Lower healthcare costs and hospital admission rates for Vitality users

- Researchers at top universities find strong association between healthy lifestyles and lower healthcare costs

- Vitality members actively engaged in wellness programme had lower healthcare costs – fewer hospital admissions, shorter hospital stays and the overall costs associated with their hospital treatments were lower

- Hospital admissions associated with chronic diseases, as well as overall cost of medication for chronic disease were lower for members highly engaged with the programme

- Participation in fitness-related activities is a strong predictor of lower healthcare costs.

A series of three Vitality Insured Persons (VIP) scientific studies have found compelling evidence that leading a healthy lifestyle is associated with substantially reduced healthcare costs.

The studies set out to establish Vitality’s effectiveness in addressing rising healthcare costs and were undertaken by Discovery with researchers from University of Cape Town’s Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Research Unit (ESSM), the University of the Witwatersrand School of Statistics and Actuarial Science, as well as Harvard Medical School.

The studies analysed data from almost one million (948 974) Discovery members, covering adult principal or spouse members, whose benefits had been effective for a full twelve months (either 2005 or 2006 or both years). The studies compared the healthcare costs of Discovery Health members who were highly engaged with Vitality’s various wellness initiatives against those who were less engaged or who were not Vitality members.

“Since 1998, Discovery has promoted healthy lifestyles among our clients through our Vitality programme, based on the belief that a healthy lifestyle must hold long-term cost-benefits not only for consumers, but for other stakeholders within the healthcare system as well. We are delighted to see more and more scientific evidence supporting this and showing the value of incentivising healthy behaviour,” says Dr Craig Nossel, Head of Vitality Wellness.

The VIP studies are the first in a series of studies that aim to examine the correlation between Discovery Health members’ levels of engagement with Vitality and their medical expenses.

The findings of the first VIP study

Highly engaged members had lower healthcare costs as a result of fewer hospital admissions, shorter hospital stays and lower overall hospital-related costs compared with all other groups in the sample. Members that were highly engaged also had much higher participation levels in various wellness initiatives such as fitness activities, programmes to stop smoking and nutrition and weight management programmes.

Compared with all other groups in the study the hospital admission rates of highly-engaged Vitality members were:
• 7.4% lower for cardiovascular disease
• 13.2% lower for cancers
• 20.7% lower for endocrine and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

Compared with the other groups in the study, the hospital admission costs for highly-engaged members were:
• 7.2% lower for cardiovascular disease
• 15.1% lower for cancers
• 21.4% lower for endocrine and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

The findings of the second VIP study

The second study confirmed that hospital admissions associated with chronic diseases were lower for members who were more engaged with Vitality. It also showed that the overall cost of medication for chronic disease was lower for members who were highly engaged with Vitality, although the costs of certain conditions were higher.
These findings are particularly relevant as chronic disease, especially those related to lifestyle, pose a major and increasing global problem. Diseases such as hypertension (high blood pressure), type two diabetes, high cholesterol and certain cancers are the leading causes of death and chronic disease in developed countries and increasingly so in developing countries.

The findings of the third VIP study

The study found that members who were most involved in fitness-related activities had lower hospital claims and admissions and highly engaged Vitality members participated more in fitness programmes. Members who were highly engaged with fitness programmes had a 30% lower hospital admission rate for cancer and mental illness than those less involved in such activities. For endocrine diseases, nervous conditions and kidney and urinary tract disorders, hospital admission rates of physically active Vitality members were more than 20% lower.

In 2006, members regularly attending gym and who were hospitalised, experienced medical claims R5 025 lower on average than inactive members, who were hospitalised.
Professor Vicki Lambert from the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at the University of Cape Town says that studies such as these are vital for the ongoing active intervention in health management in South Africa.

“The studies are a valuable addition to the growing body of evidence that shows that healthy lifestyles – the most affordable, accessible and simplest measures to implement – may have the greatest impact in terms of addressing our nation’s growing chronic disease burden. We are now looking forward to understanding the time-course of these relationships, by undertaking longitudinal studies.”

Roseanne da Silva, a consulting actuary from the University of the Witwatersrand School of Statistics and Actuarial Science says “The studies provide valuable insight into the cost benefits of healthy lifestyle interventions, with a variety of potential applications. Other studies have tended to focus more on the health benefits of these interventions. The findings could prove useful to stakeholders such as corporate employers, the insurance industry, health professionals and, potentially, in terms of influencing public health policy.”

Nossel says since Discovery first pioneered the Vitality wellness programme in 1998, health insurers locally and internationally have become increasingly aware of the need to shift from simply containing of costs and managing disease to improving the primary health of their members.

“This shift involves the primary prevention of lifestyle diseases and reducing the severity and complications in those who are already sick. Improving primary health requires motivating members to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviours by engaging with wellness programmes like Vitality. These studies confirm the win-win dynamic of these interventions for all stakeholders in the system.’’