Case Study Demonstrates the Value of
a Self-Care Strategy in Better Managing Disease and Health Care Costs
Since the mid-1990s, an enormous push toward personal empowerment and informed decision making has taken center stage as a means to change behavior and encourage people to better manage disease and subsequent health care costs. In recent years, a tremendous emphasis on self-care has enabled individuals to make well-informed decisions about when to seek care versus when to self-treat, and even how to self-treat, based on proven clinical recommendations.
A published case study of one of Mayo Clinic Health Solutions' clients, Springs Global, confirms the positive impact of a strategic self-care strategy.
Springs Global (formerly Springs Industries) is one of the largest textile companies in the United States. Like many organizations, Springs Global was faced with mushrooming health care costs and recognized that the key to managing costs was to invest in the health of their more than 10,000 employees. To reduce the bottom-line costs of health care, Springs Global recognized the need for a reliable source of self-care information upon which treatment decisions can be made.
Springs Global distributed the Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth Guide to Self-Care, and trained employees on its use and value. The initiative yielded some outstanding results as evidenced by a survey that showed 49 percent of respondents reported that the Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth Guide to Self-Care helped them avoid at least one unnecessary trip to the emergency room, with 9 percent of this group avoiding five or more unnecessary trips to the ER. With the average cost of an ER visit in the U.S. at $360, Springs Global potential cost savings is significant.
According to Frieda Price, occupational nurse manager at Springs Global, “The value of this initiative is clear to all parties involved, and simply makes good business sense.” For more information on Spring Global's self-care program success, request the case study in its entirety
http://www.mayoclinichealthsolutions.com/products/EmbodyHealth-Guide-To-Self-Care-Special-Report.cfm
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Decrease Drug Costs — Go Generic
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Today, more than ever, consumers can opt for generic equivalents of brand-name medications at substantial cost savings. According to the December issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, generic versions of brand-name prescription drugs can cost 30 percent to 90 percent less.
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a record number of generic drug applications, up more than 30 percent from 2006.
Generics might look different from the brand-name drug because they can have different fillers or coloring agents. But the active ingredients are closely regulated by the FDA and must be within a small percentage of the brand-name medication.
For a brand-name drug to become available as a generic can take decades. An initial patent life is 20 years, and patents can be extended for variations on the medication. When the patent expires, the FDA frequently grants one company six months of exclusive rights to produce the generic drug. Usually, the price drops slightly. But if the generic is widely used, other companies will manufacture the drug, and usually the price drops substantially.
Here are some brand-name drugs available as generic since 2006:
Altace (ramipril) for blood pressure and heart failure
Ambien (zolpidem), a sleep aid
Depakote (divalproex) for seizures, migraines and bipolar disorder
Fosamax (alendronate) for osteoporosis
Requip (ropinirole) for restless legs syndrome
Toprol-XL (metoprolol succinate) for blood pressure, heart failure and angina
Zyrtec-D (cetirizine/pseudoephedrine) for allergies. Now available over-the-counter.
Many more brand-name medications are expected to be available in generic forms in the next two years. Among those to watch are the migraine medication Imitrex (sumatriptan), the glaucoma drug Cosopt (timolol/dorzolamide), the anti-seizure drug Topamax (topiramate), and the herpes anti-viral drug Valtrex (valacyclovir).
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about less-expensive medication options. Not all brand-name medications have generic equivalents, but always inquire.
Mayo Clinic Health Letter is an eight-page monthly newsletter of reliable, accurate and practical information on today's health and medical news. To subscribe, please call 800-333-9037 (toll-free), extension 9771, or visit the Mayo Clinic Health Letter Web site.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.Contact Information
For more information, contact:
Ginger Plumbo
507-284-5005 (days)
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newsbureau@mayo.edu
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Copyright ©2001-2009 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
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APA/Mayo Partnership to Demonstrate Cost and Health Benefits of Psychological Interventions
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by Chris Barrett
Practitioner Focus, August 1997
Public Relations and Communications
Practice Directorate
For more information: E-mail
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The APA Practice Directorate recently signed an agreement with the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minn., to produce an actuarial model that will show the cost savings and improved health outcomes a health care system can realize if it incorporates psychological services into the treatment of coronary patients. APA and its technical consultant, Coopers and Lybrand, LLP, will use Mayo Clinic data to aid the effort. Once the actuarial model is completed, the directorate intends to pursue a full-scale demonstration project with a health system that is able and willing to test the model's predictions.
Though the concept of 'medical cost offset' has been around for some 30 years, third party payers and policy makers have not been persuaded by the aggregate nature of the data generated thus far, according to Russ Newman, Ph.D., J.D. 'They want to know that specific treatments for designated disorders can save 'X' dollars,' he said. This need provided the impetus for APA to collaborate with the Mayo Clinic.
In working with Coopers and Lybrand to develop its actuarial model, the Practice Directorate will use the Mayo Clinic's own research results combined with data on the clinic's entire cardiac rehabilitation population. This data will be supplemented by information from national health care data bases. By generalizing the Mayo Clinic's claims data and clinical research findings to the national patient population, Coopers and Lybrand will help APA produce a model to predict specific cost savings and improved health outcomes in various health care systems.
Distressed coronary patients at risk
The Mayo Clinic has generated data about the effect of psychological distress on patients recovering from heart attacks. A 1995 Mayo study found that ongoing psychological distress is an independent risk factor for poorer medical outcomes and increased health care costs following a heart attack. Specifically, psychologically-distressed patients were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be rehospitalized than non-distressed patients. And when rehospitalized, distressed patients cost $7,358 more than rehospitalized but non-distressed patients.
Building on their earlier data, Mayo is currently conducting research on the effectiveness of various psychological interventions for the clinic's distressed cardiac rehabilitation patients. The focus of the new research is on the degree of stress reduction in patients, and the impact of psychological services delivery on rehospitalization rates and overall health care costs.
Dr. Newman believes that once APA's actuarial model is complete, the association will be in a good position to convince a suitable health care delivery system to test the model in a large-scale demonstration project. 'If we can complete the demonstration, we should gain conclusive data that can help change the way cardiac rehabilitation services are delivered,' Newman predicted.
Anticipating the successful completion of the actuarial model, the directorate already is identifying several delivery systems that want help with restructuring their treatment and reimbursement mechanisms to accommodate the integration of mental and physical health services. One of these systems is a likely candidate for the APA-sponsored demonstration project.
In recent years, many health care systems have 'carved out' mental health benefits in an effort to control costs and therefore are unable to easily integrate psychological services with medical/surgical treatment. The model APA is developing will require both information management and reimbursement systems that allow for such integration. 'We hope that demonstration projects such as ours will provide a catalyst for health care systems to integrate service delivery by carving back in their mental health services,' Newman said. The upshot, he said, will be improved quality of care at reduced cost.
The Mayo project is part of the directorate's ongoing strategic initiative to help demonstrate psychology's value in the treatment of physical illness and to enhance practice opportunities for psychologists. The directorate is involved in several current and potential demonstration projects intended to provide the kind of specific data on costs and health outcomes that health care payors and policy makers seek.
APA is engaged in a collaborative demonstration project with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc. and the Linda Pollin Institute Research Program of Harvard Medical School. This project is evaluating the psychological, behavioral and health benefits of providing 16 weeks of group psychotherapy as an integral part of treating women with breast cancer.
http://www.apa.org/practice/pf/aug97/mayo.html
© 2009 American Psychological Association
Practice Directorate
750 First Street, NE • Washington, DC • 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5800 • TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123
Fax: 202-336-5797 • Email
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