CoreSource News

Research Shows YourCare Moving Participants In Healthier Direction

Since it was introduced in January 2008, the YourCare (formerly CoreCare) suite of health & wellness programs has been one of the most successful products in recent CoreSource history. The goal of YourCare is to increase member compliance with evidence-based standards of care for certain chronic conditions, encourage appropriate utilization of the healthcare system and promote preventive screenings to keep members as healthy as possible. A comprehensive analysis of the program’s first-year results showed that YourCare has accomplished these goals.

According to the analysis, compliance for members with chronic conditions increased; proper use of the healthcare system increased, leading to decreased hospital stays and emergency room visits; and member compliance for preventive screenings increased. All these findings result in decreased costs for clients and a healthier direction for members.

“When we rolled out this program to our clients almost two years ago, our goal was to maximize the health potential of their plan members, regardless of health status,” said Paul Lotharius, President and Chief Executive Officer, CoreSource. “Now, with more than a full year of data under our belts, we’re very pleased that the early results seem to indicate that we’ve accomplished exactly what we set out to do.”

In its analysis of YourCare’s first-year results, CoreSource reviewed medical claims data for 16 self-funded employer clients (with a total of 13,687 employees and approximately 29,120 covered lives) that implemented one or more YourCare programs during the first quarter of 2008 and had the programs in place through March 2009.

YourCare programs are driven by a CoreSource analysis of employer’s medical and pharmacy claims using VeriskHealth’s D2Explorer data analytics engine. The analysis focused on members with one or more of five chronic conditions targeted during the initial rollout in January 2008: diabetes, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Highlights of the analysis include:

• On average, nearly 50 percent of the members diagnosed with one or more chronic conditions closed at least one gap in care during YourCare’s first year. An analysis of the CoreSource book of business showed that long term, members with chronic conditions who are compliant with recommended standards of care cost 4 percent to 13 percent less than those who are non-compliant.
• Compliance with preventive testing for cancer increased throughout the year for members in potentially at-risk demographic segments. Mammogram compliance increased 6 percent, Pap smear compliance increased 5 percent, and colorectal screening compliance increased 4 percent.
• While groups in YourCare programs saw a 12 percent increase in office visits during the first year, they had a corresponding decrease in more expensive emergency room visits (down 6 percent) and hospital admissions (down 17 percent).

“To reduce the use of expensive healthcare services, we recognized that physician office visits would have to increase so that members and their physicians could best manage chronic disease,” said Donna Heiser, Vice President, Healthcare Management, CoreSource. “We created a program to improve the health status of our members and to reduce healthcare costs for our clients, and we’re so pleased that we seem to be heading in the right direction on both counts.”

Effective January 2010, CoreSource will enhance YourCare with an even sharper focus on prevention, said Sean McManamy, Vice President, Product Development and Marketing, CoreSource. Next year, additional benefits will be offered through YourCare:

• Unlimited access to health coaches for lifestyle management and health advice;
• Outbound health coach calls to members who may be at high risk for serious conditions, based on data available to CoreSource;
• Discounted memberships to more than 2,000 gyms nationwide; and
• Biometric screening options and Health Risk Assessments to give YourCare nurses a better understanding of the health status of each and every member.

“We believe these program enhancements will help our members stay healthier, which ultimately leads to better control of our clients’ healthcare spend,” McManamy said. “At a later date, we’ll analyze the results of these program upgrades, and we’ll share how they affected the health of YourCare participants.”