Posts by: Kenneth
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
With record temperatures recorded around the country this summer, there is reason to be concerned about your children out in heat.
Football and the fall athletic season is almost upon us and it is especially important to be aware of the warning signs of serious health conditions, such as heat stroke, and prepare yourself and your family to throw around the pigskin.
Warning signs that something may be wrong include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, headache, muscle cramps and aches and dizziness, according to physicians. In many cases, however, individuals can display systems of heat stroke suddenly and without warning.
Extreme symptoms, on the other hand, include high body temperature, lack of sweating with flushed, dry skin, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, strange behavior, hallucination, confusion, agitation, disorientation, seizure or even a coma.
According to a study out of the University of Georgia, most of the heat-related football fatalities during the past 30 years were children under the age of 18 and athletes, along with infants, the elderly and those who work outside are among the most susceptible.
Although the best solution is to avoid extreme heat, there are a few prevention measures you and your family should take when the love of the game draws you out to the field or you just can’t miss your family reunion:
- Wear loose fitting, light clothing
- Get to a cooler place
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Take extra precautions with certain medications – ask your pharmacist or doctor about possible side effects while out in the hot sun
- Avoid being inside a hot car, especially children and older adults
- Avoid strenuous activity in the heat
So why it’s great to have fun in the sun, play in the grass and get some exercise, make sure to take the appropriate precautions when headed out the door.
Friday, 20 May 2011
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
One of the growth strategies we have implemented in 2011 is to partner with local businesses in an effort to help keep their executives and employees healthier. As a part of this engagement, we are fortunate to have several of our clients helping us along the way. The article below came from a long time client, and we thought we would share it with our business leaders as we believe it nicely introduces some ideas for implementing organizational wellness programs.
From the Cypress Strategy Group
Wellness programs, group health insurance, cost containment, productivity and employee engagement are hot topics inside companies. All of these terms are intertwined in the new frontier of the employer-employee relationship. The emergence of the employer playing a more active role in the employee total health equation is viewed by some as an infringement on employee privacy. Is it too much? Regardless of how you may feel about the issue, it’s already happening, or as we like to say, “The train has left the station.” The issue is not if, but exactly how, companies are attempting to combine health insurance cost management objectives with improved employee productivity and engagement initiatives. Read more…
At Cypress Strategy Group we know how employers are taking action and some of the alternative strategies to adopt. Done well, wellness programs have been shown to increase employee engagement, by demonstrating that the employer cares about the employee’s health, while at the same time driving down insurance costs and productivity lost due to illness. On the other hand, many programs fail to achieve these objectives and, if done wrong, can have the opposite effect.
Whatever approach you take, improving the health of your workforce is of greater importance today. As a result, employers are taking a more active role in establishing a participative relationship with their employees as it relates to their total health, which in turn raises the question of whether you should take a carrots or sticks approach. Here are the top tactics being implemented by companies according to Towerswatson 2011 health survey:
1. Require employees to complete a health risk appraisal and/or biometric screening to be eligible for financial incentives for healthy activities
2. Use of high performance networks or centers of excellence
3. Reward (or penalize) based on biometric outcomes other than tobacco use status
4. Reward (or penalize) based on tobacco use
5. Reward (or penalize) only those who complete requirements of healthy lifestyle living
6. Use hard dollar return on investment calculations to support future decisions
7. Educate employees on provider and hospital quality
8. Changing plan options
9. Increased auditing of medical claim payments
What You May Want to Consider:
• This is a good time to completely review your total rewards approach (base pay, incentives, and benefits).
• Muscle up your hr expertise or in-house or partner with a third party expert like Cypress! The stakes are high and effectively managing your human capital has never been more important.
• Consider employee benefit options at renewal that have the biggest impact on premiums. (i.e. – Narrower networks, Health Savings Accounts, and Generic Drug only medical programs).
• Measure wellness investments and expected results more specifically.
This evolution of the employer-employee relationship is going to pose a much greater burden on the hr function. Clearly, a successful strategy will consist of a combination of tactics. Improving employee productivity, controlling healthcare costs, and addressing the potentially invasive effects of actively participating in employee health are a high stakes balancing act. It appears the benefits are worth it as high performing firms are dedicating considerable time and money to achieve this elusive equilibrium.
Cypress Strategy Group, LLC, is focused on partnering with clients to help businesses rethink their approach to total rewards. Give us a call at 888.498.7770 to learn more.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
It’s true, we are all getting older. Most of us know that eating right and keeping moving is critical to living a long and healthy life, but let’s dig a little deeper on the subject of aging and what it truly means for each of us. We spend a tremendous amount of time in our daily lives working, worrying about finances, family, friends, but how much time to we devote to planning our future health? What do you want your body to feel like in ten years? How active do you want to be? What about in twenty years?
Critical to aging gracefully is being aware of the many factors you should manage on a daily basis. Physical health, mental health, and emotional well-being can help all of us look forward to personal fulfillment and a long life. Understanding that there is a large amount of information floating around on the subject, we thought it might be useful to break it down to a simple list that you can use when thinking about your health today and what you want it to be in the future. Below you will find the top six things we recommend you do to help you live a long and energetic life.
#1 Eat Well – Yes, we know, we say it over and over again. What you eat probably affects your health more than anything else you do. Eating a poor diet of fatty, processed, fried food and simple sugars greatly burdens your body and will lead to breakdown. Educate yourself on what healthy eating really means and practice it every day. A great book we like to recommend to get you started is Toxic Fat by Barry Sears, Ph.D.
#2 Get Moving – Another given. Healthy people, centenarians included, have one thing in common, they lead an active life. Exercise is essential for a healthy metabolism, proper circulation, and the disposal of wastes. Being overweight and inactive will lead to rapid aging and disease.
#3 Be Happy – Did you know that unhappy people are twice as likely to develop heart disease? Unhappiness and depression negatively affects your physical health in many ways. If you are feeling this way, find the source of your depression; find someone to talk to as soon as possible. Joyful, happy people live longer and healthier lives. Happiness is a choice and for many takes practice and work to achieve. Laughter increases the release of endorphins which give us a sense of well-being. It’s time to laugh more!
#4 Relieve Stress – Stress is a natural part of our very busy lives, but it can take a tremendous toll on your health. Our “survival mode” gets turned on all too often these days. Stress continually depletes your body of energy resources and can lead to exhaustion, broken-down immune system, weight gain, and disease. Give yourself a break! Take a deep breath, try to put things in perspective, and find ways to divert or relieve what is stressing you out.
#5 Get Some Sleep – The average adult needs seven to eight hours of quality sleep to maintain health, there is no way around it. Your immune system drops by an average of 60% after just three nights of poor sleep. Without sufficient time for your body to recover and heal every night, you are paving the way to disease.
#6 Get a Yearly Comprehensive Physical – Yearly screening is critical to early detection and helping you to live the life you deserve. Visit your doctor at least once a year for a comprehensive physical, including blood screening. Make sure to get the necessary tests required for your age and commit to following up with all issues.
We hope you find these six tips useful and that you find the time to pay attention to your body and live a long, strong, and happy life.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
As primary care physicians, we have the privilege of taking care of many families, children, elderly, athletes, healthy folks, as well as people that need extensive medical care. We pride ourselves on creating deep relationships with each of our patients and we are honored to help our clients get the medical support that they need.
We all know that lifestyle choices can dictate your health. Too much stress, not enough sleep, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, all contribute to what your health situation is today and predicts what your health will be like as you get older. Life can be very hectic and for those of you that are driven to live every day to its fullest, stress can take its toll. If you or someone you care about fits the description of “I work too hard,” please keep reading.
For many of us our careers are a huge part of our lives. We work hard, we are driven to succeed and our health often takes a back seat to many other priorities. As we strive to innovate and grow our business, we have learned that there is a tremendous opportunity to build programs that help busy executives and businesses focus on health. We are proud to announce our Business Services Program to support this goal. Working directly with business owners and executives, we can now create a customized program to help your team become healthier and more productive.
Whether it is an annual comprehensive physical, or a yearlong medical and fitness program, we work with busy executives and companies to create a program that best fits their needs.
Drive, financial security, and personal success are all very important life goals, but without good health all of these things usually become much less of a priority. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about how we can help busy executives focus on health, please give us a call at 949.706.3300 or contact us here.
Friday, 27 August 2010
Written by: Dr. Kenneth Cheng
We decided over 7 years ago to become private, concierge doctors because we were tired of having to see 30-40 patients a day and having no time to help our clients be proactive about their health. As concierge doctors, we now have the time to not only get to know each and every one of our clients, but we also get to be more than just a doctor, we can be their health coach. Why is this important?
Think about all of the different services we pay for, gym memberships, private schools, tax advisors, estate planning, golf lessons, the list goes on and on. But what do we do to invest in our health? What are you doing to stay healthy? Is there more you could do to prevent long term illness? What if you become sick or injured, what will you do?
These questions are tough, but we can help you. Our doctors are not just there for you when you get sick. Because we have such a limited practice (only 350 patients each) we have the time to get to know you and to serve as your own dedicated health coach.
As your coach, we can help you to look and feel the way you have always wanted. Are you tired all the time? Do you want to shed a few pounds? Maybe run a 5k?
As our client, we will do a very comprehensive, yearly physical that includes a full body composition assessment in addition to your current fitness and nutrition levels. From there, we will work with you to create a plan to be healthier and be there for you along the way.
Feeling good about ourselves helps improve our self esteem and ultimately can help us to lead a longer, happier life. We only have one life, so making the most of it is very important. We are here to help you achieve the health goals you have always dreamed of.
To learn more, please click here.
