Enabling Individuals To Become Good Healthcare Consumers

June marks the beginning of summer and the end of the school year. Now that’s a one-two punch! Focusing on medical self-help packs its own punch by enabling individuals to become good consumers of their healthcare and healthcare dollars to stay healthy and wealthy.

When implementing a medical self-help plan, use as many partners and resources as you can. Reach out to your medical insurance carrier and have them educate your employees on benefit plans, pharmacy benefits, vision, and dental benefits. It’s important for your employees to fully understand what healthcare options are available to them.

Also, provide education on: generic medications, the benefits of using urgent care centers or primary care physicians instead of emergency rooms, annual preventive screenings/exams, and how to use cost comparisons tools.

Most major insurance carriers have health and wellness web-tools, trackers, discount programs, disease management and chronic care programs, nurse lines, etc. Some carriers may even have online lifestyle management programs & telephonic coaching to help with sustainable behavior change. By disseminating this information, employees can leverage these resources when needed.

Here are some other ideas you may consider when educating your employees on their healthcare:

• Educate employees on how to use medical self-care books
• Offer on-site biometric screenings or health assessment campaigns
• Host a health fair and invite local providers, hospitals, wellness centers, or health departments
• Create a “passport-to-health” challenge for employees and their dependents that focuses on their annual preventive exams (dental, vision, physical, mammogram, colonoscopy, flu shot, etc.)

You really can’t go wrong when you try to educate and inform employees about ways to help them be a better consumer of their health and healthcare dollars. Don’t just save it for open enrollment, educate your employees throughout the whole year!