High-cost claims remain one of the toughest challenges for employer health plans. In this episode, Dr. Christine Hale, a nationally recognized physician leader with a track record of helping employers tackle their toughest healthcare challenges, reveals key takeaways from our employer workshop to help decode the data, manage complex cases, and drive smarter health spend.
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a full year since Laurel Pickering stepped into her role leading the Gateway Business Health Coalition and our sister organization, the Midwest Health Initiative. Over the past 12 months, Laurel has brought fresh energy and strategic vision to the coalition, guiding our work in new and exciting directions while remaining deeply committed to our mission of improving health, well-being, and value in health care.
In this episode, we reflect on what’s been accomplished, what we’ve learned, and what lies ahead.
During a recent tour of our membership, we asked employers about the top health conditions impacting their workforce. Every employer cited cancer among their top three concerns. With cancer affecting more people each year and treatment costs continuing to rise, the need for effective employer solutions has never been more urgent.
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Miksad, Chief Medical Officer at Color. Color is the first 50-state Virtual Cancer Clinic led by oncologists, delivering high-quality, patient-centered, and technology-enhanced care across the entire cancer care continuum—from screening, risk assessment, and prevention to diagnosis, treatment support, and survivorship.
The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. Leapfrog collects and transparently reports hospital performance, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. In this episode, we are joined by Jill Berger, Senior Advisor for Employer & Payor Engagement at The Leapfrog Group to discuss the recent Leapfrog Safety grade release and the many ways The Leapfrog Group is improving hospital and patient safety.
BHC actively monitors and testifies on bills that could potentially impact employer-sponsored benefits. We are dedicated to advocating on behalf of our employer members to lower health care costs while ensuring quality and access for members. In this episode, we discuss current policy topics at the state and federal levels that have the potential to impact employer sponsored benefits. To provide insight on this topic, we are joined by two experts in the policy space, Shawn Gremminger, President and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, and Mark Dalton, Political Director for the Carpenters Union of Missouri.
In this episode we are joined by Dr. Bob Chestnut, who serves as the Chief Medical Executive Director at Cummins Inc. Dr. Chestnut leads the clinical operations strategy for over 70,000 employees in more than 190 countries and oversees the delivery of occupational health, primary care, and telemedicine. Through his work, Dr. Chestnut drives improved health care experiences for thousands of Cummins employees by prioritizing patient-centered and advanced primary care in Cummins worksite clinics.
In this episode, we discuss chronic kidney disease, or CKD, the impact that CKD has on the American workforce, and how employers are uniquely positioned to help prevent late-stage CKD by increasing employee awareness and education and encouraging their employees to seek appropriate care for early identification. CKD occurs when the kidneys have been damaged over time, impairing their important functions in our bodies, such as removing waste and regulating blood pressure. More than 1 in 7 adults in the U.S. are estimated to have CKD and about 9 in 10 people that have CKD but do not know they have it. Kidney disease can significantly affect quality of life, lead to other serious comorbidities, and can be incredibly costly to treat, making it an important issue for employers to tackle.
To provide insight on this topic, we are joined by Elizabeth Montgomery, the National Vice President of Clinical Practice Innovation and Population Health Programs with the National Kidney Foundation.
In this episode, we are excited to recap our recent Annual Meeting, where nearly 300 healthcare and benefits leaders from across the nation came together to discuss how employers can drive meaningful change in health care. The energy in the room was palpable, and we left feeling truly inspired by the potential employers have to reshape the healthcare landscape for the better.
Joining us in this episode are two distinguished members of the BHC Board of Directors: Alison Casler, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Drury Hotels Company, and Misi Holmberg, Director of Benefits at Panera, to share their takeaways from the meeting.
In this episode, we have a compelling discussion focusing on weight management and medications. GLP-1s, are a class of medications generating a lot of buzz for their efficacy in weight loss and cardiometabolic outcomes. Through this conversation, we will explore the findings, eligibility criteria, supply challenges, cost management implications, and more. We'll also discuss the impact of GLP-1s on employers and strategies they can adopt to navigate this evolving healthcare landscape.
To provide insight on this topic, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Halperin, who is the Chief Medical Officer with Form Health.
In this episode, we have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Marty Makary. Dr. Makary is a practicing surgeon at Johns Hopkins University and a New York Times bestselling author. Known for a couple of his key publications such as Unaccountable and The Price We Pay, Dr. Makary is here to tell us about his new book release: Blind Spots: When Health Care Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health, and some key takeaways for employers focused on improving the health of their employees and navigating the “blind spots” in health care.
In this episode, we sit down with the new President and CEO of the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, Laurel Pickering. Laurel comes to the BHC with over 20 years of coalition experience and more recently worked for Centivo, focusing her efforts on health care and technology innovation to improve health outcomes and affordability. Laurel started with the BHC in early June and has already begun to make her mark by engaging with our members and laying the groundwork for exciting new initiatives.
Listen in to learn more about her vision for the future of the BHC, her plans to build on the strong foundation we've established, and how she intends to continue serving our member companies with innovative and effective health and wellness strategies.
Diabetes is a growing concern globally, with millions affected by its impact on health and quality of life. Employers play a pivotal role in promoting employee wellness and mitigating the risks associated with chronic conditions like diabetes. The National DPP lifestyle change program offers a structured, evidence-based approach to preventing type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes.
In this episode, we are joined by Sara Hanlon, worksite health consultant with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, or NACDD, to speak with us about the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program and opportunities for employers to learn more about how they can offer this as a covered benefit for their employees.
In this episode, we're shedding light on a topic that impacts countless women's lives and the workforce at large – menopause in the workplace.
Join us as we sit down with Katie Schubert, the President and CEO at the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), discussing the significance of menopause, its impact in the workplace, and what can be done to create more supportive workplace environments for midlife and menopausal women.
In this episode, we're pleased to be joined by Neil Goldfarb who is the President and CEO of one of our sister coalitions, the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health. While GPBCH is widely known for its initiatives on obesity and diabetes prevention, in this episode, we'll discover their recent expansion into addressing another pressing concern – hypertension. Join us as we uncover the innovative strategies that employers can adopt to improve the quality of care for their employees with cardiac conditions.
In this episode, you have the chance to listen to an exclusive excerpt from our latest Member Meeting on the topic of empowering individuals with chronic conditions. We are joined by Dr. Heidi Miller, the first Chief Medical Officer with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, as she delivers a crucial call-to-action for employers aiming to enhance employee health. Tune in as we explore Dr. Miller's insights on the vital role employers can play in fostering a healthier workforce.
In the United States, chronic diseases take a heavy toll on individuals and businesses. The statistics are staggering. Six in ten adults have a chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more. Conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. They also account for a whopping 90% of the nation's $4.1 trillion annual healthcare expenditures, which poses an enormous economic burden on both employees and employers.
But what if we could address these conditions through preventative measures, early intervention, and lifestyle changes? In this episode, we are joined by Dr. David Houghton, the Medical Director of Digital Medicine with Ochsner Connected Health to share insights on how digital solutions can help employers provide personalized support and make well-being a strategic focus for their organization.
Since 2001, St. Louis nonprofit BioSTL has laid the foundation for the region's innovation economy with a comprehensive set of transformational programs that elevate St. Louis’ leadership in solving important world challenges in agriculture, medicine, health care, and other technology areas. BioSTL’s recruitment arm, GlobalSTL serves as a navigator to St. Louis’ world-class corporate and innovation ecosystem and introduces overseas innovators to major payers, providers, and employers in St. Louis.
In this episode, we are joined by Vijay Chauhan, an expert in global health innovation, to explore how employers can connect with digital solutions from around the globe at the 2023 Health Care Innovation Summit.
Alzheimer’s Disease is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It is a condition that not only touches more and more lives every day, but also impacts the workplace, especially as employees are postponing retirement and continuing to work into their 70s.
In this episode, we are joined by Rey Castuciano, who is the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Manager, with the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Missouri Chapter, to discuss how employers can build strategies to navigate Alzheimer’s in the workplace.
In 2002, employers called upon the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition to provide a pharmacy benefit group purchasing solution, to ensure transparency, accountability, and best-in-class pricing. Delivering health services in the St. Louis Area for over 30 years, Express Scripts has been a longstanding PBM partner of our Pharmacy Management Initiative since its inception.
The pharmacy benefit is the single most utilized benefit among employer plans and in this episode we are joined by Harold Carter, Chief Pharma Trade Relations Officer for Express Scripts, to discuss how the organization is unlocking new value for clients and customers through innovative solutions.
In 2021, the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition welcomed CVS Health as a new PBM partner in our Pharmacy Management Initiative (PMI). A diversified health services company with more than 300,000 employees, CVS Health is addressing the country's most pressing health care needs through personalized, people-centered care. With prescription drug pricing and coverage continuing to be top of mind among patients and employers, Jim Fowler, Chief Sales Officer for CVS Caremark, joins us to discuss how the organization is transforming services to make health care more affordable and accessible.