Basically I'm asking if any of you knows any articles or research off the top of your head about incentives to change health behavior and how successful they've been. I'm asking this for this afternoon.
Now, in general, anything about making health care more efficient is appreciated because it's helpful to my job. This afternoon, however, I am supposed to give some sort of report on this stuff.
Basically, Wellness (formerly known as preventative health care) is big in the health industry. It pretty much means any lifestyle changes that can help reduce future costs. This includes everything from making sure you go to the doctor to employers beautifying their stairwells to encourage exercise.
Personally, I think it's a bit early for these ideas, but a couple of things I'm thinking about, because I definitely think they're part of the future of health plans, is:
1) Getting people to eat healthier, but specifically, in a way that would make Michael Pollan proud. I guess ideally it would be something like being able to get an employer-funded 20% discount at Trader Joe's or something like that. I know it's a bit early for the industry, but it's an idea.
2) Something even more in gestation would be an idea like Wii Fit. Now, you kind of have to get beyond the present and think about where exercise video games can be in 10 years. If employers are still footing the bill for health care down the road, I don't think it would be surprising at all to see them show up in more offices. We've got 66 people in our office, so paying $250 for a Wii plus $90 for Wii Fit isn't too expensive if it provides any returns at all ...
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Regarding employer sponsored initiatives, I actually just signed up for something the NYU Med Center offers called "Reach for Wellness." Basically, there are a few different programs you can sign up for: exercise, weight management, diabetes control, smoking cessation, etc. The program is 3 tiered, each tier being 12 weeks. Each tier has certain goals attached to it, and you are rewarded for completing the 12 weeks and reaching the goals. Each level gets a little bit more challenging.
ReplyDeleteThe aim of the program is just to reinforce "Wellness" among the NYU community.
Not sure if this helps at all. I can keep thinking about it.
Interesting. Now, since smoking is legally an addiction (read: disease) that means that you receive the reward just for completing the program, regardless of whether it actually changes the behavior, correct?
ReplyDeleteFor the quitting smoking program, you have to enroll in a smoking cessation program and be smoke free for 4 weeks before moving onto the "Silver" level. (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the following website can be pulled up outside the NYU server or not, but I'm posting it just in case:
ReplyDeletehttp://nyumc.net/nyu/wellness/pdf/incentiveprogram_07_08.pdf
No-go. Thanks though.
ReplyDelete(Reminds me of the Chevy Nova. Didn't sell too well in Mexico)