Chrysler's diabetes program nets positive patient results

The company is among many that have started case management programs in an attempt to improve workers' health while cutting costs.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. May 1, 2006.

A six-month pilot program conducted by the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG helped improve the health of some diabetic employees, results the automaker is hoping will translate into cost savings and better productivity in the future.

The program, offered to employees in Chrysler's Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters, included confidential individual case management meetings, group education sessions, and continuous glucose monitoring. While the number of participants was small -- 570 employees were initially screened and 126 participated in the program -- the results were noticeable, the company said.

The number of participants who had their diabetes under control rose from 68% in August 2005, when the program started, to 77% in February, the company said. The percentage of participants who were better able to control their weight and cholesterol also rose slightly, while the number of those better able to control their blood pressure declined somewhat.

Chrysler executives are still waiting to receive financial results from the program. However, clinical results seem to fit the general theory that healthier workers are more productive and save the company in health care costs, Chrysler said. That's important for a company that spent $2.1 billion for health care last year and is forecasted to spend $2.3 billion this year, said Cyndy Parker, a registered nurse and Chrysler's healthy people initiatives manager.