Health Care
Keeping employees healthy
How preventive care equals a healthy workplace
By Meredyth McKenzie
Smart Business Detroit | November 2009
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Dr. Bruce Niebylski, Associate vice president of medical affairs, Priority Health
Having healthy employees can result in a happier and healthier work force. But it’s not always easy to keep people healthy, especially in the approaching flu season, when germs spread easily throughout an office.
And then there are the larger health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
But as an employer, there’s something you can do about it. By taking advantage of preventive care offerings and screenings included in your health plan, you can help keep your employees healthy by preventing them from developing a particular condition or helping in early detection. And it doesn’t have to be expensive for you, because most health plans already include these tests and screenings.
“Many health plans are taking away the financial negatives, such as high co-pays and deductibles, that prevent people from getting preventive care,” says Dr. Bruce Niebylski, associate vice president of medical affairs at Priority Health.
Smart Business spoke with Niebylski about the preventive care offerings available in health plans and how to encourage employees to take advantage of them.
How has preventive care evolved?
Preventive care has evolved a lot over the last 20 to 30 years. Back then, we were seeing tremendously sick people because they weren’t taking care of their blood pressure and didn’t know about cholesterol or osteoporosis. People were eating high-fat and high-salt foods and not exercising, and it showed. The 40-year-olds were having heart attacks, and the 50-year-olds were having strokes. Now, there’s much better treatment and care for these conditions.
Children are also being immunized, and diseases such as asthma are being treated at an early age. We have a healthier population because of improving lifestyles, with people eating better and exercising more often.
What type of preventive care offerings should be included in a health plan?
The plan needs to reflect your company’s population. A typical health plan insures a wide range of ages.
You need to include childhood preventive care measures, such as immunizations, as well as screenings for breast cancer and prostate cancer.
It’s been proven that if people get these tests and immunizations or take prescribed maintenance medications, doing so will prevent them from becoming ill or getting worse if they are already sick.
