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HealthMedia Introduces
New Online Addresses Lost Productivity and
Medical Costs Ann Arbor, Michigan, (July 24, 2007) – HealthMedia, Inc., the global leader in scalable behavior change interventions with outcomes, today announced the availability of HealthMedia® Care™ for Pain, designed for anyone suffering from chronic pain conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, joint pain, disc pain, back pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, temporomandibular joint and muscle disorder (TMJ), and headache including migraine. Built on a solid foundation of clinical behavioral science, the program is designed to reduce the suffering part of pain through the use of established cognitive behavioral techniques for pain self-management. Kaiser Permanente, Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation, Advocate Health Care, and Highmark will be the first four companies to implement the Care for Pain program, which initially has outcome data that shows an increase in productivity and reduction in perception of pain symptoms. "We are pleased to add Care for Pain to our already full complement of HealthMedia online offerings,” said Marcia Hladilek, Director of Health Improvement at Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation. “We are confident that our members will find this program to be of benefit in the management of chronic pain." “Chronic pain stops people in their tracks,” said Ted Dacko, President and CEO of HealthMedia Corporation. “It starts a chain reaction—beginning with the physical pain itself, which impacts their ability to do activities, which then causes their mood to decline, leading to sleep problems and depression and culminating in strained interpersonal relationships. In addition, there are worries around ability to work, job security, health, and drug usage and dependency.” Dacko also said that the cost impact from chronic pain in the workplace is enormous in the form of lost productivity and lost time, as well as medical, workers disability, and litigation costs. Recent estimates indicate chronic pain in the workforce to be as high as 31%, up 34% in the last decade. Chronic pain goes beyond blue-collar workers; poor posture, repetitive tasks, and obesity make conditions such as back and joint pain common for office workers as well. Other chronic pain conditions like migraine headache, TMJ, fibromyalgia, and arthritis can afflict workers in any profession. When a group of employees were asked in a Florida State University study published last year to report the number of hours per week that chronic pain caused them to be ineffective, they answered over five hours per week. This is projected to cost over $5,000 per employee per year, not counting indirect costs, which can double or triple the amount. HealthMedia data for chronic back pain sufferers shows 26 percent excess productivity impairment, which equals $13,000 per year based on a $50,000 salary. With a 15 percent prevalence rate of chronic back pain, the cost to a 10,000-employee company equals $19.5 million, excluding medical costs and multipliers as a result of impact on the rest of the organization. Care for Pain emulates a one-on-one nurse counseling session via the web – without the cost of the nurse counselor. When participants complete a detailed questionnaire, they are presented with an action plan just as a counselor would provide. The program addresses each patient’s individual needs and concerns, starting with teaching self-management and coping strategies. The program goes on to assess the patient’s motivation, confidence, and barriers to proper medication compliance, developing a good doctor-patient relationship, and decreasing the impact of pain on activities of daily living through time management strategies, nutrition, exercise, and social support. It provides information about the patient’s specific symptoms and includes tools for monitoring the pain levels, the perception of the pain (stabbing, aching, shooting, etc.), and tracking medications. There is also a discussion of what chronic pain is and how the perception of pain can be changed. Dealing with Co-Morbid Conditions – Stress, Depression,
and Insomnia Chronic Pain Management Webinar July 26: HealthMedia and
Kaiser Permanente About HealthMedia, Inc.
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