By Evan Falchuk

Did you know that for every dollar spent on a sick employee’s health care, there is up to another $20 in lost productivity? That’s what a team of researchers found in a major study published this month.

Sick employees are distracted, and not as productive as they could be. Lost productivity is a hidden cost that doesn’t go away, even when the government pays for health care.

But do we need a study to tell us this? Doesn’t everyone know that a sick person isn’t as productive as a healthy one?

It’s not as well understood as you might think. In our employer survey only 5% of employers rated productivity as their top priority for health care, and only a quarter put it in their top 3. The data say employers need to rethink those priorities.

By Evan Falchuk

I am listening in on a call of major US employers (there are >100 on the call) with the Centers for Disease Control and the National Business Group on Health about swine flu.  Most are doing not much more than sending around information about the illness to employees, including linking to CDC information on corporate intranets. Some employers have told employees who have returned from vacations in Mexico to stay home for 72 hours before returning to the office.  Manufacturers reported that they had policies in place based on the WHO “phases” in terms of possibilities of closing down plants or other facilities. Employers were concerned about the subject but were taking a wait-and-see attitude with respect to anything more significant.

The CDC repeated the guidance that has been on the news — hand-washing, social distance, and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing.  The CDC says that their position was that masks are not recommended as a way of protecting themselves.  During the call, the HHS released an advisory for federal employees that sick travelers should wear masks to protect other travelers.

UPDATE: CDC says people should keep checking the CDC website as they expect the guidance there will keep changing.  For example, the CDC site has information on it now that is suggestive of a 7-day quarantine for some travelers, which the CDC representative says may need to be checked on.

[more updates below]

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By Evan Falchuk

I’m pleased to annouce that we’ve joined Dr. Val Jones’ Better Health network of health blogs.  Val is one of the true pioneers of health care blogging.  If you’ve not been there before, you should make it a regular stop or add Better Health to your reader.  Look for periodic posts from See First to appear on Better Health.

By Evan Falchuk

I recently spoke with Paul Howard, director of the Center for Medical Progress, about health care quality.  Paul has posted the podcast of our  conversation at Medical Progress Today.

By Evan Falchuk

I spent the last day and a half at the World Health Care Congress in DC.

This was my fifth big health care conference this year.  The WHCC had about 1,500 attendees, which was less than they hoped for but about the same as last year.  It’s a strong showing — most conferences (with the exception of those for health care IT) have been down 25% or more.  I noticed in the exhibit hall that the Era of Big Booths may be over — with one exception, every booth was small and simple.

At all of these events, employers regularly complain about health care costs and talk about things they are doing to control them.  You might think, given the new political environment in Washington, they would now be talking about ways the government could just eliminate those costs by taking over health care.  But in fact, employers are opposed to the idea.

It didn’t seem consistent to me, until I heard someone talk about France.

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By Evan Falchuk

I’m at the WHCC today in DC and have been twittering all morning on what I’m hearing. You can read the feed over at http://twitter.com/efalchuk.

By Fritz Hofheinz, M.D.

Medical care is complicated.  The normally functioning human body is an extraordinarily complex machine, which we are only starting to fully understand – never mind when that body is challenged by illness.  With this as a backdrop, it is not surprising that experts will differ on appropriate diagnoses and care of patients.  Therapies differ widely between different disease states (cancer vs. infection vs. chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease), these conditions are sometimes difficult to differentiate and the therapies between them are dramatically different.

The following case illustrates why multiple opinions for complex and ongoing cases are so important. (more…)