Health monitoring system in place

Sapulpa Daily Herald, Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Health monitoring system in place
Prevention model engages active participation of employees

By Brenda Shance
Herald News Editor

While counting heavily on the complete overhaul of the American health care system under the Affordable Health Care Choices Act, at least one health monitoring system is already in operation using a prevention-based protocol.

Information received and researched on three integrated companies confirms some of the fear-based suspicions of the 2,000-plus page bill the president has said he wants to move forward.

If Creek County employers haven’t already been contacted, it is very likely they will be.

The EngagementHealth Programs is being promoted to lower health care costs and lead to healthier employees by giving power to both the employer and employee to control premium payouts.

A privately held company, EngagementHealth is rooted in Westchester, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, with Theodore J. Theophilos as Chief Executive Officer. It has more then 100 plants and offices, has both rural and urban locations and currently has over 90,000 participants.

Theophilos has a December 2008 patent for: Method, System, And Interface For Setting Health Insurance Premiums.

The company behind the program presents itself as a limited liability company, a flexible form of business that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. The primary characteristic an LLC shares with a corporation is limited liability, and the primary characteristic it shares with a partnership is the availability of pass-through income taxation.

A central feature of EngagementHealth’s offering is that its programs are available to all employees, spouses or domestic partners. No matter what one’s fitness level or health status, they have a program designed to meet an individual’s particular needs and situations.

“Increasingly, there is clear evidence that the major chronic conditions that account for so much of the morbidity and mortality in the United States, and the enormous direct and indirect costs associated with them, in large part are preventable �“ and that to a considerable degree they stem from, and are exacerbated by, individual behaviors�- As Americans see health care expenditures continue to increase, it is important to focus on strategies that reduce the prevalence and cost of preventable disease,” so states the U.S. Department of Health in its statement used by EngagementHealth to support its programs dealing with “individual behaviors.”

The program is a huge departure from historical health care in the United States and appears to be highly thorough as it gathers all of one’s personal and medical information in an extensive initial health screening along with a health behaviors assessment, a.k.a. “health risk appraisal.”

Once the information is collected, individuals are assigned to a “targeted risk program” and to a health counselor who will monitor the success �“ or lack of �“ that an individual makes.

Failure to meet the program’s criteria leads to higher insurance premiums, thus making those who engage in unhealthy lifestyles subject to paying more.

Opting out is not a solution. If the current health care bill passes as it is written, there will be fines and possible imprisonment for those who do not pay for insurance.

See related article on Page 5 of today’s edition by Michael Connelly for more about the contents of the healthcare bill under consideration.

Adherence Monitoring Network

Besides having a personal health care coach whose job is to call you XX“multiple times” and “check on your progress,” an “Adherence Monitoring Network” will be in place using kiosks much like the blood pressure kiosks found in drug stores made available to “assure employee engagement.”

Electronic Art, an interactive agency specializing in custom kiosk software, kiosk hardware and integrated Web sites, will provide technology services to EngagementHealth for these kiosks.

The kiosks have an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, are Internet enabled, and can work with remote devices integrating specialty hardware for measurement of blood pressure, weight and other unique data items to help employees monitor their progress towards healthy living. Electronic Art does not elaborate on “other unique data items.”

However, during the initial health assessment, blood samples will be drawn and Electronic Art equipment will monitor “regular lipid profiles.”

Pedometers are also mentioned as part of the special devices used to monitor individuals.

The Easy-Sell to Employers

Professional Financial Planning, Inc., is involved with the promotion of the heath program to employers citing the costs for this health care program can be structured so that they are budget neutral to the employer or group plan provider. This feature will be enticing to employers who face continuing rising health care insurance costs. EngagementHealth terms this “self-funding mechanism for participatory underwriting.”