Dose of Reality: The Way It Should Be
Column
Written by Jill Rose   
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Dose of Reality: The Way It Should Be - Health Executive - Red Coat Publishing
Jill Rose
It seems that at least some health insurers are waking up to the fact that it’s less expensive to keep people healthy than to treat them after they become ill. A new program called LifeSmart represents a venture between UPMC Health Plan and Heritage Valley Health System to help prevent diabetes in Heritage Valley’s service area.

UPMC Health Plan (owned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) plans to contribute $100,000 to Heritage Valley for the program. Additional $50,000 donations are coming from two of the health system’s hospital foundations.

The money will be used to identify people who are at risk for diabetes, link them to a primary care physician, and provide them with support designed to keep them from getting the disease.

According to UPMC Health Plan, at-risk members will be asked to join a healthy lifestyle intervention group such as the Group Lifestyle Balance Program, which includes instruction on healthy food choices, increasing physical activity, and developing problem-solving skills. Other options include individual nutrition education, exercise and fitness, and smoking cessation.

This type of joint effort has been a long time coming, but I expect (and hope) we’ll start seeing an upsurge in these types of programs, which are a win for both insurers and patients.

It takes time and repeated efforts to help people face the effects their lifestyles have on their health, and time is in short supply for PCPs, as we all know. Indeed, the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute says type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed through intensive lifestyle intervention but that time constraints on physician staffs often limit the effectiveness of these programs.
Community involvement is key to these initiatives, and UPMC Health Plan reports that several area employers will invite employees who are plan members to participate in the program. They include Friendship Ridge, the County of Beaver, and Blackhawk School district. A number of health-related businesses in the Beaver-Sewickley area are providing special offers to participants.

Diane Holder, president of UPMC Health Plan, sums it up well. “We believe that programs such as ours can assist physicians and develop healthier communities,” she said.
 
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