CHADDS FORD, Pa., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Employers looking to enroll their high-cost employees in disease-management plans should use trusted doctors, a new U.S. study says.
When companies rely on anonymous phone calls to recruit workers with chronic conditions, only one in four enroll in corporate-sponsored disease-management programs, according to the study appearing in the February issue of the journal Disease Management.
But when they are contacted by familiar and trusted workplace clinicians, the enrollment rate goes up to three in four, according to the study of 2,000 Goodyear Tire and Rubber employees.
Disease-management programs have been touted as a way to reduce healthcare costs and improve health outcomes by helping patients with complicated, chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease receive better coordinated care.
"These results are fascinating and provide evidence that 'high touch' methods for recruitment to care management programs can be worth the investment. This added benefit also dovetails with the growing interest by large employers in on-site medical centers," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.
