Health inSite: Transformations as the Future of Healthcare

Have you read the book The Experience Economy?  To explain it very quickly (and not do true justice to the ideas proposed in the book), there are various levels of economic offering that warrant different valuations, and thereby ability to generate revenue.  The levels of development discussed in the book are elegantly displayed in the graph below by Pine and Gilmore (the authors of the book):

This progression has expanded over time with new levels being added as the market strives for differentiation.  Many of the examples brought up are clear and concise, such as Starbucks as a purveyor of coffee (a commodity) that really charges the market at the level of a Service.  Pine and Gilmore stop at the level of Service in their description of Starbucks, but I would readily argue that they reach towards the level of experience.  Starbucks actually refers to this in their training materials as creating “The Third Place;” it’s not your work, or your home, it’s that other place where you can unwind a little bit.  Even though the customer isn’t actually brewing their own coffee, as is a hallmark of many experiences, they are engaging with the sounds and smells of the coffee shop in a very intentional way.

The book spends a great deal of time discussing offerings that are on the level of Experience but certainly takes a moment to tip its hat toward Transformations, a burgeoning new market offering.  Transformations are marked by the engagement of the customer in a way that enables that person to learn or grow, exactly to Transform, themselves in a way that is truly valuable to the customer.  It includes giving the customer the skills and motivation to make changes that will both provide some immediate value but also cascade down into further value down the road.

In healthcare, this understanding of the market is significant and valuable.  As we, as an industry, discuss Accountable Care Organizations, capitated care models, and participatory medicine, it’s important for us to keep in mind where value is derived in the typical marketplace.  Healthcare, while arguably different in many ways from other industries by its virtual necessity in every citizen’s timeline, still must compete under the same rules as many other industries.  Many times, in healthcare, we present ourselves on the level of Service – that is that we are doing something for someone, for a fee.  As we look at these new systems, it is time for us to consider what the future of healthcare delivery will require under a population health model of delivery.

Eschewing the fee-for-service model opens up the possibility for the healthcare industry to reconsider offering the long-term value of teaching individuals how to keep themselves healthy, at least in terms of the 80% of healthcare costs that are mediated by behavior.   This decreases the time and services that must be provided creating new forms of cost savings.  As we move further up the economic offering ladder, it will become more necessary to move our industry into the Transformation realm.  In fact, there is no other industry more suited to it.

To our health,

Ryan
Marketing

Health inSite: Wellbeing or Wellness?

We provide wellness sessions for a number of our clients, integrating the wellness component into the overall Employee Assistance Program (EAP).  To recap what MINES considers an EAP to be:

• An employee benefit: Free-to-the-client counseling or coaching sessions for the employee and their household members on topics ranging from workplace to personal issues.
• A management benefit: Supervisor / Manager training, work-performance referrals, and management consultations that help management work more effectively.  (For some of our clients, this is like adding a part-time HR assistant!)
• A work/life component: Including access to an online behavioral health portal with articles on all aspects of work/life balance, concierge referral services for help in finding and accessing resources like college planning, legal and financial coaching, and trainings related to interpersonal, stress, and other wellbeing topics.

This layering of benefits is more robust than a typical “embedded” EAP that is offered as part of a health plan.   These do not usually provide heavy promotion and oftentimes do not extend to the many management benefits that MINES includes in our EAP.

But a few months ago we were preparing for a presentation of this more integrated model and discussing the unique selling proposition of this program and how we wanted to position it in juxtaposition to our other Employee Assistance offerings.  When we charted out the program, we found that we had two very large changes that were being considered under this new program proposal: 1, we were looking at a more holistic approach to the health of the employee that honed in on outcome-focused behavioral change, rather than just incentivizing program participation (meaning that we were giving employees the opportunity to affect many dimensions of their health from the emotional to the physical to the financial and occupational); and 2, we were offering a way for management to interact with their employees in a way that was much more integrated than many wellness programs typically do.

By creating an offering that was integrated into the social fabric of the company, rather than simply proposing a commoditized offering, we uncovered a significant change in the way that we wanted to present this program.  We changed the program from an EAP with a wellness component to an Organizational Wellbeing System.

To distinguish these two terms from one another, and why we thought we needed to change our language for the proposal: wellbeing is differentiated from wellness, as defined by Merriam-Webster, by the former term’s incorporation of total prosperity.  Prosperity, we thought, had the added quality of openness to more dimensions than wellness had available to it.

We believe that this difference is significant, especially when considering the future of healthcare in the United States.  Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides about the legality of the Affordable Care Act, there are changes coming in the landscape of health and we at MINES believe that we are moving in the direction of a more integrated, network-based HEALTHcare as opposed to single person SICKcare.  As we’ve mentioned in some of our other postings recently (PPACA Roundup: Part II, Community is the Key to health, Halo effects and Link Influence), the brief therapy model has significant implications for treatment adherence in more than just substance abuse and mental health issues and we’re prepared for a more involved role with the whole wellbeing of the individual, their social network(s), and the population as a whole.

To our health,

Ryan
Marketing

Booster Shots for Personal Success

When my son was a little boy, he used to get very anxious at the thought of having to see the doctor, especially when it meant getting a shot. Even the promise of a lollipop or special treat did little to alleviate his anticipated state of dread. The last time he went he asked the million dollar question of, “WHY mommy…WHY do I have to get a shot again?”

The answer that I gave him was that it was a “gift of energy” to promote health and well being. Okay, maybe that was a little too esoteric for him to understand but it made me think about it that way! I thought about how great it would be if I could just get a little “shot” or a “booster” to help me through the many times when I faced a challenge or task with dread, trepidation, or even that paralyzing fear of failing.

Come to think of it, every time I engaged the help of an executive coach or sought counsel from a mentor, it was as if I was getting a booster shot to help me meet the challenge I was facing at the time.  And those coaching sessions were a “gift of energy” because they gave me the structure, tools, and built-in accountability that I needed to reach my goals.

My challenges have changed over the years from training for a marathon, getting a master’s degree to move forward with my career, and trying to find that optimal balance as a working mother. While the challenges have changed over time, the value of those coaching sessions  remained steady and was something that I could count on to help maintain a sense of well-being. I’ve appreciated every booster – be it a “shot it the arm” to help inoculate myself and manage my expectations about an event, or a gift of energy packaged as sage advice that gave me some new insights to work with.

It’s been incredibly valuable to have a coach help me see the potential in myself that I might have minimized or underestimated. It’s been priceless to have someone push me, encourage me to “stretch,” and challenge some of my limiting beliefs and irrational assumptions. It’s been invaluable to partner with someone and be able to think out loud about possible obstacles and setbacks and then develop strategies to overcome them so I reach my goals.

I’m a big believer in the merits and benefits of coaching. It’s one of the areas that I’m most passionate about when it comes to my role in BizPysch. We offer executive coaching and are always interested in partnering with people to help them achieve their goals in their professional development – it might be the perfect booster and gift of energy needed to promote your well-being!

Marcia Kent, MS
President, BizPsych