Self-insured health systems are adept at looking at individualpatients, diagnosing a health problem and pinpointing a solution.Looking across a population to identify and act on healthimprovement opportunities for their employees is much morechallenging.

The reasons for self-insured employers to masterpopulation health management are compelling.First, it's the right thing to do by their employees, helping tokeep them healthy and head off any problems that might be on thehorizon. Second, these organizations are responsible fortheir employees' health care costs, and effective management canslow cost escalation. Third, research substantiates that healthieremployees are more productive, and that minimizing absenteeism—aswell as presenteeism—has a positive impact on theorganization's bottom line. And finally, they have a wealth of dataat their fingertips about their employees, so they can truly beeffective at risk identification and stratification, as well as thefeedback loop on which interventions work best.