With employers and individuals continuing to struggle with rising healthcare costs, a new study shows preventive health slows this increasing burden. Published in Population Health Management, “The Impact of The Prevention Plan on Employee Health Risk Reduction” reveals that prevention programs based on the clinical practice of preventive medicine are able to achieve measurable health risk reduction in just one year.

“The U.S. is facing a severe healthcare cost crisis today—in large part, caused by a health crisis from an increasing burden of chronic illness. Lurking below the surface in society are the true drivers of healthcare cost increases: health risks,” said Ronald Loeppke, MD, MPH, vice-chairman of U.S. Preventive Medicine and lead author of the Population Health Management study. “More and more Americans today are succumbing to preventable lifestyle risks that erode the quality and length of their life—and this trend will create a tsunami of increased utilization of medical services, flooding our healthcare system and leaving an overwhelming economic burden on our society.”

The study reviewed the health of participants in U.S. Preventive Medicine’s The Prevention Plan—a program based on the clinical practice of preventive medicine—and found that after one year nearly half (42%) of the approximately 2600 plan participants experienced a decrease in the number of high health risks they faced, with 64% of high risk participants lowering their risk status and 87% of low risk participants maintaining their health status. Among the high risk health factors that underwent the greatest declines were: blood pressure (43%), fasting blood sugar (31%), stress (25%), alcohol consumption (24%) and cholesterol (23%).

Employers are also beginning to realize they need to invest in the health of their employees to drive their business success and continue to offer sustainable employee health care benefits programs. The Prevention Plan offers employees a series of interventional steps to drive awareness of their personal health risks and a variety of interactive, Internet-based and health coaching resources to empower employees to improve their health. In addition, these programs have yielded strong participation and engagement rates when supported by a culture of health, frequent communications and significant incentives provided by the employer.