NBCH in Partnership with the COPD Foundation Awards Grants to Focus on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Management

To combat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic condition impacting more than 24 million Americans, NBCH is making available $120,000 in grant funds. The program’s activities are funded through a collaboration with the COPD Foundation (COPDF). After a competitive review, four NBCH member coalitions were selected to participate in various programs with employers.

“Health care related to COPD – the term for progressive lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis – costs about $50 billion each year,” said Karen Linscott, chief operating officer for NBCH. “Education efforts are important as this condition must be properly diagnosed and managed. There’s significant impact to an employer’s bottom line, especially when left untreated as COPD patients may be less productive, have greater absentee rates and medical costs.”

Two coalitions were awarded funds of $55,000 each – the Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group on Health and the Montana Association of Health Care Purchasers. Both groups will engage major community stakeholders in a collaborative effort to assess the impact of COPD on employees through claims analysis and other data, provide COPD risk-assessment and identify and develop strategic plans to implement Employer Toolkit interventions. Two additional coalitions have been selected to serve in an advisory role – the Employer’s Health Coalition in Arkansas and the Virginia Business Coalition on Health.

“We are pleased to work closely with NBCH and its member coalitions on this important program,” said John W. Walsh, president and co-founder for COPDF. “Seventy percent of people with COPD are in the workforce and it’s imperative that employers be equipped with the tools and strategies to promote early risk identification and health management of COPD.”

The grants will support coalition efforts to improve COPD care by engaging employers in claims analysis, employee screening and education efforts, and benefit design. Coalition strategies will focus on interventions included in the COPD Foundation’s Employer Toolkit. The stipends will support coalitions serving in an advisory group focused on engagement of employers in improving COPD-related care for their covered populations.

Study: When Health Insurance Costs Rise, Productivity Drops

As health insurance premiums steadily increase, employers have increasingly shifted costs onto workers. Employees’ shares of monthly premiums have gone up, as has cost-sharing for various services.

The whole idea is to save money, and reduce the employer’s health spending burden. It might, however, comes with a hidden cost: A new paper (fee required for download) from Truven Healthcare’s Teresa Gibson, Harvard’s Michael Chernew and the University of Michigan’s A. Mark Fendrick find that as co-payments go up, productivity drops — most likely as a result of employees skipping out on care altogether.

The team focused on those with chronic pain such as arthritis. They then looked at how much employees had to pay for prescription medication under their various benefit structures. Previous research has shown that as the cost of health-care services increases, usage decreases — workers simply don’t fill as many prescriptions when prices get higher.

On average, employees with chronic pain had 76.7 hours absent from work. But with every $5 increase in cost-sharing for pain medications, they saw an increase in absenteeism somewhere in the ballpark of 1.3 to 3.1 percent.

That may seem small, but as the researchers explain, the consequences could be quite large, enough to offset any savings the higher co-payments generate for that employee:

"If we assume that a $5 increase in cost-sharing (20%) is associated with a 1 hour increase in absence (~1.3%) this would be valued at $42/hour fully loaded with fringe benefits (workers in private industry, large establishments) (BLS 2012). Alternatively, the average hourly earnings for Americans overall is about $31 loaded. The $31-$42/hr in absence-related costs would offset any employer savings associated with raising copayments."

Keep in mind, these are the costs for one individual and not a full analysis of the pros and cons of increased cost-sharing. A company may be generating savings with the higher co-pays among other, healthier beneficiaries. It does, however, suggest that raising cost-sharing in health insurance is not necessarily just about saving — it’s also about spending.

Pain Pills Add Cost And Delays To Job Injuries

The New York Times reports that workplace insurers spend an estimated $1.4 billion annually on narcotic painkillers, or opioids. But they are also finding that the medications, if used too early in treatment, too frequently or for too long, can drive up associated disability payouts and medical expenses by delaying an employee’s return to work. Workers who received high doses of opioid painkillers to treat injuries like back strain stayed out of work three times longer than those with similar injuries who took lower doses, a 2008 study of claims by the California Workers Compensation Institute found. When medical care and disability payments are combined, the cost of a workplace injury is nine times higher when a strong narcotic like OxyContin is used than when a narcotic is not used, according to a 2010 analysis by Accident Fund Holdings, an insurer that operates in 18 states. The drugs are widely prescribed to treat common problems like back pain, even though there is little evidence that they provide long-term benefits. Along with causing drowsiness and lethargy, high doses of opioids can lead to addiction, and they can have other serious side effects, including fatal overdoses.  Along with causing drowsiness and lethargy, high doses of opioids can lead to addiction, and they can have other serious side effects, including fatal overdoses.

NTOCC Launches Transitions of Care Evaluation Tool for Health Care Quality Improvement

The National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), an organization dedicated to improving patient transitions through the healthcare system, has launched a new tool to facilitate the advancement of care quality. The Transitions of Care Evaluation Software, a web-based program provided at no cost to the user, is designed to meet the needs of organizations ready for an advanced stage of transitions of care improvement efforts.

Available through a secure Internet website accessible from NTOCC's homepage, the software is a convenient, online option for institutions looking to document and evaluate transitions initiatives. User features include data entry, data analysis and report generation, allowing for data visualization over time. In addition, multiple evaluation projects may be managed under a single organization's umbrella.

The Transitions of Care Evaluation Software is available at http://www.ntocc.org/, where interested parties may learn more and preview the platform, register for an account and begin using the Software.

New data from CDC: nation's leading causes of death, 38 million Americans are binge drinkers

Two reports were released from the CDC this week that should be of interest to the purchaser community.

Leading killers
Heart disease, cancer, lower respiratory disease, stroke and diabetes are four of the top 10 leading killers in the U.S. The report indicates two major trends: homicides are down and deaths from certain diseases are on the rise as the population ages. The full list and January 11 National Vital Statistics Report can be found here.

Binge drinking is growing problem
New research shows that four times a month, one in six Americans goes on a drinking binge, knocking back an average of eight alcoholic beverages within a few hours. The report finds that drinking too much, including binge drinking, cost the United States $223.5 billion in 2006, or $1.90 a drink, from losses in productivity, health care, crime and other expenses.



States and communities can:

• Implement effective community strategies to prevent binge drinking such as those recommended by the Community Guide.
• Routinely track and report how many people binge drink, how often, and how much they drink when they binge.
• Develop community coalitions that build partnerships among schools, community- and faith-based organizations, law enforcement, health care, and public health agencies to reduce binge drinking.

Pharmacy Coaching Program Piloted in Ohio Motivates Participants to Better Manage Diabetes and High Blood Pressure

An innovative one-on-one pharmacy coaching program used by employees of the City of Cincinnati and the Kroger Co., both group members of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio, is credited with helping employees better manage two of the most serious and pervasive chronic conditions threatening the health of the nation – diabetes and high blood pressure. Read the full release...