So How Well Do Hospital Employees Take Care of Themselves?
The study conducted by Truven Health Analytics, formerly an affiliate of Thomson Reuters, examined the relative health of about 350,000 employees at 200 hospitals nationwide. They were compared against the health of 12 million workers in other sectors. The results were sobering: Healthcare spending for hospital employees was 9 percent higher than in other job sectors. Hospital employees also had higher emergency room utilization rates and were 5 percent more likely than other workers to wind up hospitalized themselves. That’s despite the fact they are on average two years younger than workers in other sectors.
Source: FierceHealthFinance.
Couldn’t they be confusing the causation here? Hospital employees spend more time around possible sources of illness and they could have greater medical knowledge that spurs them to use the emergency room when others stay at home and take aspirin.
Years ago I worked for a hospital. Initially, we were told that our health plan required no cost-sharing and had no gatekeepers. The theory was that by encouraging us to see the doctor whenever we wanted, our health plan (partly owned by our employer, and the premiums mostly paid for by our employer) would save on costly inpatient care and reap the benefits of a healthier workforce. Alas, it was not to be. Our utilization was too high (so we were told at the time) because — as hospital employees — we knew what technology was available; and we were not afraid of hospitals and technology. We worked around 1,000 doctors — many of which were willing to give us what we asked for. It wasn’t that we were any less healthy than our peers in other industries. It’s that we were spending more and utilizing more medical care than our peers in other industries. And it didn’t make us any healthier – at least not in a way that lowered aggregate medical costs.
Another thing: hospitals are labor intensive. People mistakenly believe mostly doctors and nurses work in hospitals. A lot of poor people work in hospitals too. Actually, a hospital employee is more likely to be an orderly, janitor, maintenance person or on the clerical staff than a doctor or an RN. Most people who work in hospital nursing are probably non-degreed. Health status rises with income. Lower working-class employees probably are far less healthy than, say, the employees at a law firm.
In my opinion, this could be interpreted in two different ways:
1. Justify hospital employees’ high utilization of emergency rooms, as well as their high rates of hospitalization due to illness because, at the end of the day, they are indeed exposed to sickness and certain conditions everyday that make them more prompt to getting ill…whether we like it or not they are human too, and they are bound to get sick eventually.
2. Judge hospital employees for all the facts stated above because, as professionals in the medical field, they should “know better” or have the understanding of what to do in certain hazardous situations to avoid getting infected or affected by a patient. Or, if already affected, then they should know how to react to avoid any major consequences.
I’m debating between the two.
Great points from all the comments above!
I’ve also worked in a hospital. Given my medical background, when I have had to make a decision to make an ER visit, it is because I know it is medically necessary.
“Hospital employees are more likely than other employees to be diagnosed with chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and asthma that are costly to treat.”
Shrinkman tries to dismiss this, but I find it startling.
+1 Loraine and Devon
I work in a hospital as a nurse and I can see why hospital employees utilize healthcare services and ER visits more than people in other sectors. Nurses, being the largest profession in the healthcare sector, are exposed to ill people daily with various diseases. They are exposed to diseases that people in other workforce sectors never encounter. There are environmental issues to account for relating to this finding. Also, many people work the standard 9-5, 5 days/week schedule. Nurses work 13 hours/ day in high stress environments. The degree of stress affects how healthy an individual is and can be. In addition, nurses can also be more aware/knowledgable than others about signs/symptoms of illnesses/diseases and therefore they seek medical attention at higher rates and quicker than others. Just something to think about regarding these results. Thank you.