Protection of Health, Wellness, and Wealth: An Emerging Care Model

Governments exist to protect the rights of minorities. The loved and the rich need no protection- they have many friends and no enemies.

Wendell Phillips (1811-1884),American politician

Can managed care reflect better human judgment while maintaining its inner logic, can it be compassionate while it is cost effective?

George Anders, Health Against Wealth (Houghton Mifflin, 1996)

March 3, 2012 - The U.S. is a wealthy nation. Yet we can no longer sustain high health costs – either in government or private sectors.

People are living longer. Eighty and ninety year olds have become the rule rather than exception. Older people consume more health resources. Most want to live another day.

Times have changed. People – even loved ones and the rich – need protection against common enemies – identity thief criminals, an overly costly health system, and themselves and relatives suffering ravages of chronic disease.

That is why companies offering protection – alarm systems protecting their homes, overseas insurance companies protecting them while they are traveling abroad, Internet companies protecting them against identity theft, and health insurance firms protecting them should they, or their elderly parents, encounter complex problems relating to aging and complex chronic disease complications.

It seems logical that we can attack this cost problem by preventing chronic disease and managing it when it occurs. It is also logical that if we engage patients to persuade them that it is in their best interest to protect their health, and that if they would take better care of themselves they would live longer, happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

But how? Government is offering “free” preventive care. Private employers are providing work-site wellness programs, giving bonuses for measureable good health, even setting up worksite clinics with doctors and nurses preaching and practicing preventive health, Employers are using best practice techniques and protocols to manage and to prolong life and to promote health so employees can live to see better days for themselves and their families.

One company, Advo-Caring of Boston, Mass, and Warwick , RI, conceived and led by Katherine and Bill White, husband and wife RNs and MSNs, believe it is possible to create a new care model – a care model that acts as a protective seatbelt in the journey through the U.S. health system, that provides treatment when necessary, and that wellness approaches to help prevent illnesses from happening in the first place – while supporting patients to help them feel, behave, and look years younger.

The question again is “How?”

• By setting up wellness programs?

• By measuring quality results across all health care settings?

• By spot checking outpatient medications?

• By making patients aware of the true costs of care by signing them up in health savings accounts with high deductibles?

• By engaging patients emotionally to change their behavior and supporting them to take better care of themselves?

• By convincing busy owners and wealthy donors to invest capital in health and wellness programs for betterment of society and bottom lines,

• By wellness couching and education?

• By encouraging wealth management firms to take the lead in developing wellness management strategies?

• By doing all of the above?

To find more about this new business model, call -401-615-8775 in Warwick, RI, e-mail Bill White at bill@advo-caring.com, and visit www. Advocaring.com.

Tweet: To protect against disease and to coach patients along a path to better health, new care models are developing to offer personal consultation services.