Health Action Council Introduces New Consumer Health Support Model through Collaboration with UnitedHealthcare and Optum
October 08 2018 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
- Enhanced health model focuses on
preemptive care to directly engage people to improve health while
reducing care costs
- UnitedHealthcare to provide
individualized care support to member company employees for
day-to-day care health needs and education; additional clinical
support for acute health episodes or chronic care needs through
Optum
- Model includes plan-sponsor guaranteed
cost reductions and improved consumer decision-making
The Health Action Council, an organization dedicated to
improving the quality and cost of care, is expanding its
relationship with UnitedHealthcare and Optum to launch an enhanced
insurance plan that will be available to Health Action Council
member companies for Jan. 1, 2019, enrollment.
This hands-on, integrated health advocacy and clinical model
puts member employees at the center of care, creating relationships
that focus on preemptive – or preventive – care. Each individual or
dependent covered under Health Action Council member plans will
have a designated health care adviser who can:
- provide day-to-day assistance for
routine care and benefits questions;
- offer additional guidance and care
management support, when requested; and
- help address more acute care
needs.
For people with chronic illnesses or acute health episodes, a
designated clinical team of nurses and other care providers will
help individuals:
- identify high-quality care
providers;
- arrange appointments;
- understand and calculate the entire
cost of particular courses of treatment; and
- best utilize their benefits.
The end result is a new level of personalized service for health
care consumers from care integration, advanced analytics to monitor
decision-making, measurement and plan sponsor cost reductions.
“Enhancing ways to keep people healthy, driving waste out of the
health care system and improving care continue to be key objectives
for our member companies, and was the impetus for this new
innovative care model,” said Patty Starr, executive director,
Health Action Council. “By combining efforts that worked in the
past with new learnings and better analytics, and placing an even
greater focus on the individual, we can reallocate resources to
better influence employee health and care outcomes. This is the key
driver behind our expanded partnership and the launch of our
enhanced benefits plan.”
Identifying and addressing community issues that affect people’s
health is critical to this integrated care model. Using their own
employee data, employers can determine the variations in quality of
care community by community (i.e., chronic illnesses, high
emergency room utilization, and limited access to food and housing)
and focus efforts and resources to address specific concerns.
To gain a better understanding and encourage adoption of its new
advocacy model, Health Action Council worked with UnitedHealthcare
and Optum to measure the community impacts – such as health
spending and outcomes, and social determinants – on employer health
care costs across 10 metropolitan areas. To view “Community Health
Care: Improving Employer Investment in Overall Health,” go to
https://healthactioncouncil.org.
“One-on-one care support, coupled with actionable community
data, will be integral to improving people’s health and
well-being,” said UnitedHealthcare National Accounts COO Alison
Richards. “The information gathered from this model and other
business initiatives around individual engagement and care access,
coupled with data on the impact that our communities have on
people’s health, will be critical to making quality care more
affordable for individuals, families and communities.”
In addition to telephonic support, the Health Action Council
will offer access to onsite advocate and nursing support. It also
intends to add enhanced pharmacy services, voluntary dental plan
options and global services to address health care coverage needs
outside the United States. For more information about the Health
Action Council and benefits offerings for its member plan sponsors,
go to https://healthactioncouncil.org.
About the Health Action CouncilHealth Action Council is a
not-for-profit organization representing large employers that
enhances human and economic health through thought leadership,
innovative services and collaboration. The organization provides
value to its members by facilitating projects that improve quality,
lower costs and enhance individual experiences, and by
collaborating with key stakeholders to build a culture of
health.
About OptumOptum is a leading information and
technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping
make the health system work better for everyone. With more than
133,000 people worldwide, Optum delivers intelligent, integrated
solutions that help to modernize the health system and improve
overall population health. Optum is part of UnitedHealth Group
(NYSE:UNH).
About UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to
helping people live healthier lives and making the health system
work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience,
meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted
relationships with care providers. In the United States,
UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit
programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million
physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other
care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health
benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated
health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of
the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified
health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare
at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.
Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth
Group.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181008005106/en/
Health Action CouncilPatty Starr,
216-328-2200pstarr@healthactioncouncil.orgorUnitedHealthcareMaria
Gordon Shydlo, 914-933-4613maria_g_shydlo@uhc.com
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