Behavioral Underwriting With Biometric Employee Screenings – Red Brick Secures 3 More Clients

With the recent changes in the interpretation of the GINA law as relates to assessments, the wellness portions of such programs may be subject to change. Read through this press release and it states that biometric screening is part of a full package. Having read prior articles on the internet the devices can consist of an iPhone or other devices that report data. Here come the monitoring devices. It was also stated that incentives are given to those who choose to participate and once again the GINA interpretation is here again.

You can read about a medical device company that used their services here where 67% of the employees elected to use the biometric screening. I have written many times about this here and it is a big concern with implementing devices properly. I have experienced distraction myself with an employee so wrapped up in their device they were oblivious to my existence.

Look what we do with cell phones with talking capabilities. You can watch the video below and hear the big emphasis on “financial” rewards, in other words your behavior as an employee, you either play or pay, or quit if that is an option.

Red Brick is a client of Ingenix (a wholly owned subsidiary of United Healthcare) that specializes in data, data, data and more data along with analysis and recommendations. Ingenix just settled a 9 year lawsuit with the AMA and there’s more suits in the works over the out of network compensation and probably more to come.

Wellpoint Enters Contract Agreement with Red Brick for Behavioral Underwriting

You can read the statements below from the CEOs and other officials and I am guessing like everywhere else they will be the non participants in all of this. It still is the old “it’ for those guys over there” attitude. Here’s a link to the Target page where it spells out the disclosure for use of biometric screening. Tie yourself to the device and beam up activity levels during your work day it appears, I don’t know if this entails behavior after hours or not.

“Target also provides cash incentives for eligible pilot program participants who complete biometric screenings, health assessment questionnaires, preventive care visits and, if necessary, recommended coaching programs that are intended to help team members reach their personal health goals. Target is one of the first employers to pilot such an innovative program with RedBrick Health.”

You can read about such tracking devices such as the Fitbit and Muve Gruve that are targeted at employers and insurers through their website marketing. You can do a search and find information here on the blog.

Participatory Sensing:

How does this work, as mentioned above cell phones just themselves can be disruptive, so do we add more to the phone, add another device and how does this work with a human being and still allow them to do their job or relax for that matter? Here’s a couple items to read up on with studies ongoing at Penn State and UCLA.

The Medical Quack: Participatory Sensing with Cell Phones – New ...

The Medical Quack: Participatory Sensing – Medical Devices ...

The White house worries a bit about this as well, but is that enough before companies needing to put dollars on their bottom line to exist push hurried implementations into place with disastrous results? Hey what about that implanted defibrillator that needs data too?

White House Speaks About Wireless Technology – Healthcare And ...

Here’s a recent update on how GINA affects all of this as relates to wellness and assessments. Read up.

GINA Begins November 21st – Medical Histories And Financial Benefits Not Allowed

The provisions of the GINA law begins next week, right in the middle of open enrollment. This interpretation was perhaps not meant to come through with the interpretation we have, but it is what it is now. Medical history is now considered part of what could be analyzed and interpreted as GINA discrimination. Last month I covered the “left hook” that appeared and how HHS was determined to give out a proper interpretation.

Wellness Programs Get Thrown a Left Hook From GINA – No Family Medical History Allowed on a Health Risk Assessment

If you listen to the video they are talking a 7% reduction of cost, but again is this properly implemented and free of disruption for those who participate or is is a need to generate revenue to keep Venture Capital money flowing in? Some questions to think about and study what the economy is bringing to our doors in strange offerings. I like technology and all it can do, but also realize that it can be misused and improperly planned and implemented and I have big suspicions about all of this, especially since doctors and patients will be having other devices to communicate and worth with as well and conflict between those 2 areas and technology is sure to clash and sadly it will be a fight over the money and not the employee’s healthcare.

Once we can reach a level of dedicating ourselves to education and quit judging everyone and their health as it is today and work together, things might move along a little better. Everyone today hates being judged and picked apart over their healthcare needs, whether they created their conditions or not it happens and speaks lowly of what we are trying to find as a solution as it lacks sincerity and speaks only of greed and money. BD

Press Release:

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec 01, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) ------Leading group of employers latest to join Health Earnings movement that champions individual employee accountability to help lower health care costs

RedBrick Health, the Health Earnings(SM) company, today announced six more major employers have adopted the company's Health Earnings System. These new clients -- including Brookdale Senior Living, Conseco, Hess Corporation, International Paper and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company -- represent a combined addition of more than 60,000 eligible members across all 50 states. Each client is in various stages of implementing all or key components of RedBrick's second-generation Health Earnings System.

RedBrick's Health Earnings System is the industry's first fully integrated platform for creating financial alignment between employers and employees around containing health care costs, while enabling both parties to benefit from improved health and productivity.

These six new signings expand RedBrick Health's client base of large, self-insured employers, and signal the rapidly growing adoption of the company's Health Earnings System. As the United States continues to wrestle with the health care cost crisis, RedBrick Health and its clients are taking their own positive steps to find fresh ways to keep health care costs in check and empower employees to benefit financially from taking greater accountability over their health care behaviors and preventative practices.

New Client Perspectives

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company: Denise Stump, Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources "Our culture supports and promotes individual accountability, which makes RedBrick Health and its innovative approach to health and wellbeing a welcome addition to our organization. We plan to leverage RedBrick's programs, including its unique approach to using financial rewards, to drive behavior change. Just as important, we are eager to get started with RedBrick Health so that our associates and their families can see their healthy behaviors have a positive impact on our health care cost trends in the years to come."

Conseco: Grace Brothers, Vice President of Benefits "RedBrick Health appeals to everyone's sense of fairness. We can now directly link the cost of employees' health care benefits to an individual's decision to engage in healthy behaviors within their control. We're not forcing anyone to change his or her behavior. Instead, we're simply saying the cost of coverage should be responsibly aligned with personal health choices. We look forward to helping our employees reap the personal and financial benefits of healthy behaviors through RedBrick's health resources and tools."

Brookdale Senior Living: Mark Mielenz, Senior Director of Benefits "This new offering gives our associates better tools, support, and programs for them to make a difference in their personal health and finances. RedBrick's Health Earnings System provides an experience that is truly tailored to the individual, and is all connected to the underlying finance of health care. Health Earnings is a win-win for both Brookdale and our associates as we all look to control rising health care costs and commit to live healthier lifestyles."

Second-Generation Health Earnings System Features

For clients adopting the entire RedBrick Health Earnings System, features include:

-- Highly configurable and complete system for administering health management initiatives, including Health Earnings administration and a personal Health Earnings Account for each employee and eligible family member.

-- Next-generation, interactive health assessment and biometric health screening(s).

-- Intelligent Engagement Engine(TM) that combines claims history, assessment data and available resources to tailor health improvement recommendations for each employee; recommendations directly tied to an employee's Health Earnings potential.

-- Personalized lifestyle and health management programs, with digital and telephonic coaching options, as well as optional health advocacy services.

-- Interactive tracking and social networking options, including online team challenges that are fun, engaging and spread a culture of health care accountability.

RedBrick Health Perspective

RedBrick Health: Kyle Rolfing, Chief Executive Officer "Our second-generation Health Earnings System delivers a brand new kind of platform that, from day one, positively engages employees while giving both employer and employee improved control over health care costs. Employers are tired of the same old, one-size-fits-all wellness programs that do not align with specific company objectives and often suffer from low employee trust and anemic engagement.

"In contrast, RedBrick Health offers comprehensive and customized solutions for all employees and dependents. Employers also benefit from our unified approach that consolidates vendors and health programs and dramatically simplifies program administration. We keep hearing the same anecdotes from prospects and clients: RedBrick Health harmonizes well with worksite culture, uses data to drive personalized choices, and offers rewards and one-to-one support for employees every step of the way -- all of which translates into high engagement and sustained results. When cost and good health are aligned, everyone wins."

About RedBrick Health RedBrick Health works with large, self-insured employers and their employees, as well as progressive health plans, to create healthier, more productive workforces. RedBrick Health provides its clients and partners a fully integrated Health Earnings(SM) System that replaces or turns around the performance of traditional health and wellness programs. RedBrick's Health Earnings System links individual health financing with personalized health programs and advocacy services. As a result, employers can fairly and responsibly limit their financial health liability through increased employee accountability; employees can actively engage in healthy behaviors and earn all the rewards of better health, including lower insurance premiums. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Minneapolis. For more information, visit www.redbrickhealth.com.

SOURCE: RedBrick Health