Web Users Want Online Health Benefits
Most Internet users (78%) want to manage their insurance benefits online, according to a recent Cyber Dialogue survey. Since 90% of Web surfers have health insurance, the online marketing potential for insurance carriers is huge.
Consumer interest in easily accessing information on insurance benefits is what is driving the online demand for managing this process, says Scott Reents, Cyber Dialogue's manager of healthcare strategies. The survey is based on interviews with 2,700 adults nationwide.
Having access to online health benefits information is more important to Internet users than other popular e-health conveniences like online drug stores and personal medical records.
The online health benefits that are most important for Internet users are:
- Checking coverage: 67%
- Checking claim status: 56%
- Finding doctors/hospitals: 47%
- Looking up information on other insurance plans: 47%
- Filing claims: 40%
But before you rush to launch a Web site, keep this in mind: Despite high consumer interest in online health benefits, only 8% of Internet users are using their insurers' Web sites and 68% aren't aware that their insurer has a Web site.
(Cyber Dialogue, Stuart Gibbel, 212/651-7016)
More Youth Are 'Just Saying No'
Anti-drug campaigns are making an impact with U.S. youth who are increasingly avoiding illicit drug use. Drug use among the 12-17 age-range dipped to 9.9% in 1998 from 11.4% in 1997, according to the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Among the encouraging signs for American youth:
- The current number of illicit drug users is roughly half the 25 million users in 1979.
- The number of teenagers who used marijuana dropped to 8.3% in 1998 from 9.4% in 1997.
Despite the good news, public health communicators need to develop more targeted messages that address youth marijuana and cocaine use. Marijuana continues to be the most frequently used illicit drug, with about 60% of illicit drug users reporting marijuana use only. And cocaine use among Americans aged 12 and over increased slightly in 1998 to an estimated 1.8 million from 1.5 million users in 1997.
(Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, Jim Michie, 301/443-8956, http://www.samhsa.org)
Simple Brochures Boost Vaccine Rates
Seniors and others at high risk of catching pneumonia are more likely to get the pneumococcal vaccine if they are given simple, easily understood brochures on the subject, according to a study conducted at Emory University's School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Patients who received these brochures were four times as likely to discuss a pneumonia vaccine with their doctor and five times as likely to get the shot compared with other patients.
The brochure's opening statement reads "If you are 65 or older, or if you have heart problems, lung problems, diabetes-ask your doctor about the pneumonia shot TODAY!"
Pneumococcal disease causes 40,000 deaths per year in the U.S. The U.S. Public Health Service set a goal of getting at least 60% of elderly Americans and other high-risk groups vaccinated against the bacterial infection. Current data, however, shows that the national rate of vaccination is closer to 37%.
The study was based on 163 patients who were given the vaccine brochure and 155 patients who were given a brochure on basic nutrition. Most of the participants were in key high-risk categories. They were primarily elderly, African-American, female and had less than a high school education.
(Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Terry A. Jacobson, 404/727-5640)