A record number of employers attended the recent HealthPartners Purchaser Symposium and came away with some great ideas for reducing health care costs through improved employee health.

Keynote speakers Ron Goezel, Ph.D., from the Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, and Mary Brainerd, President and CEO of HealthPartners, presented clear evidence that investing in health yields productive, healthy employees and can make a significant difference to your bottom line.

What kind of difference? Representatives of several companies were there to share some of their first-hand experiences with wellness programs:

• The St. Paul Public School system has shown an 8% increase in healthy employee diets, increased health scores of 8-13 points and achieved estimated savings of $290,000.
• Defense contractor BAE Systems’ local operation has seen a 17% decrease in hospital admissions and a 4% decrease in claims costs.
• Wisconsin-based metal supplier Grede Foundries, Inc. has noted decreased absenteeism and better employee retention.

Whether your company has two employees or 2,000, HealthPartners’ health and wellness programs provide solutions to improve health, combat chronic disease and address behavior-related health risks. We deliver the information, programming and support you need to improve the health and productivity of your employees, which in turn can strengthen your bottom line. For example, check out our new Healthy Benefits program, announced at the symposium and described in this issue.

Unable to make it to this year’s session? Or would you like to review some of what you saw and heard? We’ve made a special microsite available so you can access presentations from the day as well as case studies from some of the employers featured. Access it all at healthpartners.com
And plan to join us in 2008!

Interested in bottom-line cost control with improved employee health and productivity?

HealthPartners’ new Healthy Benefits program is designed to deliver just that. The newly introduced program is a unique approach that uses benefit design to support wellness program participation. This has been shown to produce positive changes in employee health and health care costs in both the near- and long-terms.

How does it work? When your company participates, your employees, regardless of their existing physical condition, can enjoy a preferred benefit design in exchange for following through on health improvement programs. Specifically, Healthy Benefits provides financial rewards – such as lower copays and deductibles – for employees completing a free health assessment and participating in free health improvement programs. Every employee who completes a free health assessment is eligible to participate in any of more than 40 programs, including personalized phone courses or disease management programs. Another option is the award-winning HealthPartners 10,000 Steps® fitness program.

And the results are in! The pilot programs have shown an average of 70% participation rates, an increase in the number of employees who met the recommendations for exercise and diet, and a 3% annual decrease in medical costs.

The programs are offered at no additional charge to fully insured employers.   It’s an easy program for employers to administer – and for employees to use! Learn more online or call your broker or HealthPartners sales representative.

The implementation of the HealthPartners national dental network went live July 1, 2007 – two months ahead of schedule!

The new network includes 33,000 providers at more than 74,000 locations. But how do we really stack up against the competition? Actually, very well.

The HealthPartners national dental network is comparable in size to two of the most commonly quoted dental networks in Minnesota – Delta and Guardian. Delta’s PPO  network reportedly has 78,000 locations and Guardian’s has 70,000, so our offering of 74,000 nationwide locations is right in line with both of them. Plus, our plan designs continue to offer the same great flexibility.

You benefit from lower claims costs and your employees benefit from lower out-of-pocket costs through HealthPartners’ competitive network discounts across the nation. And that means a great value for everyone!

Balance Your Act with Dental Distinctions
In case you haven’t heard, HealthPartners has a new dental offering, Dental Distinctions, available to employers with up to 100 employees. If you face the daily challenge of balancing your company’s needs alongside your employees’ needs, Distinctions gives you the best option for addressing both.

If you’re concerned with containing costs, Distinctions offers several benefit levels that motivate employees to select the dentists that provide the most appropriate care at the best cost. If you’re concerned with giving employees access to a large dental network, Distinctions offers the largest regional dental PPO network – and access to dentists coast-to-coast. With Distinctions, you get the best care, the best cost and access to a broad spectrum of dentists. Best of all, you achieve balance.

Dental Distinctions offers three plan designs, and there are three benefit levels within each plan. For all three plans, Benefit Level 1 dentists collectively focus on a care agenda that emphasizes clinically-proven and appropriate care, and focusing on appropriate care tends to result in lower costs. By engaging employees in their care through Benefit Level 1, you are better able to control dental costs. And because of the common care philosophy shared by Benefit Level 1 dentists, members tend to experience better outcomes.

Special Introductory Rates
HealthPartners is offering companies that have never purchased HealthPartners dental the option of a one-year, 5 percent discount when they sign up for Dental Distinctions. As groups renew after their first year of enrollment, they will renew at the Standard Rates. For groups that already offer dental coverage through HealthPartners, Standard Rates are available for all three plans.

For more information about Dental Distinctions, please talk with your HealthPartners representative. 

Employers understand the effect that mental health care costs can have on overall medical benefit costs. Every year, more than $1.2 billion is spent on mental health services in Minnesota alone, involving hundreds of public and private mental health programs, activities and agencies. Yet advocates, patients, families and providers often are dissatisfied with how the mental health system falls short.

HealthPartners is working to do something about it. Last year, a select group of more than 25 community leaders and decision makers from the east metro area of the Twin Cities met at Regions Hospital for a Roundtable Discussion on Behavioral Health, led by HealthPartners president and CEO Mary Brainerd. The goal: to identify tangible steps that could be taken -- either by individual agencies or in partnership -- to address crisis-level needs in mental health care delivery in the east metro.

Prompted by that discussion, a recent study by major Twin Cities hospitals and the Anoka County Metro Regional Treatment Center found that 40-50 ER patients per month are unnecessarily admitted to metro area hospitals because they lack access to less intensive resources. An additional 250 patients per month spend unnecessary time in inpatient psychiatric units because of a lack of residential treatment beds or other alternatives. According to estimates by hospitals, this adds up to more than $24 million in costs to the system annually.

"There are bottlenecks in the system," said Michael Trangle, M.D., Associate Medical Director of Behavioral Health for HealthPartners. "Our hospitals' emergency departments have become waiting rooms for patients experiencing a mental health crisis, and our inpatient psychiatry units and regional treatment centers are treating patients who in many cases could be more properly cared for in less-acute care settings."

The results of the study have identified the need to create a work group with representatives from hospitals, state agencies, substance abuse services, intensive residential treatment services, nursing homes and supported housing to develop practical recommendations of how to fill the gaps.

HealthPartners will continue to participate in this important work of improving care and lowering costs in our community. For more information on this study, visit healthpartners.com

At HealthPartners, our goal is to give your employees complete control of their health care.

That’s why we like to remind our customers about the great online tools available to them. This month, we’re spotlighting a simple but valuable time-saving tool: The Plan Comparison Tool.

If your employees aren’t sure about which health plan options make the most sense for themselves and their families, they can use this handy tool to compare benefits and expenses for different plans side-by-side. It compares deductibles and copayments for medical and pharmacy benefits, factoring in your company’s contributions. It’s simple, easy to use, and all about giving employees the information they need to make the right decisions.

The Plan Comparison Tool can be accessed at healthpartners.com.

“For Your Health” is a series of useful and consumer-friendly articles on health topics of interest to employees and their families. And it’s free for you to use. Please feel free to share this content with your employees via e-mail, newsletters or any method you prefer.   

Sun Safety Keeping safe under the rays Ah, the inviting summer sun. It has us flocking to beaches and backyards everywhere as the long, summer days offer hours of fun and pleasure. In recent years, we’ve come to realize that, like a lot of things, the sun needs to be enjoyed sensibly and in moderation. It’s not surprising, perhaps, that July is National UV Safety Month. So with that in mind, take a moment to review some of the basics about staying safe in the sunshine. What are UVs, anyway? A component of sunlight, ultraviolet (UV) rays are an invisible form of radiation that can penetrate and change the structure of skin cells. UVA (ultraviolet A) is the most abundant source of solar radiation at the earth's surface and penetrates beyond the top layer of human skin. Experts believe that UVA radiation can cause damage to connective tissue and increase a person's risk for developing skin cancer. UVB (ultraviolet B) rays are less abundant at the earth's surface because a significant portion is absorbed by the ozone layer. They penetrate less deeply than UVA rays, but also can be damaging. UV protection Most sunscreens products protect against UV rays by absorbing, reflecting or scattering them. Experts advise to avoid sun during the mid-day hours and apply sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of 15 or higher. Here are a few other ways to prevent sun damage: Wear a hat with at least a 2-3 inch brim all around to protect the neck, ears, eyes, forehead and scalp. Remember that baseball caps don’t protect the back of the neck or ears where skin cancers commonly develop. Did you know that a wet T-shirt can let in almost as much light as bare skin? Apply sunscreen on your chest and back even if you wear a T-shirt when swimming. Use caution if you're taking prescription drugs. Some drugs can greatly increase your skin's sensitivity to UV radiation. Check with your pharmacist to be sure. Check your sunscreen's expiration date. Sunscreen without an expiration date has a shelf life of no more than three years. Exposure to extreme temperatures can hasten the expiration date. UV radiation and your eyes According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research has shown that UV radiation increases the likelihood of certain cataracts -- a form of eye damage in which a loss of transparency in the lens of the eye clouds vision. Although curable with modern eye surgery, cataracts diminish the eyesight of millions of Americans and cost billions of dollars in medical care each year. Untreated cataracts can lead to blindness. The risk can be lessened with proper eye protection from UV radiation. Read the labels and look for sunglasses that provide 99%–100% UVA and UVB protection. Treating sunburn But what if you do overdo? First-degree sunburns are red in appearance and usually disappear within a few days. You can treat the discomfort with cool baths, aloe vera, other moisturizers or hydrocortisone creams. Aspirin or ibuprofen can also be taken to decrease any swelling and pain. Second-degree sunburns blister and can be severe. When a burn is severe, accompanied by a headache, chills or a fever, seek medical help right away. Skin cancer There are about one million cases of skin cancer each year. Most of these cancers are easily treated and cured. One type of skin cancer, melanoma, is deadly if not treated early and is increasing rapidly in both women and men. People with fair complexions, especially redheads, have a greater risk of getting this type of cancer than people with darker coloring, although anyone who spends a lot of time in the sun is at risk. Other high-risk groups include people who have had close family members with a melanoma and those who had severe sunburns before age 18. It’s especially important to protect children from sun exposure. In addition to the protection tips listed above, examine your skin regularly and have a skin exam during your regular checkups. The American Cancer Society also recommends the “ABCD Rule” as a way to identify a mole that could be a sign of melanoma: Asymmetry - One half does not match the other half. Border Irregularity - The edges of the mole are ragged, notched or blurred. Color - The color is not uniform. Shades of tan, brown and black are present. Diameter - The mole is wider than 6 millimeters or 1/4" (about the size of a pencil eraser). Any sudden or continuing increase in size should be of special concern. The UV Index Can you check the threat of UV exposure as easily as dialing up a weather forecast? You can with the UV Index. Developed by the National Weather Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, the UV Index forecasts your risk of overexposure to UV rays outdoors. It predicts exposure levels on a 0-10+ scale, with 0 indicating a low risk of overexposure and 10+ meaning a very high risk. It’s calculated on a next-day basis for dozens of cities across the U.S, factoring in cloud cover and other local conditions affecting the UV radiation reaching the ground. Many newspapers report the UV Index. Or, you can locate it online and learn much more at www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html