One of the keys to controlling health care costs and improving quality is engaging consumers to take an active role in their health care. How do employers engage their employees and their families to take an active role in managing their health and health care?

On September 16, BHCG sponsored a special presentation by Judith Hibbard, MPH, PhD, Professor at the University of Oregon and renowned expert on health care consumer engagement. Dr. Hibbard is the lead author of the widely recognized Patient Activation Measure, a scale that assesses a person’s self-reported knowledge, skill and confidence for managing their own health and health care.

People at high levels of activation engage in preventive, healthy lifestyle, disease specific self-management and health information seeking behaviors. People who are low in activation often feel overwhelmed with the task of taking care of their health and are typically passive recipients of health care.

Why is it important to understand a patient’s activation level? Knowing a patient’s activation level is important for several reasons including:

• Identifying who needs more support
• Targeting the specific types of support and information patients need
• Creating a baseline to evaluate future efforts to increase activation

How can patients be moved to higher levels of activation?
The health care system reinforces feelings of failure by asking people to change too many behaviors at once. Research has shown that by starting with behaviors that are more feasible for patients to take on, such as breaking things down into smaller steps, you can increase an individual’s opportunity to experience success.

It has also been shown that environments that are supportive of self-management and healthy behaviors are associated with higher levels of activation, for example:

• Physician support for self management
• Employers that support healthy behaviors (providing opportunities and setting norms)
• Families and neighborhoods that enable and encourage healthy behaviors

A recent study showed tailored coaching – patient intervention based on an individual’s activation level – had positive effects on certain clinical indicators (e.g., blood pressure and cholesterol levels) and resulted in significant reductions in utilization of health care resources. To read the complete executive summary of Dr. Hibbard's presentation, please click here.

What resources are available for employers to help improve consumer engagement?

• Stay Smart, Stay Healthy
  Consumers don’t always pay attention to complex communications. Humana has developed a new, non-traditional media campaign called Stay Smart, Stay Healthy designed to increase awareness and understanding of the healthcare industry. Two videos, “Why is health care so expensive”? and “How does health insurance work?” are available to the public at StaySmartStayHealthy.com
• Online education modules
  The BHCG has developed a unique series of user-friendly modules, “A Buyer’s Guide to Healthcare,” designed to promote consumer engagement and behavior change -- providing employers with a turnkey education strategy for employees and their dependents
• Help with health care
  Humana Preferred members have access to a 24-hour Nurse Line, a Personal Nurse, case and disease management, wellness and preventive health programs including Humana’s Health Risk Assessment and the HealthMiles program.
• Extensive purchasing information
  Through Humana Preferred, members have access to easy to use tools to compare both the cost and quality of health care providers.

Return to The Catalyst