Weight & Obesity Management
Today, overweight and obesity is an increasing worldwide epidemic with far reaching effects. Since 1991, the number of American adults suffering from obesity has grown at an alarming rate, increasing 56% over the last eight years.1
Overweight Americans account for over $117 billion in healthcare costs annually, with the government paying about half that amount. Our nation is experiencing soaring healthcare costs at an alarming rate, as well as the increased need for medical intervention, treatment and prescriptions for our overweight and obese populations. In fact, more extreme situations require hospitalization or even bariatric surgery for those most at-risk.
Obesity's serious health risks result in strong associations with other chronic diseases. The obese population remains at increased risk for:
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep apnea
- Respiratory disorders
- Breast, colon and prostate cancer2
As we grow to understand overweight and obesity as a truly complex, multi-faceted chronic disease, QMed's Positive Directions addresses the critical role of prevention and maintenance to proactively address this epidemic and the underlying health factors that impact these individuals.
Our Health e Weight program is designed with the understanding that treatments must be comprehensive—including ongoing monitoring to measure progress and ensure participation, providing treatment plans that consider related medical conditions and health implications, and customizing nutrition and exercise plans to meet the changing needs of each participant.
A Unique Approach for Better Outcomes
Our Health e Weight program is an integrated model of care that builds on the trusted, established relationship that participants have with their physicians and other health professionals. We assist physicians in adherence to national medical guidelines for treating obesity. This further empowers physicians who do not always have the time to fully educate their patients on the specifics of long-term weight management.
We make it our responsibility to educate participants about the importance of weight management, nutrition and exercise. We realize the dedicated time and attention needed to ensure participant success. Our approach facilitates an equal program-to-participant partnership that reinforces lifestyle and behavioral changes, and the engagement needed to see improved health outcomes and cost savings.
Our Health e Weight program is designed to:
- Reduce the risks and consequences associated with being overweight or obese
- Improve health and quality of life through continual evaluation and assessment
- Help manage related health risks and make appropriate lifestyle changes
- Address the behavioral, psychological and physiological drivers of this disease
The Positive Directions Advantage
We understand that health plans and employers must serve the needs of varied populations, and now offer both a Wellness & Lifestyle program (Health e Living) as a complement to our Health e Weight Obesity Management Program.
Our Health e Weight program is highly unique in that it combines the sophisticated use of technology, telephony and interactive web-based tools—along with critical human intervention—proven to engage participants and ensure retention and long-term weight and health management. Participants receive personal dietary and nutritional coaching in the convenience of the home, along with the ability to interact with other participants, resulting in continued participant involvement and the motivation required to effect results.
Our program also incorporates data gathering, reporting and information technologies that are both participant friendly and compatible with our proven approach to managing high cost, chronically ill populations.
Engaging Participants for Improved Health
Our Health e Weight program is an efficient system that demonstrates a positive return on investment for payors while improving the health and lifestyle of member and employee populations. We engage participants with a mutually agreed upon healthy lifestyle care plan coupled with ongoing support and monitoring. Participants track and report their weight measurements using our precision electronic scale. Our convenient in-home monitoring creates accountability as well as a system that promotes trust. Participant reported weight measures are transmitted to a centralized database and care management software. This along with subjective data captured is accessible by a team of clinicians and weight management specialists who provide feedback through interactive voice response (IVR) and easy to use web site technology.
Our Health e Weight program also employs Registered Dietitians to place purposeful outreach calls with actionable results. Our proactive program outreach allows us to contact participants at the right time based on updated monitoring input and scheduled calls, to provide support for weight control and long-term maintenance.
Enhanced Outcomes, Increased Savings
Healthcare costs associated with obesity related medical expenses are approximately $100 billion per year. Obesity adds an incremental $395 per person per year to the cost of our national healthcare expense.3 Obesity related disability costs employers an average $8,720 per employee per year—in addition to the $12 billion annual expenses from increased healthcare costs, lower productivity, and increased loss of work.4 Health e Weight has the ability to impact several areas of the weight and obesity epidemic to improve health and reduce costs.
We anticipate a reduction in direct medical costs such as gastric bypass surgery in the obese and severely obese populations. Our program works to reduce the BMI (Body Mass Index) of overweight and obese participants. A reduction of as little as 5 basis points in BMI can result in the elimination of co-morbidities such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes. Members or employees will experience a decrease in these conditions and their associated medical costs. Workers compensation carriers also benefit from our program. UnumProvident Corporation, the nation’s largest provider of disability income protection insurance notes that obesity accounts for about 4,000 of their annual short-term disability claims, and is often found as a co-morbidity factor in long term disability claims.6 Participants will experience decreased risk for on-site work injuries, employers will see increased productivity and insurance carriers will have decreased injury claims.
Engagement in our program provides the promise for a decrease in overall healthcare costs. Health e Weight is an efficient and personalized program to assist overweight and obese populations experience reduced:
- Physician office & ER visits
- Invasive procedures, surgeries such as gastric bypass and associated complications
- Orthopedic injury
- Work-related injuries and absenteeism
Notes:
1. Overweight and Obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site. 2005. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/. Accessed September 20, 2005.
2. Source: Federal Department of Health and Human Services
3. Obesity and Disability: The Shape of Things To Come. Rand Corporation's Web site. 2002. Available at:
http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB9043/. Accessed September 20, 2005.
4. Berger, E. Weight-loss surgery gains medical respect: But concerns are growing that the radical operation could be overused. Houston Chronicle. 2004.
5. TePastte, S. The Metabolic Syndrome. Messa Organization's Web site. 2003. Available at:
http://www.messa.org/MESSA/Public/HealthResources/HealthArticles/
DigestiveHealth/MetabolicSyn.cfm. Accessed September 20, 2005.
6. UnumProvident Report Shows Tenfold Increase in Obesity-Related Disability Claims. UnumProvident’s web site. Available at http://www.unumprovident.com/newsroom/news/corporate/2004/obesity.aspx. Accessed September 29, 2005.
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