A Message from Premise Health COO Beth Ratliff
Good morning,
I hope the past few months have brought a sense of normalcy back to your lives as states across the country have begun easing or fully dropping their COVID-19 restrictions. At this point, it’s hard to imagine a world not centered on the pandemic, but our country is starting to focus on other aspects of health that haven’t been prevalent in the news cycle this past year and a half. Looking back, I believe we’ve all become more aware of our health and how precious it is.
But being healthy is more than just physical health. As Premise prepares for what lies beyond the pandemic, we’re going back to the basics to consider: What does it mean to be healthy, and how can we help our members be healthy? Today, I would like to share how our approach to healthcare can address and improve the total wellbeing of our members.
Behavioral health
As one of our clients, you’ve heard us talk extensively about COVID-19’s impact on our country’s mental health. Things like working from home, doubling as a teacher for remote learning, caring for affected loved ones, and feeling isolated have all taken a toll on us. In fact, around 41% of Americans reported struggling with mental health issues during the pandemic, according to the CDC. Although working remotely helps with work-life balance, we’ve heard from many of our own team members that they struggle to keep work from bleeding into their nights and weekends.
To worsen matters, our country is also experiencing a shortage in mental health services. This shortage means there is less access to behavioral healthcare, which has caused many organizations to see lower levels of productivity and ultimately greater expenses as needs go unaddressed. Now more than ever, it’s important for us, as leaders and employers, to take a proactive approach to support the mental health of our people.
To help you do this, we’ve added virtual behavioral health to our Digital Wellness Center suite of products. Working in conjunction with the virtual primary care team, a centralized team of licensed behavioral health counselors provide appointment-based counseling across all 50 states for whatever hardships your members may be experiencing. Like all of our products, care is closely coordinated between virtual and local provider teams to ensure no concern goes unaddressed. Virtual behavioral health can address a wide variety of needs, including: anxiety, depression, PTSD, grief, stress, ADHD, substance abuse, sleep issues, work/life balance, family conflict or parenting concerns, as well as adjustment challenges. If this is something your members could benefit from, I encourage you to reach out to your DCO for more information.
Social determinants of health
Another important aspect when thinking about overall wellbeing are social determinants of health. Although these often aren’t in the scope of how people traditionally think about healthcare, without access to things like healthy foods, a safe home, and proper medication, your teams’ and dependents’ health can never improve. When social determinants of health are unresolved, they can be just as fatal as serious medical conditions, making them critical to address in your healthcare programs.
As I shared in my last update, we launched our Find Help with Premise platform to address these overlooked aspects of health, which integrates with our electronic health record. This allows our providers to view local resources during appointments and make referrals to social services at the point of care, just like they would refer out to a specialist in the community. It’s also accessible on a dedicated website and within the My Premise Health app, which allows members to find programs in their communities that can offer assistance for a range of needs. It’s clear our members are finding the resource extremely valuable – in the past 90 days, we’ve seen 5,315 searches for a wide variety of resources in communities of all sizes. I look forward to sharing more results and outcomes with you all as our providers continue to leverage this new tool. This resource is offered free of charge to you, your employees, and their families, and I hope you’ll begin to see its positive impact on the health of your people soon.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB)
DEIB is integral to our member-focused approach. We know the best health outcomes stem from care that is individualized and comprehensive, which can only happen when we take into account the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our members. Unique traits like age, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity can help our providers identify members that may have an increased likelihood of developing a particular health condition or how effective a medication may be. Premise also recognizes certain groups have a history of being underrepresented and poorly treated in healthcare settings, which we also take into account when determining how to best care for each member and empower them to care for themselves. By addressing DEIB in healthcare settings, it increases the likelihood that members feel safe enough to seek care, have open and honest dialogue with their provider, and follow through on their agreed upon health plan.
High-quality care must include a focus on DEIB, which is why Premise has taken numerous steps over the past year to improve the care we provide at our centers. We are supporting providers by adding training that highlights the importance of collecting member data, such as race and ethnicity, to enhance their approach to the unique care needs of your populations. We have also been closely collaborating with our LGBTQ+ member experience committee and clinical operations team to produce a LGBTQ+ care guide, the first in a series that will provide information on how to best care for different groups. All guides will include population-specific assessment and treatment guidelines, education on culturally competent language, tips for addressing and avoiding common care deficiencies, and frequently asked questions.
Internally, Premise is comprehensively examining our organization from a DEIB perspective. We have stood up a DEIB council, launched a monthly education series, expanded diverse recruiting and retention efforts, and stood up team member resource groups. Throughout our journey, we have closely collaborated with clients, the Nashville Health Care Council, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity to ensure we are modeling the way in our industry. We will continue to lean on these resources as our DEIB strategy shifts and evolves. This is a new, important journey for us, and I know is a priority for all of you as well. I will continue to share our progress with you in the hope that it can help shape your own efforts.
While news about COVID-19 is beginning to taper off, we must remember the pandemic isn’t over. Premise remains committed to sharing the most up-to-date information with you as it becomes available and will continue to be a trusted partner until COVID-19 is finally under control. Please continue to keep safety a top priority as you enjoy the rest of the summer. I’ll be in touch in October.
Be well,
Beth
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