2007 SHPS Health Practices Study: What Every Self-Insured Employer Should Know

The report, 2007 SHPS Health Practices Study: What Every Self-Insured Employer Should Know, looked at 115 large and midsize companies with at least 1,000 benefit-eligible employees — a survey sample representing a total of 3.7 million members. Amongst its findings the report found that:

• Clinically based care management programs such as case management (which has the greatest impact), disease management for chronic illnesses, biometric testing, Employee Assistance Programs and on-site physicians reduce costs by an average of 18.2%.
• Cash-based incentives to encourage employees to undertake desirable health behaviours such as annual check-ups, biometric screenings and smoking cessation programs reduce costs by an average of 15.1%.
• Practice excellence in benefits administration and communication areas such as centralized record-keeping, accurate eligibility management and targeted communications which create a seamless health and benefits lifecycle experience reduce costs by an average of 12.7%.
• Employers who promote wellness promotion and education as part of a more comprehensive clinical and lifestyle program reduce costs by an average of 16.9%.

The report also identified many traditional practices that can increase costs. These included over-relying on provider networks to control costs and quality, offering employees multiple plan design options, using deductibles and co-pays to drive health behavior, using health care benefits to become an "employer of choice" and lastly having undesirable turnover. The presence of any one of these resulted in an average 21% increase in costs.The 2007 SHPS Health Practices Study can be downloaded in its entirety online at www.shps.com/2007healthstudy.

About SHPS: SHPS provides a broad range of health management tools, resources and services that empower consumers to make wise healthcare decisions. With comprehensive services that transform consumer health behaviors, SHPS' integrated delivery system maximizes the value of  healthcare dollars.