If you’ve ever wondered about the difference integrated benefits make to employees who have access to them, Aetna can address that.

New analyses show that Aetna members with access to integrated benefits are more likely to take a health risk assessment and enroll in wellness and disease management programs than control groups without such benefits. Such programs contribute to healthier behavior and improved health risk.

“When we have a more complete picture of our members and all the benefits available to them, we can have a much greater impact on their health outcomes and on their overall willingness to engage in their health care, “said Laurie Brubaker, head of Health and Productivity Solutions for Aetna. “By integrating a suite of benefits, we are able to offer a more holistic solution to a member and their specific health care needs. These analyses indicate our members are seeing those connections and taking steps to be more active in protecting and improving their health.”

The Aetna One^SM Enhanced/Aetna Integrated Health Solution^® (IHS) bundle includes Aetna Medical and Disability products, Pharmacy, Aetna’s Simple Steps to a Healthier Life^® health risk assessment, Aetna’s Wellness Management Program, Aetna Disease Management Programs, and Aetna’s Med Psych Behavioral Health Management Program.

The IHS program encourages members to take the Simple Steps health risk assessment, which includes questions on work limitations and productivity based on health and emotional conditions. If a member’s scores indicate a concern or risk, one-on-one wellness counseling enables Aetna and the member to understand the conditions that could affect the member’s health. The member can then address these conditions through other Aetna programs before reaching the acute-treatment stage.

One analysis showed IHS members are more engaged in health care planning and are more productive than members of the control group. For example, IHS members are three times more likely to complete a Health Risk Assessment (HRA). Among members who completed a health risk assessment, 35.3 percent also participated in wellness programs. In addition, a higher percentage of IHS members reported less absence for illness or family illness than members of the control group.

Aetna One Core/ Integrated Health and Disability (IHD) links medical and disability case management, enabling early intervention and care coordination. Aetna analysis showed IHD members were up to three times more likely to participate in disease management programs than those without integrated benefits. These members also had 15 percent fewer inpatient admissions and 33 percent fewer inpatient days than the control group.

“These results suggest that increased coordination of services and member engagement in managing their health condition may be the keys to decreased Short Term Disability (STD) durations and fewer complications,” Brubaker said. “Earlier Aetna studies demonstrate that STD claim durations were 3.2 days shorter with integrated health and disability benefits.”