Lifestyle Medicine Interventions that Lower Employee Healthcare Costs Take Center Stage at 3rd Annual Healthcare Transformation Summit

News provided by

American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Apr 13, 2017, 11:15 ET

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) April 13, 2017 -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine has announced that leaders from Cummins, Black Hills Health and Education Center, UPMC Health and Whole Foods Market will highlight successful employee health initiatives that help to ease the burden of what have been ever-increasing healthcare costs at its 3rd annual Healthcare Transformation Summit to be held June 16th at the Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach, Carlsbad, Calif. The Summit runs from 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., with registration from 7-8 a.m.

The Summit brings together healthcare executives and medical professionals to discuss innovative approaches that integrate lifestyle medicine strategies into existing health programs to improve outcomes, reduce costs and expand new revenue models. Given that rising drug and benefit costs are dramatically impacting large self-insured employers, lifestyle-related programs create new opportunities to quickly address these impacts.

According to presenter and ACLM President-elect Dr. Dexter Shurney, Chief Medical Director and Executive Director, Global Health and Benefits at Cummins, Inc., "Educating and empowering just 100 of our 55,000 employees with the lifestyle medicine knowledge and skills needed to control their cholesterol through optimal dietary lifestyle has the potential to save our company nearly $1.5 million each year. This is looking solely at the cost of some prescription meds, not to mention dramatically enhanced quality of life our employees realize when they learn to use the power of their own lifestyle choices to protect their health and treat many of the conditions with which they may already have been diagnosed."

He adds, "From an employer perspective, a comprehensive lifestyle medicine wellness initiative is the only avenue to sustainable behavior change that will result in improved outcomes and lower costs."

This event will include presentations from several large companies and health systems that have successfully implemented lifestyle medicine programs, sharing their approach, their challenges and the outcomes. These will include:

  • Reducing Costs - Lessons from Manufacturing - Dr. Dexter Shurney, President Elect ACLM, Chief Medical Director and Executive Director, Global Health and Benefits, Cummins, Inc.
  • Personal Stories of Impact and Transformation - Dr. John Kelly, ACLM Founding President, Medical Director Black Hills Health and Education Center
  • Employer Strategies to Improve Health & Competitiveness - Dr. Mike Parkinson, Senior Medical Director of Health and Productivity, UPMC Health
  • Employee Engagement for Transformation - Betsy Foster – Global VP of Business Development, Whole Foods Market, Inc.
  • Panel Discussion with Summit Speakers - moderated by Dr. David L. Katz, ACLM Past President, Yale University Prevention Research Center Griffin Hospital, Chief Medical Officer, FareWell

“Given that rising drug and benefit costs are dramatically impacting employers, lifestyle-related programs create new opportunities to quickly address these issues,” said ACLM President George Guthrie, MD, MPH, CDE, FACLM. “The evidence is clear that lifestyle medicine approaches create solutions for both employers and employees, and we look forward to sharing what is proving successful.”

To register, go to http://www.lifestylemedicine.org/summit.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE AND THE HEALTHCARE TRANSFORMATION SUMMIT: ACLM is the professional medical association for those dedicated to the advancement and clinical practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. More than a professional association, ACLM is a galvanizing force for change. ACLM addresses the need for quality education and certification, supporting its members in their individual practices and in their collective desire to domestically and globally promote Lifestyle Medicine as the first treatment option, as opposed to a first option of treating symptoms and consequences with expensive, ever increasing quantities of pills and procedures. ACLM members are united in their desire to identify and eradicate the cause of disease. Join today at http://www.LifestyleMedicine.org.

Jean Tips, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, +1 214-240-1872, [email protected]