Employee Disease Management in US and??Global Workplaces

Abstract

Over the past decade, employee disease management (DM) programs have evolved and expanded in response to the continued economic burden of chronic diseases and other health conditions on companies in the US and globally. As they have developed, these programs have increasingly become integrated with other health management initiatives, in attempts to create a more effective model for achieving the desired health, economic, and quality-of-life outcomes. Through this integrated DM model, the various employee health management stakeholders (insurers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, health promotion program providers, employers, and employees) are brought together in a comprehensive, coordinated approach to managing employee health risk, disease prevention, medical care and patient adherence and compliance, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes. To be effective, the model should include an integrated continuum of care via DM, condition management, and health promotion components. In addition, multinational companies should expand the scope of the model to include global health management strategies for employee DM in other countries, to address and manage the chronic diseases and conditions unique to those regions. Examples of recent integrated DM initiatives are presented in this article using case studies of local, national, and international companies.