Using a personal health care cost calculator to estimate future expenditures based on individual health risks.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and application of an innovative Health Improvement Cost Calculator tool designed to help individuals recognize the link between their current health risks, future medical costs, and productivity. METHODS: We describe how the Calculator was developed using data from studies that tie health care costs and productivity to population health risks, and how changes in risks are projected to reduce future spending for individual workers. RESULTS: Two simulations of the model illustrate how individuals may realize future economic costs or benefits depending on whether they maintain or change their health-risk profile. CONCLUSIONS: The Calculator has the potential to be a powerful motivational tool for individuals, especially those heading toward retirement, who are looking to understand the relationships between their health risks, future medical spending, and impacts on productivity.

Improving diabetes care and health measures among hispanics using community health workers: results from a randomized controlled trial.

The increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity, growing health disparities, and shortage of bilingual and culturally trained health care professionals underscore the role of trained community health workers (CHWs) to provide economically sustainable and culturally relevant services. This prospective randomized design evaluated the relative effectiveness of a CHW intervention among Hispanic persons with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, as compared with usual clinic practice in three inner-city health centers. In sum, 189 Hispanic patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to one of three 6-month diabetes management approaches--CHW, case management, and standard provider care--and assessed for diabetes-related health measures and clinical indicators at baseline and postintervention. Participants in the CHW group achieved greater improvements than did the controls in program measures: health status, emergency department utilization, dietary habits, physical activity, and medication adherence. They also had 2.9 times greater odds of decreasing body mass index.