There are many contributors to heart disease; and thus there are many small steps that any of us can take to improve our heart health for the long term. So, why not try to start some new small “heart healthy” habit?
What can help your heart? Stress levels, what food we eat and of course exercise have big impact on our heart. Here a few things that any of us can consider to boost your heart health.
- Add something healthy to your diet. Most of us are challenged to balance enjoying what we eat while trying to eat a little healthier. For your heart consider adding a few of these items to one or more of your daily meals: fresh fruits and vegetables, cold water fish (like salmon) with Omega 3 fatty acids, beans, and a little dark chocolate can satisfy that sweet tooth.
- Move. Yes, it is difficult to add in exercise into an already busy schedule. Again, what is important is that you consider doing something you CAN do. So, can you take stairs instead of using an elevator or an escalator? Can you park a little farther from the door to walk a little more on your way to work? Can you fit in a short walk 3 times a week? If you feel that you cannot spare 30 minutes, even a 15 minute walk regularly will help your health. If you want to add a little exercise in, consider starting the Health Portrait™ walking or jogging kits. They can help you start a exercising a little more in a way that works for you!
- Boost your mood. It is not always easy to adjust our stress levels or our mood. Most of us are trying to do many things in our days and stress is a natural occurrence. The key is to determine what you CAN do to reduce our stress or raise your happiness level a little. Studies have shown our body chemistry improves with any level of stress reduction or happiness improvement. Laughter IS good medicine. So, consider engaging in simple calming breathing exercises, or try to do something this next week that makes you happy, or try out the stress “kit” on Health Portrait™.
- Stop smoking. For many who smoke, breaking this habit is difficult, but the research is clear that smoking cigarettes is one of the most significant contributors to heart disease.
Want more information? The CDC published some facts and tips: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HeartMonth/.
Medforma helps organizations engage employees to become healthier to reduce health care costs using exclusive tools, content and logic based on the world-renowned Stanford University Prevention Research Center, the leader in health behavior change and disease prevention for over 35 years. Medforma provides a trusted, proven, health improvement program with easy-to-use employer tools and group health information.
Medforma also provides integrated solutions for a wide variety of health and wellness services along with incentive programs through experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
www.medforma.com
May 11, 2012
It is THAT time of year….yes, are you already thinking about New Year’s resolutions? Or if you are like most of us, you are still trying to get everything done that seems to build up during the end of year/holiday season rush. Some of us are looking forward to the holiday food “coma” from our favorite treats and others are dreading it for fear of the pounds it may add.
Whether it is managing through the stress of the holiday season, managing through tempting mountains of food, or whether it be a personal challenge of wanting to start the New Year with a goal, there are 3 key tips that can help any of us during this crazy time of year.
1) Set realistic and self-measurable goals! Think about the goals ahead of time and set a defined goal…..what are you going to do and by when? Yes, not everything that counts can be measured, but measurement certainly helps. Studies have shown that we will be most successful if we have set a target for ourselves AHEAD of time. So, before you sit down to dinner this season, how much of your plate will you fill with fruits and vegetables? How many times will you go up for “seconds”? When precisely will you reach out to that old friend you have been meaning to call?
2) Do something YOU want to do! Experts have noted that often people feel pushed into setting New Year’s resolutions based on pressure from family or friends. For example, if you are getting pressure but may not be ready to lose weight mentally, what are you ready to do? Perhaps you could focus on adding something healthier into your diet each day? Or perhaps you can make a simple goal to use the stairs instead of an elevator? Maybe you simply want to reduce your to-do list to reduce stress? Finding success with something you are ready to do can set the stage later for your readiness to tackle other goals.
3) Don’t deny; Instead moderate! Many studies have shown that most of us don’t like big changes. If you want to be successful making a change stick, you are most likely to be successful with small changes. So, this holiday season, if you LOVE holiday cookies, how about deciding on a certain number and limiting yourself? Also, if you want to keep weight in check, just remember that whether you gain or lose is simple math, calories consumed vs. calories burned. Think of challenging yourself with trade-offs. “I just ate that extra piece of pumpkin pie, maybe I can go up and down the stairs a couple of times instead of just the one flight I was planning?”
Yes, the end of each year is a busy time that can be filled with lots of emotions, joyous and stressed. Each of us can do little things for ourselves to help us manage through this crazy time. Remember it can be as easy as 1-2-3! 1) Set a realistic goal; 2) Do what want YOU want to do; 3) Moderate, don’t deny. These simple steps can help any of us start the New Year with a simple positive plan.
Happy Holidays from Medforma!
About Medforma:
Medforma helps employers and employees get healthier and reduce health care costs with a trusted, proven health improvement program with easy-to-use employer tools and group health information.
How does our system work? Medforma helps organizations engage employees to become healthier to reduce health care costs using exclusive tools, content and logic based on the world-renowned Stanford University Prevention Research Center….the leader in health behavior change and disease prevention for over 35 years. In addition, our unique personal assistance with on-staff experts helps clients maximize success in implementation. http://www.medforma.com.
December 22, 2011
Benjamin Franklin often said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
It’s true isn’t it?
We can all think of examples…in day to day life, in sports, in business. If you want a different result, you must change SOMETHING.
Well, let’s turn to health care costs. Whether you are individual paying your own way, you are on Medicare, or you are an employer trying to provide health benefits to employees, you have been faced with the reality that health care costs have doubled in the last decade.
And unless WE do something different, they will double again in the next decade. It really is that simple.
And now, just published research by the Kaiser Family Foundation confirms that in fact health costs are rising faster than anticipated. I don’t think they are rising faster than EVERYONE anticipated…simply because things really have NOT changed.
Big insurers still provide similar health insurance for individuals and employers that has not really changed. Consumer driven models that engage individuals in the cost of their health care are out there, but are NOT really used as much as they can be. Consumers are still insulated from the actual flow of real health costs by traditional premium based and deductible based health plans.
Without major changes in health care is delivery and payments in our country, how could we expect anything different from what latest Kaiser research showed?
Consumers and employers often still don’t engage in health improvement programs that incorporate accountability AND appeal to intrinsic motivation so that individuals get going on health changes that they can and are ready to turn into new habits.
It is fall, benefits renewal time for many companies. It is time for employers to:
1) Look at different options that engage employees to be accountable consumers of health care
2) Take control of group health data instead of being slave to reports coming from the health insurance company…who reap the benefits of increasing premiums.
3) Engage employees in a cultural change…entice and engage them step by step in new healthier habits that they are ready to take.
If we all keep doing what we have been doing, we will keep getting what we have been getting.
Let’s get our heads out of the sand and help America get healthier, company by company, employee by employee.
Here is a good summary in the New York Times of the Kaiser Family Foundation Research:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/business/health-insurance-costs-rise-sharply-this-year-study-shows.html
If you want to see the data on Kaiser’s site directly, here is that link:
http://ehbs.kff.org/
About Medforma:
Medforma provides a trusted, proven, Stanford expertise based health improvement program with easy-to-use employer tools and group health information.
Medforma helps organizations engage employees to become healthier to reduce health care costs using exclusive tools, content and logic based on the world-renowned Stanford University Prevention Research Center….the leader in health behavior change and disease prevention for over 35 years. http://www.medforma.com.
September 27, 2011
OK, so you have tried altering your health insurance plan and benefits for your employees how many times over the past decade?
If employee health care costs have not increased in the last decade for your company, sucking away working capital that could be applied to other investments in your business, maybe you don’t need to read this article.
If you are like the other 99.9% of us, there may be some useful thoughts here for you.
Reducing or even staving off increases in health care costs in corporate America is simply a significant challenge for our country. And it won’t get any easier. Health care costs have doubled in the last decade (Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, 1999-2010) and as the old saying goes, if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting. Yes, a few brave consulting companies have projected that health care costs will double again in the next decade if something is not done to decrease them.
So, many companies have decided to tackle employee wellness. Some have had success, others have not. Really, what we all want is health improvement in our employees. After all, we all know by now (or should know) that 70-80% of health care costs are a result of LIFESTYLE CHOICES of people. (MacArthur Select Panel on Healthy Aging). So, stop blaming your genes everyone! Yes, improving health certainly is affected by one’s individual genetic make-up. However, a lot of what has been dealt to us in our genes is able to be minimized, or not, with the daily choices that we make about what we consume, how we exercise, our stress level, etc.
We have met many companies who have thus come to recognize that they need to do SOMETHING to get going to help spur employees on toward health improvement. But they do not know where to start.
One great place to start is with a quality health assessment (aka Health Risk Assessment or HRA).
Why is this? Implementing a quality health assessment as a first step for a company health improvement program has these benefits:
- It gets employee engagement and learning process going. There is nothing like learning or re-learning data about ourselves as individuals to help us determine healthy changes we should and are ready to make.
- It provides aggregate data for health plan design AND focus areas for spurring on employee health. The group data that employers can garner from the implementation of a health assessment is critical for employers. This data not only helps the company determine health insurance and other employee benefits, but more importantly, for future health improvement communications and programs, the employer gains insight to focus programs on those health areas most pertinent to the specific population.
- It establishes a benchmark for measurement of change. Implementing a health assessment is NOT a once in a lifetime event. We all know that measurement is a key to understanding improvement. So, only by implementing health assessments periodically (at least once a year, no more than once every 6 months), can employers and employees see changes in health that can be great motivators for future improvement. (And they can see those areas that may need a bit more focus!)
- It is a simple, inexpensive place to start. Implementing a quality third party health assessment can be a low cost way to get started with health improvement. Most quality online tools can be provided for less than $50 per employee per year.
- It can help employers learn how many employees know their biometrics to most economically plan other services and onsite biometric screenings. There are too many stories about employers who decide to delay implementing a health improvement (or health care savings) initiative because the cost of biometrics on top of other things they want to do are not “in their budget”. Most health plans DO cover periodic physicals for employees, which include biometrics already, without added cost for the employer. Implementing a health assessment FIRST, is a great way to learn how many employees actually require a supplemental biometrics event before spending the money. It really can be a great guide to determine where health improvement dollars can be mostly wisely invested!
Note that the key to getting these benefits from a quality health assessment is to get employee participation without breaking the bank. Some companies have had limited success using the health assessment sometimes provided by health insurance companies simply because people do not want to volunteer health information to their health insurance company. Participation rates are typically higher and incentives required are less costly with third party health assessment tools that are not affiliated with a health insurer.
The key to getting started on the road to employee health improvement AND organizational health cost reduction is to…GET STARTED. The tools available to employers are expanding each year. Traditional “live intervention” based tools, challenges, and Human Resource time-intensive programs are no longer the only answer. Quality online assessments, reporting and behavior change programs are also available and affordable.
Employees CAN get healthier through employer sponsored health improvement programs. Employers provide a great place for communication and community to get people to start changing their health habits step by step. Employer implemented programs are key to reducing health costs for companies throughout our country and improving the health of our American public.
About Medforma:
Medforma provides a trusted, proven, Stanford expertise based health improvement program with easy-to-use employer tools and group health information.
Medforma helps organizations engage employees to become healthier to reduce health care costs using exclusive tools, content and logic based on the world-renowned Stanford University Prevention Research Center….the leader in health behavior change and disease prevention for over 35 years. http://www.medforma.com.
Want to learn more about or become a member of the Stanford Health Promotion Network? Check them out at http://www.stanfordhpn.org/
July 19, 2011
Medforma in the news!
Wellness on Demand, by Elizabeth Millard, Minnesota Business
February 16, 2011
Continuous Software as a Service Enhancements!
As most of you know, Medforma is committed to continually improving our products and services for our subscribers. We also love to hear customer input for desired enhancements, so if you are a subscriber, please remember to use the floating “feedback” tool at the left hand side of our Health Portrait™ web-page to make suggestions to us!
Our next software release is scheduled for January 24, 2011. We are implementing some additional user interactivity and dashboard enhancements to further attract users to repeatedly engage with the Health Portrait™ tools as they implement step-by-step healthier behaviors.
Specifically, this software release will include:
- An updated Health Portrait™ user dashboard with specific instructions about how to undergo the process of behavior change and health improvement.
- In-depth explanation of our Healthy Lifestyle Index Score that helps a user understand how simple changes in controllable lifestyle behaviors can make a big impact on personal health improvement
- A health feed that updates the user daily with Health Portrait™ Health Kit behavior change program to-dos and helpful reminders to keep the user’s behavior change progress on track
- An email reminder system to help users stay on track
- Advanced online journaling in our Stress Management to support stress management behavior change efforts Advanced online journaling in our Stress Management to support stress management behavior change efforts
Stay tuned for our next software release planned for February!
That release will include additional online tools for additional digital health coaching kits and an integrated incentive tracking program with for organizational administrators to set up for different stages of Health Portrait™ use. With these new tools, users will also be able to easily see individual progress toward incentive targets.
Feedback please!
Subscribers, we look forward to your feedback after you check out these new tools.
If you are not yet a subscriber, you can check out these new tools with our free trial! So, don’t wait. Now is a great time to get going on improving employee health, implementing a healthy culture and control health care costs!
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Medforma helps businesses reduce health care costs and improve employee health through proven and affordable next generation Internet-based behavior change resources and programs. Regardless of other employee benefit provisions, all employers can benefit from Medforma’s simple, low-cost solutions. Medforma also provides integrated solutions for other more traditional wellness services and incentive programs through partnerships with experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
January 12, 2011
Hello Medforma friends! The new year is abuzz with lots of good and interesting news…both regarding new studies and information about health…along with all the stir about our nation’s healthcare policies and programs.
FYI, Our monthly newsletter is due out this week…so if you have an interest in signing up for it, you can CLICK HERE.
As you likely already know, Medforma is committed to continuously enhancing our products and bringing those enhancements to our existing subscribers! This month, we are launching some new enhancements to Health Portrait to make it even more interactive and engaging as people are working step by step toward lifelong healthier habits! We will outline these enhancements specifically in our upcoming newsletter…so stay tuned!
ON TO THE NEWS!
Preventing Heart Risks at the Root: Childhood (New York Times, Jan 10, 2011 by Nicholas Bakalar)
Two new studies published this week in the journal Circulation point again to adult health risks with their root in childhood. The studies found:
- That parental smoking while children are young increases the risk for high blood pressure and elevates the child’s blood pressure as compared to other children.
- That teenagers who consumed more than 30% of their calories in sugar were significantly more likely to have low HDL (aka“good” cholesterol) and HIGH LDL (aka “bad” cholesterol).
As you might suspect, yes even though relatively higher biometrics were seen the YOUNGSTERS were still healthy. However, relatively less healthy biometrics in the young ARE indicators of high risk later in life.
Read full article
Walk faster and you just may live longer (MSNBC.com January 4, 2011)
A University of Pittsburgh professor analyzed 9 previous studies to assess the impact of walking on longevity. He found that walking relatively more quickly is a sign of vitality and health and thus is indicative of longer life.
Read full article
Association Between Consistent Exercise And Lower Risk Of Colon Cancer Death (Medical News Today Jan. 5, 2011)
A new study conducted by researchers indicates that consistent exercise may be associated with lower risk of dying from colon cancer. The study of more than 150,000 men and women over 15 years was conducted by the Washington University Siteman Cancer Center in conjunction with colleagues from the American Cancer Society.
Read full article
Continuing cost pressures among PwC’s top six healthcare trends (Healthcare Finance News 12/20/2010)
PwC’s Health Research Institute issued their annual list of top health industry issues in late December. For 2011, they cite top issues of
- Record spending on health information technology and
- Significant change in benefit plan design, plan pricing and the health plan landscape
- …and several more key issues.
Read full article
Debate Over Health Law Repeal Sparks Déjà vu (NPR.com by Julie Rovner, January 8, 2011)
NPR reported on the renewed debates on the House floor as the Obamacare repeal debates heat up.
Read full article
Chamber of Commerce backs repeal of Obama health care law (USA Today Jan. 11, 2011)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that it is backing a House vote to repeal the health care law passed last year.
Read full article
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Medforma helps businesses reduce health care costs and improve employee health through proven and affordable next generation Internet-based behavior change resources and programs. Regardless of other employee benefit provisions, all employers can benefit from Medforma’s simple, low-cost solutions. Medforma also provides integrated solutions for other more traditional wellness services and incentive programs through partnerships with experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
January 11, 2011
Again, the new year has created the annual renewed drive for millions of Americans to lose weight and get healthier!!
TV shows and the countless weight loss ads all are broadcasting big and bold: Lose weight now, get healthier now!!
Well in addition to it being a great time for individuals to commit to healthier living, now is also a great time for employers to take charge of employee health AND the heavy costs associated with company support of employee healthcare!
Why should employers work on employee health? Simple answer: It is good for business!
1) Improved employee health will lead to reduced health care costs, which can in turn be turned into other company investments.
2) Healthier employees lead to healthy corporate culture, which leads to increased employee productivity.
3) Easy, affordable, proven tools ARE now available to employers to engage employees in improved health while creating return on investment.
4) The employer IS a great venue to capture the attention of individuals to improve daily habits. All right, the final reason is the age old “It is the right thing to do”.
In a recently published article in Employee Benefit News titled “The price is (not) right” , Karen Marlo and Adam Stavisky discussed the challenge posed to employers as they work to”maintain comprehensive employee health benefits while controlling rising health care costs”. They note that there is a wide range of wellness programs aimed at creating a healthier workforce.
As they note and it seems obvious to many of us in the field, the trend of employers working on employee health will likely increase. With health care reform, employer incentives increase and health insurers are challenged to provide a high proportion of health related service over administrative service.
It almost seemed that in the last 6 months, employers may have put increasing wellness activities on hold….waiting to brace themselves for the reality of anticipated higher health care premiums. And, yes health care premiums for this year are again at an all time high….nearly 3 times what they were a decade ago. So, maybe it made sense for employers to pause and in the spirit of budget planning make sure they could provide basic quality health benefits to their employees.
But now that the dust has settled on health premiums, at least for this year, now is the time. The ONLY way to ultimately lower health costs is to get people healthier.
Employers are the best venue to use simple low-cost tools to engage employees as individuals and in groups to take individually motivated steps to get healthier.
And the good news is, employers missed NOTHING if they did not already sign up for health improvement programs with their annual benefits enrollment process. High quality, low-cost and easy to administer health improvement programs are available to employers of all sizes….just check them out!
Medforma helps businesses reduce health care costs and improve employee health through proven and affordable next generation Internet-based behavior change resources and programs. Regardless of other employee benefit provisions, all employers can benefit from Medforma’s simple, low-cost solutions. Medforma also provides integrated solutions for other more traditional wellness services and incentive programs through partnerships with experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
January 4, 2011
Now that HealthyPeople 2020 has been launched, we are energized to see more momentum toward health improvement across many communities and by engaging individuals. There are quite a few articles in the news about it and we will be highlighting key goals of HealthyPeople 2020 in upcoming posts.
Here are some notable news articles that we spotted recently and thought we would share!
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HHS Launches Healthy People 2020 (MedPage Today 12/02/2010)
The Healthy People initiative began in 1979 with a Surgeon General’s report, which set public health targets to be reached by 1990. It has been revised in 10 year increments ever since.
The 2020 version identifies nearly 600 objectives, ranging from homicides to smoking cessation attempts, in 42 topic areas.
In announcing the update, HHS called the new targets and objectives “ambitious yet achievable.”
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
House clears the Medicare ‘doc fix’ for the President’s signature (The Medical News 12/10/2010)
In the midst of the lame duck session, House lawmakers approve a one-year Medicare pay fix for physicians — clearing the measure for the president’s signature.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
Survey shows disparities in countries’ healthcare costs (Healthcare Finance News, by Chris Anderson 11/23/2010)
“A report from the International Federation of Health Plans on common medical services and procedures in 12 countries shows some cost as much as four times more in the United States than in other developed nations.”
“The survey from IFHP’s annual report shows that average U.S. prices for procedures were once again the highest of those in the 12 countries surveyed for nearly all of the 14 common services and procedures reviewed.”
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
Bending the Curve, Beginning with Birth (The Health Care Blog, By Amy M. Romano, 12/09/2010)
“Pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care are collectively the most common and expensive hospital conditions billed to both Medicaid and private insurers. The national hospital bill for maternity care totaled $98 billion in 2008 – and no other condition came close to this figure. With states across the country facing budget crises, strategies that responsibly reduce the Medicaid bill for births ought to be on the table, especially if we can do so while simultaneously improving quality. “
READ FULL ARTICLE
Medforma helps businesses reduce health care costs and improve employee health through proven and affordable next generation Internet-based behavior change resources and programs. Regardless of other employee benefit provisions, all employers can benefit from Medforma’s simple, low-cost solutions. Medforma also provides integrated solutions for other more traditional wellness services and incentive programs through partnerships with experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
December 10, 2010
As we have noted in previous articles, as we measure health of individuals and groups of employees, it is helpful to compare them to some well-recognized standard for how healthy we SHOULD be.
We currently use the Healthy People 2010 goals, which were established by the CDC back in 1997. Now that Healthy People 2020 goals are set, we will be using these new goals for comparison in the near future.
We certainly will give more commentary about these new goals in upcoming weeks, but there are a couple of notable news pieces out today talking about them. MSNBC notes: “ Improving Americans’ health takes a community”.
They note that the new standards will be encouraging states and communities to help make our environment and living surroundings more synergistic to living healthier.
And with this “community” plug, we have to plug once again, the call to action that there is NO better place to improve health of people than the place that a group of people go and engage for numerous hours each day….
…the EMPLOYER! (Not to mention that employers not only help employees through engaging them in health, but also reap health cost reduction benefits!)
As we have also previously noted, we as an American public have had mixed results when comparing our current health to the previous Healthy People 2010 goals. The final assessment against these previous standards is not due out until next year. The good news: life expectancy is up. The bad news, obesity has grown immensely (sorry for the play on words), diabetes and high blood pressure incidence are both up. In addition, as we noted looking at some factors, there has been NO improvement in the number of us engaging in weekly even moderate levels of exercise.
We look forward to the new goals and learning more about how they were determined.
We look forward EVEN MORE to helping us all get closer to these goals through helping employers in simple solutions to engage their employees in step by step gradual healthy behavior changes that will last, create a healthier American public and reduce health care costs at the source.
Your comments and questions are welcome!
Medforma helps businesses reduce health care costs and improve employee health through proven and affordable next generation Internet-based behavior change resources and programs. Regardless of other employee benefit provisions, all employers can benefit from Medforma’s simple, low-cost solutions. Medforma also provides integrated solutions for other more traditional wellness services and incentive programs through partnerships with experts nationwide. Medforma makes healthier employers and lowering employer health care costs easy and effective.
December 1, 2010
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