employers are acknowledging that a proactive approach to healthcare
is a major weapon in the continuous fight against spiraling health
costs.
One of the US’ largest health insurers, Cigna has taken up the
challenge with the introduction of its Trend Management System
(TMS) which takes the unique approach of predicting the likelihood
of an individual experiencing serious health problems years in
advance of them occurring.
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TMS is based on research conducted over more than 30 years by
researchers headed by Dee Edington, director of the University of
Michigan Health Management Research Center. According to Cigna the
TMS has a predictive accuracy of 83 percent and ranks in priority
risks or behaviours that an individual should address to prevent
future health issues.
The TMS also enables Cigna to identify individuals that should be
offered health coaching first, and help coaches determine the best
approach to take to address an individual’s health issues. Some
individuals are immediately invited to participate in one or more
six- to eight-week online coaching programmes while others are
invited to participate in one-on-one coaching or counselling.
The TMS assessment can be undertaken online and asks an individual
a variety of biometric, health and lifestyle questions. Included
are topics such as blood pressure cholesterol, smoking, exercise,
sleep habits, diet and alcohol consumption. Other areas covered
include quality of life issues, seatbelt use, dental care,
medications and vaccinations.
Then the TMS creates a health assessment report that displays an
overall wellness score and identifies the top three risks most
likely to affect the individual within the next few years.
According to research by Edington by reducing lifestyle risks
annual healthcare costs can be reduced by up $4,078.
A survey by Cigna indicates that its current approach will appeal
to a wide audience. Of respondents, 87 percent said they would
value getting information that can predict risk for developing
health problems and 94 percent said they would be motivated to make
healthy lifestyle changes if the assessment showed that they were
at medium or high risk for developing health problems.
