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community wellness
36
NOV / DEC 2014
I
Healthcare Journal of new orleans
evident in contributing to the health of its
1,800 employees.
According to Ellish, “Everything focuses
on preventation and wellness – and
WellSpot fit this. We’ve shaped employee
benefits allowing them more for exercise
or preventative care rather than mostly
chronic care. They get more education and
preventative screenings.”
Healthcare dollars are shifting from
mainly acute care and drugs to promoting
preventative care and healthier lifestyles,
she says. While healthcare providers are still
reimbursed by “the more you do the more
you get paid,” Ellish says this relationship is
evolving with payers where they help cover
counseling for nutrition, exercise, and pre-
ventative aspects of a patient’s disease where
it becomes a shared benefit of lowering pre-
mium costs and payouts.
“Certainly these strategies are resonat-
ing with hospitals, but also many insurance
companies because they’re helping you put
these programs in. It’s managing risk that is
what it ultimately boils down to.”
Managing risk is achievable. Twenty years
ago, people sat at their desks and smoked a
cigarette, Ellish says. Today’s workplaces are
increasingly tobacco free.
In April, DHH launched the Well-Ahead
Louisiana initiative, which encourages
healthy behavior and designates organiza-
tions as WellSpots. They earn the designa-
tion by voluntarily embracing health and
wellness, and can be employers, schools,
healthcare providers, universities, childcare
centers, and restaurants. In addition to St.
Tammany Parish Hospital, Well-Ahead Loui-
siana’sWellSpots includeAmeriHealth Cari-
tas Louisiana, Xavier University, Our Lady of
the Lake Regional Medical Center, Louisiana
Healthcare Connections, and Cardiovascular
Institute of the South. More are constantly
being named. The designation includes three
levels, with Level One being the highest level.
a variety of health options.
With Louisiana’s historical health issues,
such as ranking among the highest states in
the nation for obesity, driving community
health change can be challenging. According
All entities applying must be tobacco free.
DHH is providing an interactive website
to help find WellSpot restaurants, childcare
centers, and other health-conscious spots,
which will give people an opportunity to find
Patti Elish