There are a handful of health conditions that can be managed, or altogether avoided, with a little patient knowledge. Health coaches, provided through the employer, can provide employees with guidance and information early to identify potential problems.
According to a National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt study, 44 percent of large employers offered health coaching in 2007, with an additional 13 percent planning to offer it this year. Coaches work with employees over the phone or in person to set goals for the treatment of their conditions, and to keep them informed of potential risks.
For example, in 2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that nearly 21 million Americans had diabetes, a leading case of blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks and strokes. Six million of those diabetics don't know they have the disease, meaning they're not treating it.
In the remainder of the population, 41 million are estimated to be pre-diabetic, meaning they're at significant risk of developing the disease soon. A health coach can simply help identify symptoms and remind patients to test their blood sugar more often.
A coach's insight could lead to some of those latent diabetics getting diagnosed and treated before further damage happens. The potential savings for companies they work for could be millions of dollars.
Health coaches may help to control health care costs associated with other conditions where the patients' lifestyle can play a key part in avoiding problems such as obesity, hypertension, asthma and lower back pain.
To measure the success of a health coaching program, companies have to monitor their health care costs before and after the inception of the program. Privacy laws prevent employers from accessing information on who is using the program and any related medical data, so the ROI has to be determined on an overall cost basis.
To build an efficient program, it's helpful for an employer to identify the chronic diseases within the employee population that cost the most to treat. Working with the coaching provider to set up clear guidelines on what conditions to help manage may limit the cost of the program, while targeting a population that needs help.