“It’s Personal…” – Jumpstarting a New Employer Benefit Option for AiP

Posted on October 17, 2019 | Comments Off on “It’s Personal…” – Jumpstarting a New Employer Benefit Option for AiP

Life and death both tend to define and prioritize one’s life. The newborn to a family; the death of a spouse, parent, child or sibling – all will cause us to hit the “pause button” and ask, “What matters most, here?”

On Wed, Oct 2nd 2019 my mother passed away in a Florida hospital while I was navigating Boston traffic at the end of rush hour. The call from local family members with her was our last as she was non-responsive from a massive stroke experienced the morning of 10/1 – the time was unknown. Here’s where it gets personal.

Emerging technologies and aging in place (AiP) solutions are just that – still emerging. They’re “emerging” which = NOT mainstream. The term “aging in place” continually elicits blank stares or the polite head-cock and shake that says, “Ahhh, and what exactly is that, now?” Name branding is virtually non-existent. Marketing? Silence…Consumer/user awareness? Nada.

The CCRD senior living community Mom resided in had the life-alert button. A consoling neighbor caught me in the hall, shared her own (5-day hospital visit) stroke experience and in the course of discussion mentioned, “Yeah, I had the pendent. Wasn’t wearing it. Honestly, honey, nobody pushes the button.” Hmmm. My mom’s pendant was on the nightstand >6 hrs. later that afternoon when she was found by security.

We can do better. We must do better as a culture, society and as healthcare professionals.

Employers can pursue meaning benefit solutions for their populations as mentioned in the 7/2/19 post. For me, the personal experience of a family death presents a new motivation to help other adult caregivers of aged parents living at distance to not experience what we as a family just did.

Yes, we can do better and it’s time to expedite the discussions of a significant employer benefit that can be an industry game-changer.

steveneil, MPH, PMP®, CAPS

“More than anything else, what keeps a person going in the midst of adversity is having a sense of purpose.” — John C. Maxwell

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Posted in Self-Funded Employers

“It’s Personal…” – Jumpstarting a New Employer Benefit Option for AiP

Posted on October 17, 2019 | Comments Off on “It’s Personal…” – Jumpstarting a New Employer Benefit Option for AiP

Life and death both tend to define and prioritize one’s life. The newborn to a family; the death of a spouse, parent, child or sibling – all will cause us to hit the “pause button” and ask, “What matters most, here?”

On Wed, Oct 2nd 2019 my mother passed away in a Florida hospital while I was navigating Boston traffic at the end of rush hour. The call from local family members with her was our last as she was non-responsive from a massive stroke experienced the morning of 10/1 – the time was unknown. Here’s where it gets personal.

Emerging technologies and aging in place (AiP) solutions are just that – emerging. They’re still “emerging” which = NOT mainstream. The term “aging in place” still elicits blank stares or the polite head-cock and shake that says, “Ahhh, and what exactly is that, now?” Name branding is virtually non-existent. Marketing? Silence…Consumer/user awareness? Nada.

The CCRD senior living community Mom resided in had the life-alert button. A consoling neighbor caught me in the hall, shared her own (5-day hospital visit) stroke experience and in the course of discussion mentioned, “Yeah, I had the pendent. Wasn’t wearing it. Honestly, honey, nobody pushes the button.” Hmmm. My mom’s pendant was on the nightstand >6 hrs. later that afternoon when she was found by security.

We can do better. We must do better as a culture, society and as healthcare professionals.

Employers can pursue meaning benefit solutions for their populations as mentioned in the 7/2/19 post. For me, the personal experience of a family death presents a new motivation to help other adult caregivers of aged parents living at distance to not experience what we as a family just did.

We can do better and it’s time to expedite the discussions of a significant employer benefit that can be an industry game-changer.

steveneil, MPH, PMP®, CAPS

“More than anything else, what keeps a person going in the midst of adversity is having a sense of purpose.” — John C. Maxwell

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Self-Insured Employers Address the “Sandwich Generation” Needs

Posted on July 2, 2019 | Comments Off on Self-Insured Employers Address the “Sandwich Generation” Needs

The Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA) defines self-insured employers as those participating in “a self-insured group health plan (or a ‘self-funded’ plan…in which the employer assumes the financial risk for providing health care benefits to its employees. In practical terms, self-insured employers pay for each out of pocket claim as they are incurred instead of paying a fixed premium to an insurance carrier, which is known as a fully-insured plan.” Several reasons exist for self-funded employer options, one of which being to “customize the plan to meet the specific health care needs of its workforce, as opposed to purchasing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ insurance policy.”

As aging Gen X adults and boomers are caught between raising their own families and caring for aging parents (the Sandwich Generation) – or in some cases a single grand-parent or first-level relative (aunt/uncle, brother/sister) – the pressure on employees increases with more time needed away from work for caregiving.

Employers have responded with PTO/FTO options which are nice alternatives for some companies, but not all organizations share that trust-culture quite yet – especially if they’re not self-insured with the customization option.

The situation will not improve with time; it’ll get worse as both populations (caregiver and boomer parents) age. So what’s the solution? If you’re fortunate to be in a self-insured company, there may be options. Self-funded employers have more choices to meet their team members’ needs.

Because we’re talking “healthcare”, one can’t point to a single solution. That doesn’t exist in this space; but options do remain for self-insured employers (and others) to support aging in place digital health technologies that may reduce some of the PTO/FTO requests of their team members.

Setting up a shared fund (or FSA) for home modifications and smart home technologies (i.e. activity home sensors, remote monitoring for medication use, device reminders, etc.) is one option. These technology solutions have been around for over 10 years and continue to be upgraded with the advent of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) products. The option as an employee benefit, however, may not yet be on the radar of the benefits specialists’ selecting benefit options for their company. Perhaps it’s time they should be…

Reducing PTO/FTO requests for family caregiving can be attained by companies providing a “customized benefit option” to reduce their staff’s time away from work. Some simple monitoring or smart home additions (e.g. medication reminders, Alexa-type interactive devices for seniors living alone) result in improving a caregivers’ peace of mind with potential incidents (let’s call it drama) that may result in an ER hospital visit and subsequently, more disruption to 2 or more families.

The conversations (and employee suggestions) for such technologies can start now – before an incident occurs and all stakeholders are in a “reaction” vs. “preventative” mode. If you work in a self-insured company, perhaps the time to open the discussion with your benefits specialist is sooner than later. Resources like www.aginginplace.com are a good place to start researching your options.

steveneil, MPH, PMP®, CAPS

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.” – James Thurber

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Posted in Self-funded Employer, Small Business Owners and Professionals

Business Owners Choose Different Delivery Model

Posted on April 15, 2011 | Comments Off on Business Owners Choose Different Delivery Model

There are alternatives to control your personal and employee healthcare costs!  Your insurance broker/rep may not be aware (or may be comfortable with the status quo) to present these options to you.  As more physicians opt out of a frustrating, penalizing insurance-based reimbursement system to choose direct medical practices, your options to control costs while increasing quality of care will improve.

You have options!  Consideration should be given as to how much “pain” you’re willing to endure before you change what you’re doing.  When we’re busy running a business it’s easy to procrastinate in making healthcare decisions until the situation becomes a crisis. Alternatives to the status quo can be a distraction.

What is not known is how much the alternative can save.  If you use a broker there are plusses and minuses.  One of the minuses is not getting all the options presented to you based on how that broker is incentivized.  That’s reasonable.  Why would you present something you know little about and are not sure how/if you’ll be paid for?

This is the case for telehealth, direct medical practices, medical travel and alternative healthcare delivery models that most employers don’t get presented but are really viable options that provide better quality of care for less money.   The options have been there for years; they’re not promoted because they’re not mainstream.

“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” – Albert Camus

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Posted in Small Business Owners and Professionals

The Healthcare Practitioner’s Quandray

Posted on April 14, 2011 | Comments Off on The Healthcare Practitioner’s Quandray

A dichotomous culture exists within the realm of medical practitioners – those who love the status quo and others who crave change.  It is well known that as a community, clinicians are not great change advocates. There is an “establishment of medicine” that’s ascribed to and some will not change what they believe is the way things must be.  Their academic brilliance can often be practically blinding.

Conversely, the growing frustration of clinicians (mostly primary care) is driving them to consider how they practice medicine and what can be done differently to bring “joy” and “fulfillment” back into their lives.  Many are burnt out.  The insurance/reimbursement traps discourage their patient engagements in the ways their training dictates patient care is ideally delivered.  But alas, what is ideal when economics are injected?

Getting to a “something different than what we have” healthcare system will take time, but it doesn’t need to be 5-10 more years of the status quo.  The essence of all change is motivation.  Often it is selfish – what’s in it for me? WIIFM… Beyond the heart is the mind and integral to them all is action.

Remote monitoring technology adoption amongst clinicians has been especially slow.  Numerous clinical trials support (on majority) the positive attributes of telehealth.  Many champions have embraced these advances but sadly, most clinicians have yet to mainstream these technologies.

“Tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I will understand.” – Confucius

 

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Posted in Healthcare Professionals - Clinicians

The Challenge Of Reform

Posted on April 14, 2011 | Comments Off on The Challenge Of Reform

Healthcare represents the convergence of compassion, brilliant science, government bureaucracy, and economic business objectives which all create – more than less  – a platform of disincentives and inefficiencies.   Simultaneously, innovative leaders advocating healthcare reform – with true delivery paradigm shifts – seek connection with like-minded patriots.

A frustrating conversation was held yesterday with a colleague who shared, “I don’t see this changing for another 10-15 years.”   We SO HOPE this is false!   Can you imagine another 5 years of sign-in sheets and “Do you have your insurance registration card?” questions?

There is a better way.  We’re all intelligent enough to implement the existing technologies that increase efficiencies for patients and providers, alike.  We all agree – “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not taking it anymore!”.   The solution?

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Posted in Uncategorized