Health Dialog
Encyclopedia
Health Dialog is a care management
, employee wellness
, and decision support
provider, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bupa
. The company is based in the United States and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1997 to address the unwarranted variation
research done by Dr. John Wennberg
and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
. Dr. Wennberg's research found that the amount of healthcare services consumed per capita varies significantly between different regions of the United States, and that areas that deliver more care or higher-cost care do not necessarily show improvements in health quality outcomes. The company seeks to reduce unwarranted variation in the U.S. healthcare system through care management and shared decision making.
began documenting geographic variation in healthcare. In 1988 he founded the Center for Evaluative Clinical Services (CECS) at Dartmouth Medical School. Wennberg's work has shown that that patients in regions of the United States that spend more and provide more healthcare services per capita often experience worse outcomes than lower-spending areas that provide less care. Through his research, Wennberg has argued that "the Medicare system could reduce spending by at least 30% while improving the medical care of the most severely ill Americans." For his contributions to the study of the healthcare system and health policy, Wennberg was named by Health Affairs as "the most influential health policy researcher of the past 25 years."
Founded in 1997, Health Dialog collaborates with the non-profit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (FIMDM) to produce patient decision aids that seek to address unwarranted variation
in healthcare and improve medical decisions through shared decision making.
is a process with the aim of increasing patients' understanding of their conditions and treatment options, as well as their involvement in the choices that decide their care. 82 percent of adults over the age of 40 have made a decision about having surgery, undergoing a screening test, or tasking a new medication in the past two years. 54 percent of these adults have faced two or more of these types of medical decisions. Roughly one-third of medical decisions are about surgeries, tests, treatments, and procedures that have two or more treatment options.
. The study followed 174,120 individuals over 12 months and compared the annual medical costs of those who received enhanced care management provided by Health Dialog to those who received "standard" care management services. The study found that the overall medical and pharmacy costs of those in the intervention (enhanced) group were $7.96 per member per month lower than the control group. The study reported that much of the savings were derived from a 10.1% reduction in hospital admissions among the intervention group.
Disease management (health)
Disease management is defined as "a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications for populations with conditions in which patient self-care efforts are significant." For people who can access health care practitioners or peer support it is the process whereby persons with...
, employee wellness
Workplace wellness
Workplace wellness is a program offered by some employers as a combination of educational, organizational, and environmental activities designed to support behavior conducive to the health of employees in a business and their families...
, and decision support
Shared decision making
Shared decision-making is an approach where clinicians and patients communicate together using the best available evidence when faced with the task of making decisions, where patients are supported to deliberate about the possible attributes and consequences of options, to arrive at informed...
provider, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bupa
Bupa
Bupa is a large British healthcare organisation, with bases on three continents and more than ten million customers in over 200 countries. It is a private healthcare company, in direct contrast to the UK's National Health Services, which are tax-funded healthcare systems and do not require private...
. The company is based in the United States and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1997 to address the unwarranted variation
Unwarranted variation
Unwarranted variation in healthcare service delivery, first so termed by Dr. John Wennberg, refers to differences that cannot be explained by illness, medical need, or the dictates of evidence-based medicine...
research done by Dr. John Wennberg
John Wennberg
John E. "Jack" Wennberg is the pioneer and leading researcher of unwarranted variation in the healthcare industry. Through four decades of work, Wennberg has documented the geographic variation in the healthcare that patients in the United States receive...
and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice is an organization within Dartmouth College "dedicated to improving health care through education, research, policy reform, leadership improvement, and communication with patients and the public." It was founded in 1988 by John...
. Dr. Wennberg's research found that the amount of healthcare services consumed per capita varies significantly between different regions of the United States, and that areas that deliver more care or higher-cost care do not necessarily show improvements in health quality outcomes. The company seeks to reduce unwarranted variation in the U.S. healthcare system through care management and shared decision making.
History: Dartmouth Atlas and Unwarranted Variation
In 1967, Dr. John WennbergJohn Wennberg
John E. "Jack" Wennberg is the pioneer and leading researcher of unwarranted variation in the healthcare industry. Through four decades of work, Wennberg has documented the geographic variation in the healthcare that patients in the United States receive...
began documenting geographic variation in healthcare. In 1988 he founded the Center for Evaluative Clinical Services (CECS) at Dartmouth Medical School. Wennberg's work has shown that that patients in regions of the United States that spend more and provide more healthcare services per capita often experience worse outcomes than lower-spending areas that provide less care. Through his research, Wennberg has argued that "the Medicare system could reduce spending by at least 30% while improving the medical care of the most severely ill Americans." For his contributions to the study of the healthcare system and health policy, Wennberg was named by Health Affairs as "the most influential health policy researcher of the past 25 years."
Founded in 1997, Health Dialog collaborates with the non-profit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (FIMDM) to produce patient decision aids that seek to address unwarranted variation
Unwarranted variation
Unwarranted variation in healthcare service delivery, first so termed by Dr. John Wennberg, refers to differences that cannot be explained by illness, medical need, or the dictates of evidence-based medicine...
in healthcare and improve medical decisions through shared decision making.
Shared Decision Making
Shared decision makingShared decision making
Shared decision-making is an approach where clinicians and patients communicate together using the best available evidence when faced with the task of making decisions, where patients are supported to deliberate about the possible attributes and consequences of options, to arrive at informed...
is a process with the aim of increasing patients' understanding of their conditions and treatment options, as well as their involvement in the choices that decide their care. 82 percent of adults over the age of 40 have made a decision about having surgery, undergoing a screening test, or tasking a new medication in the past two years. 54 percent of these adults have faced two or more of these types of medical decisions. Roughly one-third of medical decisions are about surgeries, tests, treatments, and procedures that have two or more treatment options.
Peer-reviewed research
On September 23, 2010, a randomized controlled trial study led by Dr. David Wennberg entitled "A Randomized Trial of a Telephone Care-Management Strategy" was published in the New England Journal of MedicineNew England Journal of Medicine
The New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...
. The study followed 174,120 individuals over 12 months and compared the annual medical costs of those who received enhanced care management provided by Health Dialog to those who received "standard" care management services. The study found that the overall medical and pharmacy costs of those in the intervention (enhanced) group were $7.96 per member per month lower than the control group. The study reported that much of the savings were derived from a 10.1% reduction in hospital admissions among the intervention group.