LifeCare®'s New SelfCareKitsSM Far More Effective at Cutting Healthcare Expenses Than Disease Management
Kits help employers proactively
address both direct and indirect costs of chronic conditions;
successfully help individuals make long-term, sustainable
lifestyle changes
WESTPORT, CT, July 17, 2007
New research
shows that there is a far more effective solution than
traditional disease management programs for helping
employers proactively curb healthcare expenses: SelfCareKitsSM
from LifeCare®, Inc., provider of comprehensive
specialty care services and a longtime specialty care
services provider and a longtime leader in the work/life
industry.
LifeCare's SelfCareKits address the
six most pervasive conditions that afflict individuals
and cause employers' healthcare costs to soar-uncontrolled
asthma, back pain, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart
disease, and obesity. Each kit contains an array of
innovative products and tools designed specifically
to enable independent self-care and foster long-term
health improvements.
According to tests conducted by consumer
research firm Communication Science, Inc., LifeCare's
SelfCareKits have a significantly higher rate of success
than the standard disease management programs and educational
tools offered by many employers. For example, LifeCare's
SelfCareKit for Blood Pressure Control was tested against
an employer-funded combination of telephonic coaching
and a walk-in clinic. The SelfCareKit helped 88% of
participating hypertensive employees reach the blood
pressure goal of 140/80, while the telephonic coaching
and walk-in clinic solution helped just 18% reach the
goal.
In another test, LifeCare's SelfCareKit
for Asthma Control was evaluated against asthma literature
from the American Lung Association. After six months,
only 44% of participants receiving the American Lung
Association's literature were still in compliance with
medication guidelines and following practices to keep
themselves healthy. In comparison, six months after
receiving the SelfCareKit for Asthma Control, 95% of
participants were still in medical compliance and following
healthy practices. What's more, 16% of those using the
American Lung Association literature were readmitted
to a hospital due to asthma within the study period,
while nobody using the SelfCareKit was readmitted. And
while 26% of the former group used an Emergency Room
to deal with an asthma-related problem, only 7% of those
using the SelfCareKit did so.
“Offering workers resources to improve
their health can pay huge organizational dividends—if
you can actually get them to make long-term changes
to their lifestyles,” said LifeCare CEO, Peter G. Burki.
“Nothing does that as effectively as our SelfCareKits.
Frankly, traditional disease management programs have
fallen short of expectations, and employers continue
to pay out millions of dollars every year for employees'
unmanaged chronic conditions. Our SelfCareKits deliver
the results employers need and at a fraction of the
cost of most disease management programs.”
Controlling Direct and Indirect
Costs
Communication Science, Inc. estimates
that employers are losing $1.5 million to $2.6 million
per year, per 1,000 employees, to asthma, diabetes and
heart disease. These direct costs are relatively easy
to calculate, since they impact an organization's bottom
line in terms of dollars paid for doctor visits, hospital
stays and medication. The indirect costs to an employer,
such as decreased productivity and increased absenteeism,
due to these chronic conditions are more difficult to
quantify but can be far more extensive than even the
direct costs.
Burki says that LifeCare's SelfCareKits
are uniquely effective at controlling both direct and
indirect costs because they are provided to individuals
before they experience a crisis event (such as an emergency
medical procedure or hospital stay), whereas traditional
disease management programs are provided after a costly
crisis event has taken place, so there's no opportunity
to avoid those costs. It's the difference between a
proactive step and a reactive one, Burki says.
“Also, when individuals are enrolled
in a disease management program, they often aren't truly
committed to it for the long term,” Burki notes. “They
are forced to take part in the program for six months
or so and then they're left on their own. Unfortunately,
many of them revert to their old behaviors. SelfCareKits,
on the other hand, are provided to individuals as part
of a long-range program of support and ongoing education.
They help people take charge of their own health rather
than rely on doctors or coaches, and that helps them
make lasting, sustainable changes.”
Burki also believes the SelfCareKits
are so effective because of the advanced research and
communications techniques used to develop them—the
same techniques that the world's leading manufacturers
use to develop new consumer products. These techniques,
most of which have never been applied to healthcare
communications, include ethnography (qualitative and
quantitative fieldwork); mnemonics (memory aid); semiotics
(the study of signs and symbols); and linguistic pragmatics
(framing issues from the reader's point of view). “These
techniques not only make the kits and their contents
far more engaging to people but also make them more
effective in creating lasting lifestyle changes,” he
said.
“Too often programs promote 'clinical
correctness' as the standard of excellence, the final
stamp of approval on materials,” explains Sylvia Aruffo,
PhD, Research Director for the SelfCareKits. “Instead,
that's the starting point. With LifeCare's SelfCareKits,
we not only ensure that materials are clinically correct
but we make certain they effectively communicate, as
well.”
LifeCare's six new SelfCareKits are
available to employers immediately. The company plans
to introduce a tobacco cessation kit later this year.
Notes to Editors
Peter G. Burki is available for interview.
About LifeCare®,
Inc.
LifeCare offers cost-saving benefits that help our clients
reduce their most pervasive absenteeism and productivity
drains, including child and elder care, caregiving support,
health and wellness issues, and more. For 23 years,
LifeCare has led the work/life industry in the creation
of high-quality, results-oriented programs designed
to improve our clients' bottom line. LifeCare serves
1,500 client companies with 4.5 million individuals
within corporations, health plans, government agencies
and unions. For more information, visit www.lifecare.com.
Media contact: Michael Civiello
LifeCare, Inc.
pr1@lifecare.com
203-291-4170 |
