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If you are covered by either Duke Select or Duke Basic health care plans, you are automatically eligible to participate in Duke Prospective Health. Getting started in the program is easy. All you need is:
- Your Duke Select/Duke Basic member ID number (listed on insurance card)
- Access to the internet or telephone
- 10 -15 minutes to complete the "Getting Started" steps
Then, choose one of the two following options:
1. Internet
2. Telephone
- Call 1-888-279-9445 and let a Duke Prospective Health coordinator know that you would like to get started in the program.
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Duke Employees Among First to Benefit from New Health Care Model
Duke Prospective Health Aims to Help Prevent Rather Than Just Treat Disease
The symptoms of an ailing health care system are most evident in the skyrocketing costs that have created financial pains for both employee and employers across the nation. Duke leaders have proposed a new "prospective" health care model to help reduce both the real and financial pain of health care - a model that is being offered first to employees.
Duke Prospective Health, a program offered to employees and their families who participate in either Duke Select or Duke Basic health care plans, takes advantage of emerging scientific fields and new technology to identify an individual's risk for developing disease and helps develop a plan to prevent them before they happen. The program also helps with early diagnosis and effective treatment of diseases that can lead to more significant health and financial problems later.
"Nearly 80 percent of disease in this country is preventable," said Ralph Snyderman, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System. "What has been missing in America is a health system designed to facilitate the ability of individuals to promote their health by being more involved in their care and to help them focus on preventing illnesses most likely to cause them great harm. We intend to remedy that."
Duke Prospective Health is designed to do that by working with participants and their personal physicians to identify health risks individuals may face and work with them to create a step-by-step plan for achieving optimal health. At the heart of Duke Prospective Health is a health risk assessment, a simple questionnaire about their current lifestyle and daily habits such as exercise, nutrition and stress. Using this self assessment and other health care information, Duke Prospective Health helps identify an individual's potential health risks and works with them to develop a personal health plan. The program even offers incentives such as gift certificates and credits for prescription drug co-pays for individuals who take an active role in participation.
 "This program is designed to bring individuals and physicians together in a more proactive way to improve the delivery of health care services instead of waiting for people to become sick before seeing a doctor," said Peter Jacobi, MD, medical director for Duke Prospective Health. "The first step is to raise awareness of health risks as well as available resources. Then we can provide the support to help people make the necessary changes to maintain or improve their quality of life."
Depending on the specific health care needs, part of that support may include a health care coach, who works with a group of participants on specific issues, a care manager, who works one-on-one with participants and coordinates support from a team of health care professionals, or integration into programs coordinated by LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's health and wellness program. LIVE FOR LIFE offers programs and services on nutrition and weight loss, blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking cessation, and fitness among others.
Another important component of Duke Prospective Health is the array of educational information and tools available to help participants understand their personal health issues. In addition to health-related articles and educational material, the program's web site also includes an online system that allows participants to document and track key health measures related to their personal health plan.
Perhaps the best part of Duke Prospective Health is that it is offered at no additional cost to participants covered by either Duke Select or Duke Basic.
"This is a program that may very well redefine the way health care is delivered in this country - a program that has the potential not only to improve health but to reduce the cost of providing care and health insurance," said Lois Ann Green, director of Benefits for Duke. "At Duke, we have leading experts in research and health care. We are fortunate to be able to tap into these inherent resources for the benefit of our own faculty, staff and family members."
For more information about Duke Prospective Health, visit
www.dukeprospectivehealth.org
or call 1-888-279-9445.
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