I like health fairs done at work-sites for many reasons. There's no better way to tell people you love them than to make it convenient for them to be healthy. But, I do believe that the "common" health fairs that are out there on the market have some typical short-comings - all of which can be avoided with some good information and planning!
1 - Are the right people attending? You really want those people who avoide the doctor to be the ones who participate, but what often happens is that the only people who show up are the ones who are already heath conscious! The result you are left with is "feel good" effect, and not true medical impact. So, how do you resolve this? Well, the simplest method is to use your claims data mining info to identify those members who most need to attend, and to target those individuals with promotion and marketing!
2 - So, you found a problem....what did the member do about it? We know that typically people don't act unless they feel pain. A borderline high blood pressure without any symptoms being felt can easily result in zero action on the patient's part. This results in your money being wasted, because no true medical impact has been generated. So, how do you resolve this? It's simple! Only work with vendors who are able and willing to provide you with a file listing each individual and the test results for that individual (this is allowable under HIPPA because the data will be used for the purposes of payment and other health care operations - namely case/disease/wellness management). Then have your AIMM RNs do outreach to those members to ensure that they are taking action. Usually members who receive a "gentle reminder" about the importance of follow-through, and who receive additional education about the potentially serious health events that can be avoided with appropriate early intervention, will take action.
3 - What issues should I focus on anyway? After all, it's unlikely you can afford to have every test under the sun done. But, there's an easy rule of thumb to use in making your decision. There are two areas where you should consider focusing your efforts. Use your claims data mining information to identify areas where your existing prevalence is outrageously HIGH and unbelievably LOW. Areas where your current issues are outside the expected norms are areas where you are most likely to a - get someone to finally take action on a problem and b - identify a problem that had previously gone undetected.
If you are already an AIMM client, this process is really simple. Just let Deb know that you are considering doing a health fair. We'll pull all your claims data mining information (as well as other AIMM reports, HRA reports, etc...), let you know which areas are most impactable, let you know how many members could benefit from targeted promotional efforts, and let you know what measurable outcomes can be expected. If you'll let us, we'll even do a lot of the work for you! AIMM doesn't really care which vendor you chose to provide the screenings/testing, just so long as the patient specific data can be provided back to us, but we've got existing integration with 8 different vendors.
So, should we do a health fair?
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