Home > Resources > Newsroom > In the News > Firms Urged to Push Wellness

Firms Urged to Push Wellness: Group Says Companies, Community Profit

By Dariush Shafa | Messenger-Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX
August 18, 2008

A local health organization is trying to encourage businesses that by helping their employees stay healthy, not only is it better for their business from a financial standpoint, but it benefits the community.

The key is making sure employees stay healthy by preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, said Dr. Larry Luter, chief medical officer of Meritain Health. Luter spoke to a group of local insurers and health care professionals last week about why prevention is so important.

"It's far better to prevent than to have to treat," Luter said. "If you pay attention and know what to look for, you can see it coming a long way off."

This isn't just good advice locally, Luter said. It works everywhere, which is why he's been speaking across the country about this topic.

"From Florida to Washington, the issues are the same," Luter said. "We're dealing with far more high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes than we should. We hear it so much that we don't pay attention. People are dropping dead every day. I want people to understand why and recognize what we can do."

Businesses need to be aggressive and proactive in watching out for their employees, Luter said. By making it important that employees watch their health and by rewarding employees who do, businesses can exercise a powerful influence on health in the community.

"When I look at a business, there's always at-risk employees, and I think it's important to find who they are and where they are," Luter said. "We are all at risk. Quit putting it off and get it done. By being passive, we are all in treacherous waters."

The first step, Luter said, is to find the at-risk employees. Using screenings, questionnaires and other measures to find out who is at risk means that action can be taken. While businesses can't force employees to take better care of themselves, they can reward the employees who do.

Though it sounds easy, it isn't, Luter said.

"It's hard because it's a culture change," Luter said, adding that businesses have done things a certain way for too long. "That certain way has gotten the results that they aren't happy with, but they're afraid of change." And if it doesn't change, he said, "we'll have more of the same, and more of the same is more heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's."

Luter was brought to town to speak by Owensboro Community Health Network, a patient-health organization owned by Owensboro Medical Health System and the Ohio Valley Physicians Association.

Denise Pace, OCHN executive director, said the domino effect of health improvement is that the fewer people who need health care, the less strain there is on the system, and thus everyone will pay less for medical treatments.

"We are trying to bring an added value to our employee groups," Pace said. "We're just focusing on these issues to focus on bringing down the cost of health care."

The question now, Pace said, is who will take on the challenge?

"Everybody will be happier and healthier," Pace said. "We need to take on our own accountability ... I think we all have things that we can improve and we need to look at that."

Luter said he hopes that local businesses can pick up on this idea and pursue it with the two necessary qualities -- consistency and persistency.

"By just doing the right thing, the returns will follow," Luter said. "They have a lot more control over their health than they realize."