Totally off topic, take the word pickle. A pickle is a pickled cucumber that has it’s own designation. Why don’t we have names for pickled asparagus or pickled beans? You can get into trouble in a real pickle, but you can’t get into a pickled asparagus.

Don’t you love words?!

The method for me (and most of the professionals I know who are Epic EMR Certified), is to get hired by a healthcare facility that has already implementated Epic EMRor is seeking to implement Epic EMR and be a part of the implementation team. This employer will then in turn send you through Epic Systems EMR provided Training.

Regards,
Shirley
http://www.HCITschool.com

Today – there are several Healthcare IT educational/study paths from US Govt backed community college courses. There are private run courses and University Level courses as detailed by my fellow bloggers here at HealthcareITtoday.com. For me regarding my 10 EMR experience and blogs I have shared over these past 2.5 years here at HealthcareITtoday, the most direct path was getting Epic EMR Vendor certified via my employment with a major hospital in Philadelpia, PA.

Regards,
Shirley
http://www.HCITschool.com

Kristy: The hospital where my mother-in-law works just introduced higher premiums for smokers, those with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity who are not currently seeking treatment. I think it’s a fantastic concept, and see it happening with more employers, even here in BFE.

Cassie: That is very interesting stuff! Where does she work? I like the idea of making obese people pay higher premiums and just mentioned that at the link above as well. Over-weight related Diabetes and CAD make healthcare costs skyrocket. Quick question – how do they measure someone “seeking treatment”?

Kristy: She works at St. Joe’s hospital in Lewiston. I believe some of the measures are: Do they participate in a smoking cessation program? Are they taking prescribed blood pressure/cholesterol meds? Not sure on the obesity one, but I do know they offer Weight Watchers at the hospital, and there are incentives to get half or all of your money back per session based on the amount of weight you lose.

Thank you for your post and your example of your employer. I think my favorite part of this story is that your company engages in consequence management i.e. if you are caught smoking after accepting the healthy employee discount, you forfeit your benefits on the spot. I have a deep respect for companies that practice what they preach.

And of course, as a fan of Economics myself, I certainly appreciate your bringing to light taxation. I am a former and future resident of Chicago, IL where we have loads of Sin Taxes – alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, gasoline and bottled water are all taxed. Chicago sees cigarettes as a filthy revenue-generating habit. You pay to play. Maybe in addition to lessened healthcare premiums, you should also receive a tax voucher if you quit smoking . . . I don’t really see that happening in my favorite city though. Would be interesting if city government banned smoking to their employees to save on healthcare costs though. haha that just made my chuckle.

I am currently an employee of a company who is self-insured and has always been an advocate (since the founder was still alive) of a tobacco free life style. Back when the founder was alive, he would literally troll the smoking hut outside of the building and offer people a $100 bill on the spot if they promised him they would quit smoking. Of course, he had no way to prove that they were actually doing so after he handed them a $100 bill but you can bet that if he caught you smoking again, it would have an adverse effect on your professional career.

His character and his desire for a tobacco free environment carried over to the companies culture and we currently offer a reduction in your health plan premiums if you are, and stay, tobacco free. The company unfortunately doesn’t have a mechanism in place to prove or disprove an employee’s use of tobacco, but if you are caught your benefits become forfeit with the company. A steep price to pay. It’s nice to hear that other companies are following suit with tobacco and other high risk health measures to ensure that premium prices stay as low as possible.

As an aside, think about what smoking bans and, really, bans of any kind does to industry and taxation in general. I’m certainly no advocate for tobacco use, but from an economic stand point, it will be interesting to see what the ramifications are when these multibillion dollar business start to fall away and those retail sales aren’t keeping up like they were. In turn, this will reduce state and federal taxes taken from tobacco purchases as well as create unemployment and a litany of other business and industry issues.

Thank you very much for your comment! I just love when we here at HealthcareITToday.com (yourself included) drum up some passion in our readers.

First, I am very sorry to hear that your father and uncles had such a tough time at the end of their lives. That’s terrible to hear and your anger at smokers for exposing you to second-hand smoke is definitely justified! I surmise that you are stating that you feel your rights to clean air are being infringed upon by smokers. That’s very interesting because both sides of this debate are making nearly the same argument i.e. “We have the right to smoke OR clean air.” Are these rights equal? Or are your rights more important because you are making the scientifically proven healthier choice?

Glad to hear that you are applauding the hospitals and companies out there that are outlawing smoking. How about this one on for size – what if companies banned overweight people such as with a BMI threshold? Just think about it. The obesity epidemic and the consequences of obesity are also making our healthcare costs skyrocket i.e. chronic diseases like diabetes and CAD. So what if that happened . . . ???

My father and 2 uncles died as a result of complications from emphysema which means that I am at HUGE risk for doing the same. The last 10 years of each of their lives were spent in total suffering where each morning the would cough and cough and cough in the hopes that eventually they would free up as much as 10% of their lung capacity for the day even when assisted by their Oxygen machines. Additionally, each had “other complications” like heart attacks and lung cancer that made their lives that much more challenging. My father and uncles grew up in a time where everyone smoked and where it was not cool if you did not smoke – the climate is much different today.

For those of you that smoke, when I walk by you I picture you lying on the floor gasping for air like my father and his brothers did their last 10 years AND I get VERY ANGRY at you for putting second hand smoke in my lungs that could put me in that same situation.

So, Cassie to your question about infringing on the rights of the smoker, what about my rights to live in an environment that won’t put me in danger of contracting emphysema? I say “Bravo” to Geisinger and I hope more organizations follow suit. And yes, insurance premiums should be higher for those that smoke! (as well as those that engage in other unhealthy lifestyles)

And Gwen, as I am almost completely transitioned to reading books on my iPad via Kindle software, I guess I will have to find a new way to impress !