What is Duke Prospective Health?
Duke Prospective Health is a Duke initiative – led by former health system president and CEO Ralph Snyderman – that emphasizes early detection and disease prevention methods. In seeking to create a more efficient system of health care delivery, the program offers personal health planning and interventions to help prevent or detect chronic conditions in its earliest stages, when treatments generally can provide the maximum benefit, and minimizing the effects of chronic conditions when they are detected. Duke is offering the Duke Prospective Health program as a benefit to employees and their families who participate in either Duke Select or Duke Basic health care plans.
 
The overall goal of Duke Prospective Health is to provide an individualized guide to healthier living for all participants and their families. The focus of the program is on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and preventive health services.

 

Who is eligible to participate in Duke Prospective Health?
The program is being offered, at no additional cost, to employees and their families who participate in either Duke Select or Duke Basic health care plans – which is approximately 80 percent of Duke health care plan participants. Starting January 1, 2007, Wake County members are eligible to participate.

 

Why should I participate in Duke Prospective Health?
Duke Prospective Health is an innovative model for delivering health care that emphasizes early detection and prevention of disease. The program focuses on personalizing care with the idea of preventing specific diseases and chronic conditions before they occur, managing and minimizing the effects of chronic conditions, and working with participants to create a step-by-step plan for achieving optimal health.

 

How does the program work?
In seeking to create a more efficient system of health care delivery, the program focuses on personalizing care with the idea of preventing and minimizing the effects of specific diseases and chronic conditions and working with participants to create a step-by-step plan for achieving optimal health. This process includes a health risk assessment; developing a better understanding of health risks as well as available resources; setting priorities, goals and action steps in the Personal Health Plan; the use of teaching coaches; various programs coordinated through LIVE FOR LIFE; and the measurement of progress toward personal health goals.

 

What is the health risk assessment?
The Health Risk Assessment is a questionnaire about current lifestyle and habits regarding physical activity, nutrition, and stress management. You can use your Health Risk Assessment to help set goals for healthy actions in your Personal Health Plan. Your Health Risk Assessment answers are confidential, and your results will be shared with you immediately so you can create your Personal Health Plan.

 

What is a Personal Health Plan?
The Personal Health Plan is a guide that includes a few key health goals that you set for yourself to achieve during the next 12 months. The Personal Health Plan takes into account your health risk assessment, lifestyle, readiness to change, and personal health goals. It also becomes a tool for you to communicate with your physician and other members of the Duke Prospective Health team who will support you in your goal toward optimal health.

 

What support and services will be offered in the program and how do I qualify for these services?
Duke Prospective Health is designed to do work with participants and their personal physicians to identify health risks individuals may face and work with them to create a step-by-step plan for achieving optimal health. An important component of the program is the array of information and tools available to help participants identify potential health risks, understand their personal health issues, and raise awareness of resources available to them, including the programs offered by LIVE FOR LIFE. Using the information and tools, participants can develop a personal health plan to help them make the necessary changes to maintain or improve their quality of life and obtain recommended preventive services based on their specific health care needs.

 

All participants will have access to health-related articles and educational material through the program's web site (www.dukeprospectivehealth.org) as well as an online system that allows participants to document and track key health measures related to their personal health plan. For qualifying participants, support may include a health care coach, who works with a group of participants on specific issues, or a care manager, who works one-on-one with participants and coordinates support from a team of health care professionals.

 

What is the Duke Prospective Health awards program?
Once you have completed your Health Risk Assessment, your name will be entered in our monthly drawings for customized prize packages valued at approximately $150. These packages are designed to encourage fitness, exercise, healthy eating and stress reduction. The earlier you fill out your HRA, the more drawings you have a chance to win!
 
More awards will be offered to participants who qualify for additional services and are contacted by Duke Prospective Health staff. Participants will receive up to $150 to apply toward their mail-order prescription drug co-payments if they complete a Health Risk Assessment and maintain ongoing contact with a Care Manager every other week for four months and choose a personal health goal. A care manager will review criteria for the higher incentive.

 

If I am not covered by Duke Select or Duke Basic, is there a similar program for me?
All employees can take part in LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's employee wellness program, which offers a range of health checks and fitness opportunities to support employees' goals toward better health and fitness. For more information about LIVE FOR LIFE, you may visit the LIVE FOR LIFE web site or call 684-3136 (Option 1).

 

In addition, participants of Blue Care and Duke Options can participate in Blue Cross Blue Shield's health management programs, which offer incentives and benefits such as one-on-one nurse counseling and physical activity incentive programs. For more information about these programs, please visit www.bcbsnc.com or call 1-800-218-5295.