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NJ
Health Insurer’s Wellness
Program Targets Obesity, Health Literacy
A
major New Jersey health insurance provider’s
disease management program takes aim at obesity
and can serve as a template for employers and educators
nationwide.
Reacting to spiraling healthcare costs related
to obesity, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has
created "Horizon Walks for Health," a
wellness program designed to motivate and educate
its participants. And, the campaign starts with
Horizon’s own employees.
Dr.
Eric Berman, medical director and chairman of
health policy at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield
in Newark, outlined the program during a recent
audio conference "Disease Management and Obesity" sponsored
by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN).
HIN is an Internet-based provider of news and analysis
for healthcare professionals. The audio conference
was part of an ongoing series of information sessions
on healthcare-related topics produced by HIN. The
panel also included Robin Foust, population individual
health and productivity management specialist from
Zoe Consulting.
Sixty-five percent of Americans are either overweight
or obese, Berman noted, and related annual healthcare
costs associated with obesity can range from $117
to $230 billion nationwide.
The insurance plan partnered with the American
Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association
to develop the program, which stresses sound eating
and the importance of daily exercise.
Posters advertising proper portion control and
suggesting alternatives to a sedentary lifestyle
(taking the stairs or parking further away from
the school or office building, for example) are
central to its educational campaign, as is a walking
campaign urging everyone to incorporate 30 minutes
of walking into their daily routines.
The
health plan is spreading this message by giving
away thousands of Horizon health kits — insulated
lunch sacks containing a pedometer, food journal
and other educational material — at community
events and health fairs throughout the state. Horizon
is also providing age- and culturally-appropriate
materials to New Jersey schools on the importance
of personal hygiene, food selection and exercising.
The program can be adapted to a particular community
or population, Berman said. For example, one New
Jersey school district gave the health kits to
students with body image problems who were in danger
of failing gym and, ultimately, school because
they refused to change into gym clothes. The students
used the pedometers to measure their walking programs
and earn the required gym credits.
Horizon
Blue Cross Blue Shield is testing the effectiveness
of the program with employees of AtlantiCare
Health Plans, one of Horizon’s
joint venture partners in south Jersey. The pilot
program, introduced in 2003, incorporates a wellness
program into the corporate culture.
"The whole concept is to try to create an
environment that encourages people to take care
of themselves, to raise their own awareness and
to spend the time at work to do it," Berman
explained. "It requires changing the environment
and the culture in the organization. If you’re
really going to have people buy into this, management
really needs to set the pace and needs to encourage
people."
Interested
employees received individual health assessment
sessions with a clinician before participating.
The company mapped out an outdoor walking path,
organized walking sessions throughout the day and
created an indoor exercise room. Program organizers
developed a newsletter, offered employee incentives
such as discounts at sporting good stores and healthy
restaurants, and created a database to track participants’ progress.
Nearly
98 percent of the site’s 123 employees
participated, and the company has received positive
feedback from participants.
Eight-one percent reported participating in the
walking campaign at least three times per week,
and 79 percent reported positive changes in portion
control, calorie counting and reading nutritional
information on food labels.
There
were also positive results in the area of participants’ weight loss, Berman said. In
particular, 25 of 48 participants who had been
identified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of
greater than 25 (which classified them as overweight
[a BMI of 25.0-29.9] or obese [ a BMI >/= 30.0])
had reduced their BMI and/or associated risk classification
after nine months in the program.
The company is still analyzing the results of
the program, Berman said, including the effect
of the program on sick time.
Additionally,
15 employees have asked for a smoke cessation
program. "Now that their awareness
of weight loss has been raised, they are more health-conscious," Berman
said. "They’re reducing their weight,
and are now ready to move on to the next problem,
which is smoking."
Horizon plans to introduce the same program at
two other sites in New Jersey, and is hoping to
offer this program to all of its employees by late
2004 or early 2005.
A recording of the audio conference that includes
the speakers’
presentations is available on CD-ROM from HIN by
calling 888-446-3530 or visiting HIN’s Web
site at: www.hin.com/store/p1830.html.
HIN
is the first health content provider on the Internet
to provide its online community of users including
hospitals, managed care organizations and suppliers
to the healthcare industry — with
access to more than 45 of the nation’s leading
healthcare publications, covering behavioral healthcare,
compliance, disease management, e-health, HIPAA,
managed care and regulation. Located at www.hin.com,
HIN presents the most comprehensive source of news
and analysis for healthcare professionals currently
available in one place, in electronic form.
For more information on any of the features available
at www.hin.com, contact the Healthcare Intelligence
Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442;
(888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com,
www.hin.com
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