“Without data, you are just another
person with an opinion.”
- Samuel Johnson
The City of
Dalton found that not only could employee health be improved through an
aggressive program, but also that most employees who are high risk relative to
cardiovascular disease could, in fact, reduce their risk if they were provided
the right education and motivation.
Whereas it is a common myth that most people who have high cholesterol (or blood
pressure or glucose) have it because they have a genetic predisposition, the
City of Dalton found just the opposite to be true – over 90% of the high
cholesterol in their population was based on poor nutrition and exercise habits.
In other words, their high cholesterol was not genetic, but behavioral.
The fact that most high risk individuals were able to lower their health risk is
not only encouraging, but essential in the City’s continued effort to mitigate
the financial risk of their health plan. While it seems obvious, the lower an
organization’s health risk is (i.e. better health), the lower their costs will
be, while the higher the health risk (i.e. poorer health), the bleaker their
cost outlook. more
TI Automotive's primary goal is to
control or reverse rising health care costs trends. As such, they realized
early in the process the necessity of reducing both the prevalence of chronic
diseases and the financial impact they have on their bottom line. By using the
same lean manufacturing principles that apply to the rest of their business, they
have been able to translate them into a process that is both measurable and
repeatable.
TI Automotive has made a commitment
to reducing the root cause of high health care costs and is strong in the belief
that the root cause is poor health. Their leadership, from the highest level, is
committed to implementing programs to identify the individuals in the highest
risk categories and provide them with the tools to reduce their risks.
Their goal
is to prevent chronic diseases. more
