records: Is safety an issue

While reading an article, i came across an interesting perspective that answers the concerns of people regarding security issues of having personal health records online in very clear terms. The article says that there is a huge difference between the terms “on the Internet” and “accessible through the Internet.”

  

There’s been a lot of talk about privacy and safety concerns regarding online health information with news articles of people shocked to find their personal, private health information “on the Internet” . The truth however is that this is not exactly accurate as while people can access health records through the Internet, this is similar to going to a bank’s Web site and looking at statements and using their online bill pay.The important point is that one understands the statement that something is available on the Internet, it generally means it’s available to more than just one person. My bank records and personal health information are not available on the Internet. Rather, they’re stored away on my bank’s and insurer’s computers, and I—and only I—can access the data through their convenient Web portal.

The author goes on to point that we live in a digital age, and we can take means to protect our information by regularly checking our credit reports, our health records and our bank balances and make sure there’s no questionable activity, by accessing it through the Web. Times are changing, and we can choose to stick to the old-fashioned way where we do everything over the phone and through the Postal Service. But personally, he likes the convenience of accessing his information through the Web, because he knows the security is pretty good, and he can check it immediately without having to wait for it to come in the mail, and he knows that the information is not available to everyone on the Internet.

Personal Health Records are here to stay and it is up to us to make the most of it.