Health benefit plan cost management is a never-ending challenge that is made increasingly difficult by various factors, including medical technology advances, an aging work force, and shifting cost for charity care and bad debt. Most health benefit plans utilize tools that manage costs only after illnesses and injuries have occurred. These tools include benefit limits, claim policies, case management and provider network discounts. Fewer plan sponsors, however, adopt a systematic program for preventing illnesses and injuries.

Rather than just reducing the cost of health care services for disease and injuries as they occur, an effective wellness program reduces the incidence of disease and injury, thereby eliminating or deferring medical claim costs that represent most of a health benefit plan’s operating expense. Healthy AIM is the wellness solution offered by Paradigm Group to plan sponsors who realize proactive investment in risk mitigation is an essential strategy for controlling the costs of health benefits, absenteeism and presenteeism.

The Healthy AIM program consists of three primary elements:

• Assessment of member health status through self-reported and diagnostic risk data.
• Informatics, involving the timely delivery of detailed risk profiles and risk management priorities to members individually, as well as population risk profiles and risk management priorities to health plan sponsors.
• Mitigation of risks through risk-stratified behavioral change methods