HOW EXECUTIVES CAN SHAPE THEIR HEALTH AND THEIR COMPANY’S FUTURE By Tyler C. Cooper, MD/MPH Despite the demands placed on top executives, it’s no surprise that as a whole many in corporate America are not always inclined to incorporate exercise and good nutrition into their daily routine as much and as often as they should. [...]

INCENTIVES, EDUCATION AND THE BIG UNKNOWN – 2014 In Houston, the tone for doing business is set by the oil companies. When it comes to their motivation and strategy for employee benefits that include wellness programs, fitness facilities, employee incentives, and in-house medical clinics, is it all about healthy employees and lower costs, or is [...]

TEXAS MICROCHIP SENSOR POISED TO REDUCE HEALTH CARE COSTS By Nicolaos Christodoulides, Pierre N. Floriano, John T. McDevitt & Michael Williams The Problem Health insurance costs are a major fraction of the expense doing business, especially for small companies and start-up firms. With health care premiums soaring, many small business owners are asking their employees [...]

DR. JAMES TRUCHARD’S PRESCRIPTION FOR CUTTING HEALTH CARE COSTS & BOOSTING EMPLOYEE WELLNESS The fitness center on the first floor of National Instruments Building B bears a striking resemblance to workout rooms in any health club. The usual collection of machines stands ready – treadmills, elliptical trainers, devices that work arms, shoulders, legs – and in [...]

A PRIMER ON CRAFTING A VALUE-BASED BENEFITS PROGRAM By Kathy Durbin Nationally, family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2008. According to a new Commonwealth Fund report and numbers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), costs could increase another 94 percent to an average of $23,842 per family [...]

A C-SUITE DISCOURSE ON THE COMPLEXITIES OF EMPLOYEE WELLNESS Cancer is expensive. A study of major employers found that patients with cancer cost more than five times as much to insure than patients without cancer. In addition, cancer is expensive to businesses in the loss of productivity and it is also expensive to families in [...]