Through new LivingWell program at Carson City Hospital
Studies linking preventative care with better health and lower health-care costs are in the news every day, but many individuals still struggle with finding the time to focus on taking care of themselves.
“That’s why we’ve invited LivingWell Health Solutions to offer health-care risk management services to our employees here at Carson City Hospital,” said Carson City Hospital (CCH) President and CEO Bruce L. Traverse, FACHE. “LivingWell offers on-site health evaluations and plans to employees in order to encourage all of us to be proactive in disease prevention. Healthier employees means lower health-care costs, as well, and so this program is a win-win for everyone.”
Carson City Hospital President and CEO Bruce L. Traverse discusses his personal health evaluation with LivingWell Family Nurse Practitioner Laurie Curtis.
LivingWell Health Solutions partners with businesses to manage their health-care claims by engaging individuals to proactively manage their health through on-site clinics and financial incentives. The organization is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and offers on-site wellness clinics across multiple industries and in 23 states.
“We provide preventative services to encourage individuals to address their health risks through behavior change and health improvement,” explained Dixon Huiet, LivingWell’s Regional Director of Customer Relations. “Before I worked here, I was a user of the program for five years. My employees absolutely loved it, because they had an opportunity to receive preventative health care on company time. That’s quite a benefit.”
Each employee at Carson City Hospital who is choosing to participate in the LivingWell program took part in individual health-care screenings, and were issued individual health report cards that address risk factors in an easy-to-read, color-coded format. A twice-weekly clinic staffed by a nurse practitioner is available on-site for easy access for employees.
John Forton, LivingWell’s Regional Director of Business Development and a resident of Greenville, explained the reason for hiring clinical staff who are not employed by the hospital. “It’s very common knowledge across the U.S. that employees are not comfortable with their employers knowing their private health information, even if their employer happens to be a health-care organization,” he said. “And there are issues of HIPAA and privacy and confidentiality that we want to be sensitive to; most people, we’ve learned, just feel more comfortable with a third party managing this type of program.”
Huiet said LivingWell differs from common-sense preventative measures such as encouraging people to join a walking club or a gym because of the data systems and power to measure trends and outcomes their organization provides. “Obviously, exercise is a good thing, but if you can reduce your costs and also provide a benefit to your employees, it’s a no-brainer,” he said.
Carson City Hospital’s LivingWell program is also available to local employer groups. “We’re taking the program on the road and reaching out to the business community in CCH’s service area to help employers reduce their costs and provide a benefit to their employees, as well.”
To learn more about LivingWell Health Solutions, visit www.lwhsolutions.com. To learn more about Carson City Hospital, visit www.carsoncityhospital.com.