Contact Information: Contact: Ed Emerman 609-452-5967 Email Contact
National Business Group on Health Unveils "A Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services"
New Guide Designed to Help Employers Offer Coverage for 46 Clinical Preventive Services
| Source: National Business Group on Health
WASHINGTON, DC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 28, 2006 --A new guide designed to help employers
improve the health of their employees and their families, as well as
potentially reduce their healthcare costs, was released today by the
National Business Group on Health, a national non-profit organization
representing 250 large employers.
"A Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving Science into
Coverage" is divided into seven major sections and contains the scientific
evidence, recommended guidance, and detailed benefit language employers
need to implement a comprehensive and structured clinical preventive
services program within their medical benefit plan. It provides
information on 46 clinical preventive services proven to be effective in
preventing illness and premature death including health screenings,
counseling, immunization, preventive medication, and preventive treatment
for various illnesses such as, but not limited to, colorectal cancer,
depression, hypertension, obesity, and tuberculosis. The guide, which helps
shift the emphasis of benefits from acute care to prevention, also provides
employers with resource information and tips on how to promote the delivery
and use of clinical and community-based preventive services.
"It has been estimated that 75 percent of all healthcare costs are directly
related to preventable chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension,
and obesity," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group
on Health. "Preventable conditions resulting from alcohol misuse, tobacco
use, and complications during pregnancy are also leading causes of
disability and lost productivity. Employers and other purchasers of
healthcare can reduce, or in some cases, avoid healthcare costs associated
with these preventable conditions by offering coverage for and promoting
the use of clinical preventive services."
Experts from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided technical
assistance in selecting which services to include in the guide. More than
50 subject matter experts from the CDC, which provided funding for this
project, contributed to the development of the "Purchaser's Guide." AHRQ
experts worked to translate the science of the U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force into language that can be used to influence benefit coverage and
create change.
All of the clinical preventive services in the "Purchaser's Guide" have
been shown to be clinically effective by the U.S. Preventive Services Task
Force, the CDC, or other authoritative organizations. To be included in the
"Purchaser's Guide," clinical preventive services recommendations were
required to: be either evidence-based or recommended guidance, address a
serious health threat in terms of illness, death, or quality of life,
including risk of disability, or address a condition that results in
substantial direct or indirect costs (e.g., absenteeism, lost productivity)
for payers. Each chapter summarizes the evidence for the recommended
benefit in a summary evidence box.
"The evidence increasingly shows us that many preventive strategies help
people avoid disease,'' said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "They
also help clinicians detect illness at an early stage, when treatments are
more effective and less expensive. The 'Purchaser's Guide' includes several
new and important features that will help employers and others improve
coverage for these preventive services."
"This is public health science research in action -- a guide to provide
employers with advice on how to have a healthier, more productive
workforce," said CDC Director Julie Gerberding, M.D. "We know a lot about
what works to help keep people healthy and we know that different people
need different things. This guide helps employers match available services
with what their beneficiaries actually need."
"The National Business Group on Health is strongly committed to helping
employers make clinical preventive services an integral part of their
overall employee health benefit program. Introducing the 'Purchaser's
Guide' is an important step to help achieve that goal," concluded Darling.
Copies of "A Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving
Science into Coverage" are available to the public at no charge by visiting
www.businessgrouphealth.org/prevention/purchasers/.
About the National Business Group on Health
The National Business Group on Health, representing 250 mostly large
employers, is the nation's only non-profit organization devoted exclusively
to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to large employers'
most important health care and related benefits issues. National Business
Group on Health members provide health coverage for more than 50 million
U.S. workers, retirees, and their families.