Critique 

Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies - Inel Occupational Medical Program

The following assessment of program strengths and weaknesses has been abstracted from reviews by the Task Force on Program Selection of The Health Project. Where weaknesses are postulated, it must be taken into account that the review Task Force is very critical, that no programs are perfect, that the Award Winning programs have been selected from over 300 candidate programs and represent the very best, that the materials reviewed may have been incomplete, that suggested deficiencies may have resulted from incomplete understanding of the program by the reviewers or that any problems may have been corrected since the time of review.

Evaluation: Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies' "Living Well" program serves over 8000 private and public sector employees with a multi-corporate multi-site program that integrates Occupational, Medical and "Living Well" programs in 21 health care disciplines including preventive health measures, protecting and enhancing mental health and employee education and counseling. In addition to substantial health care cost savings, an 83 percent reduction in lost and restricted work days is reported.

Good cost-savings of a relatively expensive program, $699 for $416 for a 1.7 to 1 cost-savings ratio. Good evidence for risk reduction. Impressive trends in worker's compensation decrease. A solid occupational health base with good participation levels and good self-management tools. The program is comprehensive and aimed at the right objectives. There is a Healthy People 2000 focus. Medical claims trends are increasing at much slower rate than National. Participation numbers have increased from 1992 to 1995. Cost calculations did cite the use of fully loaded costs. The risk view goes beyond the traditional risk factors and includes work-related and safety risks. The program met 34 Healthy People 2000 objectives relevant to worksite programs. Cost data were generally believed solid.

This is an occupational health-workers compensation program rather than a traditional health promotion program. The controls for claims data are national averages. The PSA Program is contrary to recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force.