Sentara                    Evaluation Summary

The most significant health risk reductions were cholesterol, daily intake of high fiber foods, and  fitness behaviors.  The number of individuals with a total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dL increased 7.2%.  Daily intake of high fiber foods increased by 5.2%.  The number of Healthy Edge members exercising three or more times a week has increased 4.6% in two years.  Less impressive health risk reductions include decrease in obesity and decease in smoking behaviors. Specifically, the number of non-obese members, defined as less than 20% overweight, increased from 60.3% to 61.2%.  The number of non-smokers increased from 25.8% to 27.6%. 

Measurements of preventive health actions that Healthy Edge members completed showed a positive response as well. The number of women over the age of 40  who had a mammogram in the past year increased by 9.1%, and women who had a pap smear in the past year also increased. Men over the age of 50 who had a rectal/prostate exam in the past year rose 24%. 

Self-reported satisfaction with life has been identified as the single best indicator of overall health status.  Therefore, the 5.9% increase in member overall satisfaction with life is an  important finding of our evaluation study. 

The economic evaluation of our program for  the  three year period: 1995 through 1997.  We examined a group of 275 Healthy Edge members that met the following criteria:  all had been continuous members for two years, all completed three health risk assessments: one baseline, one at the end of the first year and one at the end of the second year of membership.  Using mated data, medical claims were extracted for each of these three years.  Those medical claims that were related to behavioral risk factors were identified and the differences between the years were calculated.  The expenses to implement the program were also computed and the resulting return on investment is $6.61.