Mike James; Health Care Solutions

The presentation, "Healthcare Solutions Today", centered around the concepts of controlling costs by providing quality medical care. Some short-term answers that were discussed were that you could reduce reimbursement to providers but that could have the unintended consequence of reducing the availability of physicians and hospitals. To some degree, this process is already happening. Another option is to work on health care benefit design that would encourage patients to use the most cost-efficient providers because of their personal co-pays would be higher when inappropriate providers are used. This solution needs to be incorporated in the concept of a broader service level provided by primary care physicians and collaboration with specialist physicians to make their services more efficient and effective Over the long term, incorporating better communication between physicians and patients through use of technology will provide patients more efficient, cost-effective access to heath care combined with the process of promoting patient education into their individual health care risk and having patients be personally dedicated to improving their health with the support of primary care physicians and physician extenders. Graphs were provided that demonstrated up to a 26% savings in a large employer model and reduction of ER use in an uninsured model, while at the same time in both models improving patient satisfaction and engagement. In summary, it was discussed that the improvement in patient's health was a product designed to serve self-funded employers and small employers because of its significant impact on the employees' presenteeism at work and thereby reducing labor costs for the employer and better life styles for the employees.