“Without data, you are just another
person with an opinion.”

- Samuel Johnson

City of Dalton Case Study - 7/4/07   The City of Dalton found that not only could employee health be improved through an aggressive program, but also that most employees who are high risk relative to cardiovascular disease could, in fact, reduce their risk if they were provided the right education and motivation.

Whereas it is a common myth that most people who have high cholesterol (or blood pressure or glucose) have it because they have a genetic predisposition, the City of Dalton found just the opposite to be true – over 90% of the high cholesterol in their population was based on poor nutrition and exercise habits.  In other words, their high cholesterol was not genetic, but behavioral.

The fact that most high risk individuals were able to lower their health risk is not only encouraging, but essential in the City’s continued effort to mitigate the financial risk of their health plan.  While it seems obvious, the lower an organization’s health risk is (i.e. better health), the lower their costs will be, while the higher the health risk (i.e. poorer health), the bleaker their cost outlook.    more
 

The TI Automotive Story of an Aggressive Approach to Prevention 8/9/07
TI Automotive's Cardiovascular Health Initiative is on-going at all 23 US facilities and quickly becoming an expected part of the TI Automotive environment and culture.   In fact, the impact it has had overall on chronic diseases is impressive.

TI Automotive's primary goal is to control or reverse rising health care costs trends.  As such, they realized early in the process the necessity of reducing both the prevalence of chronic diseases and the financial impact they have on their bottom line.  By using the same lean manufacturing principles that apply to the rest of their business, they have been able to translate them into a process that is both measurable and repeatable.

TI Automotive has made a commitment to reducing the root cause of high health care costs and is strong in the belief that the root cause is poor health.  Their leadership, from the highest level, is committed to implementing programs to identify the individuals in the highest risk categories and provide them with the tools to reduce their risks.  Their goal is to prevent chronic diseases     more

TI Automotive - Cartersville - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Feel Alive - 25 Grams of Soy Protein a Day Can Help Reduce Cholesterol