Turn and Face the Change

We celebrated Innovation Day at UnitedHealthcare this week. Each year, we all get together to share the company’s innovations and discuss where we can go next. When you mention innovation in health care, I suspect what comes to mind for most people is technological advances in surgery, clinical trials, different types of cancer treatment, etc. Hardly anyone I know thinks of innovation in terms of health insurance, yet insurance companies have been a catalyst for transformative changes that make health care more accessible, cost efficient and a higher quality, not only for patients but the entire health care industry.

Although I have lived through innovation for years at UnitedHealthcare, whenever we gather to review our most recent innovations I am amazed.

Recent UnitedHealthcare innovations to health insurance include our Health4Me mobile app which gives consumers instant access to their critical health information wherever they are and is free for all UnitedHealthcare members. Health4Me makes it easier for anyone with an iPhone to manage their health care.

Back in 2010, we introduced the NowClinic, an Internet site where consumers can log on to connect with a doctor. The cost of the “visit” – only $45. Currently in 22 states, the NowClinic has expanded to Rite Aid stores – including ones in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Patients now have the option to go into the store for a teleconsultation with a doctor. Such store-based options keep staffing costs low and increase convenience for consumers.

Our recent partnership with Comcast on the NOT ME diabetes prevention reality video-on-demand series grew out of a shared vision of a healthier America. While it may seem a bit “out of the box” and counterintuitive (the notion that you can watch a video-on-demand series from your couch and ultimately eliminate the onset of diabetes), NOT ME is a prime example of how new approaches are leading to simpler, more responsive, less costly healthcare.

In all these examples, innovation drove change and filled the need for a new way to deal with existing health care issues while raising the quality of care. Be it a new online tool or a reality-TV based health initiative, another similarity in the innovations we introduced is that they all help consumers take greater control of their health and health care spending. By giving consumers more information, we empower them to make better decisions about their health care.

One thing we like to say at UnitedHealthcare is, “better information, better decisions, better health.” There can be no doubt that information drives innovation, which gives a national company with the enormous number-crunching capability of UnitedHealthcare opportunities to develop and implement positive changes to the healthcare experience. Check us out at http://www.uhginnovation.com/.

Sometimes, We All Need to Let Ourselves be Kids

This Mother’s Day, the first-ever Kids for the Cure: UnitedHealthcare Dash to Make a Difference was held at the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure. From the lead-off parade to holding the finish-line tape for all ten heats, I had the opportunity… the privilege… to be a part  of it all.

If you read my April 24th blog, you have an idea of the visions the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate and UnitedHealthcare had as we developed this special event.  Those visions were certainly brought to fruition… as I knew they would be. Going into the Dash day, I knew those youngsters, aged 3-12, would touch my heart. However, one thing I didn’t see coming was a life-long lesson that 300 boys and girls “dashing to make a difference” taught me in all of 30 minute’s time.

I know most of you reading this are career-driven professionals. From the first step you took on your chosen professional path – dating back to high school – it’s been ingrained in you to strive to lead, not follow. Never make a decision unless it is an informed decision. Never act until you weigh the pros and cons, and think through all possible outcomes. These are the golden rules of success in work and in life.

Or, so I thought. Then on May 13th, 300 children said to me, “No, Sue, not always.” The Dash started in the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Funfest Tent on the Race site. A drumline led the children from the tent to the Dash site, while parents cheered encouragement. The majority of kids didn’t know exactly where they were going – but they anticipated something great on the other end. Most of them, even at such a young age, knew they were doing something to help fight the disease that struck mom, grandmom, their teacher, aunt or friend’s mom – although they didn’t know exactly how. They never met those drummers leading the parade, nor the other children walking in front of them – but they trusted them to lead the way. They didn’t push to get to the head of the line… they were all having fun and it was good enough for them simply to sense that whatever they were doing, it was important.

At the Dash site, more lessons presented themselves. I watched parents direct their children to the volunteer holding the sign displaying the appropriate age. The children, trusting mom and dad unconditionally and seeing another friendly face surrounded by kids like them, joined their designated group. I held the finish-line tape, looking down the 40-yard grass alley at dozens of eager faces all wanting to get to me and the medal awaiting them. Not one of them was weighing the “risks”… to them, there weren’t any.

Each time that horn blew to start a heat… the feeling was inexplicable to see those children on their way. I assure you, they weren’t analyzing the best strategy to get to their goal. Many of them, especially the younger ones, weren’t even concerned about coming in first. Their only “objective” was to get to the finish line… their only strategy was to run their hardest and do their best.

Certainly, I’m not suggesting important life decisions should be made without careful consideration, or that we should always be content to follow. But we all do need to find opportunities in life when we can enrich ourselves by following, instead of concerning ourselves with becoming the leader… when we can simply let go of “so much thinking” and be satisfied with knowing we’re doing our best… when we can have a little, safe fun.  All these things make for a happier, healthier life – at ANY age.

Sue Schick cheers on young "Kids for the Cure" in the UnitedHealthcare Dash to Make a Difference

Lessons in Survival – from which we ALL can Learn

On Sunday, April 22, at the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate’s Survivors Celebration!, I was honored to present an outstanding survivor award on behalf of UnitedHealthcare to one of our own, Susan Affeldt. Susan told me she traveled the 1,370 miles from Duluth, MN not to receive “her award,” but to celebrate the lives of everyone in her breast cancer survivor family. As we sat on the dais – looking out at more than 600 survivors and loved ones gathered, laughing and crying as others shared their stories, hearing families stand up and cheer – my emotions ran high.  It was impossible not to feel empowered, as well as grateful, to be part of a community so full of hope in this fight.

As noted in the Survivors Celebration! tribute journal, UnitedHealthcare chose Susan for this honor because:

“To those who know her and have been touched by her many means of outreach, Susan is the embodiment of a warm embrace - offered at the perfect time, whether that time be one of anxiety, fear, clarity or celebration. When you meet her, there’s no doubt much of Susan’s embraceable demeanor stems from the love she carries for her son, who, at just three years old, was her inspiration to face and defeat breast cancer in 1992. She extends that same love and appreciation to everyone united in the quest to end breast cancer, as well as those she seeks to support, especially children who have family members with cancer …”  

As I read this excerpt, it struck me how “full circle” breast cancer – a disease diagnosed 3,756 times a day in the U.S. – travels. I had that ‘ah-ha’ moment connecting Susan’s ability to draw from the strength of her son to survive, and her dedication to helping other children deal with breast cancer… with our sponsorship of the first-ever Kids for the Cure®: UnitedHealthcareDash to Make a Difference.

This Mother’s Day at the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure®, approximately  500 boys and girls aged 3-12 are expected to join the fight against breast cancer by participating in The Dash. Those numbers speak to the cruel fact that with one out of every eight women diagnosed, the number of children who have either lost loved ones to breast cancer or experienced them in treatment, is staggering. Silence about the disease and its impact can actually intensify children’s fears. Not involving them in the fight for a cure can contribute to their feelings of helplessness in protecting their adult loved ones against breast cancer.

The Dash to Make a Difference will embrace children in the same hope and sharing experienced by adults at the Survivors Celebration! At the event, we’ll help kids realize and celebrate the more than 2 million survivors living in the U.S.—including their moms, neighbors, teachers, aunts and grandparents. We will give them a real way to get involved and to show that they care. Most important, at the end of the Dash EVERY child will receive a medal, placed on him or her by a parent or adult loved one. Again, I get goosebumps thinking about the hugs that are going to take place at that moment – the ultimate demonstration to these youngsters that they will never be left to face breast cancer alone. I invite you to be there with me to experience it!

And, if you are a woman who is facing a breast cancer diagnosis, treatment or recovery, I invite you to visit UnitedHealthcare’s Source4Women website at www.source4women.com. It’s everything healthcare for women. It’s a place where you can talk to health topic experts and even connect with women with similar health or family concerns. You can also follow us on Twitter:  @Source4Women

Sue Schick presents UnitedHealthcare's Outstanding Survivor Award to breast cancer survivor Susan Affeldt

Sue Schick gathers with "Kids for the Cure"

Learn How to Stress Less

I think it’s safe to say that we are all stressed these days, to one degree or another. Certainly there are “official” seasons for stress, such as around tax time or during the holidays. Or, when a health or other unforeseen crisis strikes. But, for most of us, stress is just always there, like those pesky five pounds you are always trying to loose.

We know that constant high levels of stress are unhealthy, causing neck or low-back pain, ulcers, hypertension and diabetes, and can lead to strokes and heart attacks. But they can also affect job performance, relationships with co-workers, even your employer’s bottom line. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 40 percent of employee turnover is due to job stress, and health care costs are 50 percent greater for employees with high stress levels.

The good news is that while you may not be able to change your work environment or the amount of traffic during your commute, you can manage how you react to them. The key is learning “resilience” in your personal and professional life, developing strength in the face of what you define as stressful situations, and, above all, not letting it get the best of you.

Of course, applying these principles takes practice and patience. And, exercising and eating well will boost your effectiveness. I’m also a big believer in three coping mechanisms that work for me: remembering to “be here now,” giving back and laughter.

Recently, our Employee Engagement Committee sponsored a “Be Here Now” challenge. We encouraged each other not to multitask in meetings or on the phone. We promised to help each other quiet our busy minds. When I think about a meaningful change I've made in my life over the past six months, the ability to “Be Here Now” looms large. I can’t say I never multitask, but now I catch myself – and stop -- a lot faster. While it used to feel natural to have a busy mind, now it just feels wrong. I know my performance is better and my relationships are stronger. This challenge helped free up space for creativity and innovation, and helped us to better focus on our core values.

Giving back also always helps me to keep my stress at bay. Next month, in an effort to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, I’ll be a “celebrity scooper” -- I’ll be at Reading Terminal scooping up the newest Basset Ice Cream flavor, PBJ, in honor of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 30th anniversary.

Although it might sound simplistic, keeping a sense of humor during difficult situations is a common recommendation from stress-management experts – because it really works. Laughter not only releases the tension of pent-up feelings and helps keep perspective, but it has been shown to have actual physical and psychological benefits, from reducing stress hormone levels to improving self-esteem.

If you want to get a head start on your stress reduction, check out “Laugh Rx” comedy segments at www.uhc.tv. And then let me know some of your favorite ways to minimize the stress in your life.

Kids Strive to Alter Path to Better Health

It’s alarming!  More than one-third of all children between the ages of 10-17 in Pennsylvania are obese or overweight, according to the 2007 survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, putting them on the road to lifelong chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. 

If left unchecked or untreated, obesity will affect 43 percent of adults by 2018 and add nearly $344 billion in that year alone to the nation’s annual direct health care costs, accounting for more than 21 percent of health care spending, according to America’s Health Rankings^®.

The numbers are staggering – but we can help slow or reverse this trend by altering the path we are currently on – by eating better, exercising more and making wellness a priority, especially for our children. Young people are leading the way to a healthier lifestyle through the UnitedHealth HEROES grants program, which we are involved in with Youth Service America. 

Through this program, one of my favorites here at UnitedHealthcare, young people receive grants to implement solutions to help fight obesity in their schools and local communities. By focusing children’s energy, creativity and problem-solving capabilities, we are helping young people take action to improve their overall health and quality of life in a way that’s not only educational, but beneficial for their entire community.

This year, more than $187,000 in HEROES grants was awarded to 282 schools and community-based youth organizations nationwide, including these seven Pennsylvania programs:

·         DeSales University in Center Valley to support the “Films for Fitness” program, a part of the University’s HOPE mentoring program that will educate middle school students about childhood obesity in the community and help them develop their own public service announcements about preventing it.

·         The Nonprofit Partnership in Erie to work with a group of 16 high school students representing different Erie high schools and help them develop their own projects to mobilize and educate area middle school students about nutrition and healthy activity.

·         Lionville Community YMCA in Exton for its “Kids 4 Community Health” campaign to help children in YMCA after-school programs learn about nutrition and physical activity and provide tools to help kids and families become healthier.

·         Ligonier Valley YMCA to expand its nutrition education initiative with cooking demonstrations during its after-school program. The program also exposes kids to activities like rock climbing, swimming, jump rope, high ropes courses and running.

·         Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA: Milton Branch to support its weekly TGIF program and to purchase aquatic basketball hoops for its indoor pool and pamphlets outlining nutrition and exercise recommendations for kids.
·         The Police Athletic League of Norristown for its 3-H AGE (Athletics, Garden & Education) program,  in which students participate in academic tutoring, track and field and a youth garden that will grow vegetables for the local community.
·         Diversified Community Services of Philadelphia for its “Food Fit Philly” program, a hands-on nutritional education and cooking club for students between the ages of nine and 11.

We can’t wait to join these groups during the 2012 Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) on April 20-22, as they roll out their programs – and look forward to ongoing work, ensuring that the benefit of these programs will continue to have a positive long-lasting impact on these young people and their health.

To read about all the 2011-2012 UnitedHealth HEROES grant recipients and their projects, go to www.ysa.org/HEROES. 

The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity, also strives to help children live healthier by providing grants to pay for medical services, treatments and equipment, and prescriptions that are not covered, or are only partially covered, by grant applicants’ commercial health insurance.  For more on UHCCF, go to www.uhccf.org.

For 2012, Resolve to Keep it Simple

It happens every year. We make resolutions to get healthier, exercise more, take better care of ourselves – and quickly break them. We’re “well”-intentioned, but we actually sabotage our own efforts by setting goals that are too big (e.g. vowing to hit the gym at 6 a.m. every day when you’ve never worked out before) and by wanting results too quickly. Change – and the willpower to sustain it – does not come that easy. That’s why I was particularly interested in a recent article that suggested taking baby steps to better health.

The Futures Company, a global research and consulting firm, notes that – “For a healthy 2012, think ‘simple.'” The Company stated that individuals view getting healthy as a complicated process. But, in order for New Year’s goals to stick, they must be as “simple, easy and seamlessly integrated into people’s lifestyles as possible.”

With this advice in mind, one of the simplest steps you can take to get moving in a healthy direction is to review your health insurance plan. Many plans offer health and wellness programs and other value-added benefits and resources at no additional cost.

Depending on your policy, you may be able to:

• Enroll in health reminder and other wellness programs to receive alerts as to when it’s time to visit the doctor for check-ups and annual preventive care, such as mammograms, vaccinations and physicals. In addition, many insurance plans offer education, health assessments and personal-support resources that can help guide expectant mothers through their pregnancies and individuals with diabetes and pre-diabetes, for example.

• Utilize electronic health records and prescriptions to more easily track medications and health histories. Tools such as these may help reduce medical errors, increase cost savings and improve health outcomes.

• Compare treatment costs – Some health plans offer tools that enable individuals to compare the quality ratings among physicians who participate in your health plan’s network, in addition to their cost, like UnitedHealthcare’s Treatment Cost Estimator® and its UnitedHealth Premium® designation program.

• Access 24/7 nurse care lines where trained, licensed nurses are available to answer basic health questions. They are especially helpful during after-hours or for minor health issues that do not require an immediate trip to the urgent-care clinic or emergency room.

• And most importantly, take a health risk assessment. Many health plans offer online health self-assessments that help people learn more about their current conditions and risks.

And while you’re on a roll, take a few minutes to schedule health appointments and screenings now. Let’s use the whole month of January, not to make empty resolutions, but to resolve to get in control of our health – and end the cycle of guilt and failure.

I want to wish all of you a very happy – and healthy – New Year!

A Time to Be Grateful

I relaunched my blog this past September so I could share some of my thoughts on topics and issues that impact businesses and individuals in the Commonwealth, in particular health care. And, I thank all of you for joining in that conversation. Please keep your comments and feedback coming!

But now – as we continue through the holiday season – I wanted to share with you what I am most grateful for this year.

I am grateful to all the business, community and civic leaders who have embraced our efforts to help improve access to quality health care and help individuals here live healthier lives. Stay tuned – there is much more to come in 2012!

I am grateful for our team at UnitedHealthcare. Their tireless efforts to help improve the lives of individuals in the region through the work they do and the community efforts they support are an inspiration to me. We created our holiday card as a tribute to our team and the many community organizations they supported in 2011. Click here to see it.

I continue to be grateful for the endless words of wisdom my parents have imparted to me over the years – and their love and support. Those who know me have heard me say over and over, "There's always a way, if you are committed." Well, that's the voice of my father who's influenced me all these years.

And, most of all, I am grateful for the four men in my life – my husband and my three sons and the countless joys they bring me. I am so proud of them each day.

I want to wish you all a very happy holiday and a healthy New Year…

And look forward to continuing our dialogue around growing businesses here in the Commonwealth and building healthier communities in 2012.

Until then, be well.