Clearly, the 2009/2010 flu season was an unusual one.  The sudden appearance of H1N1, the lack of a vaccine, the decision to manufacture a vaccine and then its’ delayed arrival, all lead to a flu vaccination season like no other.  What’s on the horizon for the 2010/2011 flu vaccination season?  It may be early to say but we know the following:

1.  H1N1 is one of the three strains to be included in the seasonal flu vaccine.

2.  Vaccine prices have gone up.

3.  Nursing costs have also increased.

The WHO delivered the strains to the manufacturers on time but it is too soon to know how well the strains are growing.  We’ll get early reports from the manufacturers in about two weeks at the CDC/ AMA National Flu Vaccination Summit.

Last year, we saw the highest uptake of seasonal flu vaccine in history with nearly 40% of the US population getting their seasonal flu shots.  Let’s see if we can’t build on that this year.

Employees who participated in medical surveillance programs up until recently were overwhelmingly male.  That has changed in recent years and nearly every employer now has both male and female employees who are required to participate in annual medical surveillance requirements.  Yet, here has been no  medical surveillance program design, testing requirements or interpretation of findings based on gender.  Well, that may be changing very soon…

Recently, Corporate Wellness identified a pattern of abnormal laboratory findings in female employees who completed serum cholinesterase screens as baseline tests for a new environmental consulting client. They have more female employees than many others in the industry.  While the laboratory normal range for this test is 1900 to 3800 units per milliliter (U/mL), more than half of the female employees we tested this year had significantly lower results – some hovering around the 1000 U/mL mark even after retesting.  Normally,  we’d recommend limited potential for exposure and retest for 75% of normal and removal from all assignments that might include exposures for findings that are 60% of normal or below.

Together with Dr. Randy Young who heads clinical operations for LabCorp, we took a closer look.  We found that although there is currently only a single normal range for both males and females, normal findings for females, and especially females using estrogen based birth control, are more likely to be in the 1000 to 1800 units range – well below the published “normals” of 1800- to 3800 units.

LabCorp examined its own results, for our clients’ employees and their entire patient population and found that our observations appear to be correct.  And they will be publishing a new set of “normals” for both serum and rbc cholinesterase that are gender based.

For the moment, we are sending letters to all female employees whose laboratory results are below 1800 units, explaining where we are in the process of helping set new gender based normals but also offering retest if they’d like it.

We suspect that this may be the first of many things we learn as a result of the changing workforce.

Word has is that President Obama wants a vote on his health care reform plan before Congress recesses for summer.  It is an aggressive timeline …

Our health care reform gold star of the week goes to Congressman John Hall who proposes that Congress itself participate in whatever health care plan is passed .  Congressman Hall subscribes to the theory – if it’s good enough for you., it’s good enough for us  Hat’s off to him for this proactive approach for staving off critics of the yet to be fully designed plan.

Our health care reform black mark of the week goes to Richard Scott; founder of Columbia/HC who has formed the group Conservatives for Patients Right and raised nearly $20 million to fight President Obama’s plan.  Keep in mind that Mr. Scott is the same man who was ousted from the company he founded after the FBI raided five Columbia Hospitals and three executives were indicted for systemic Medicare fraud.  Seems that he’s the wrong guy to be telling us we’re wrong in trying to fix this mess he helped create.

The bottom line is that fixing health care is key to righting the economy.  They are inextricably intertwined.  We cannot move forward without some kind of health care reform.  Obama’s plan may not be perfect, might not even be close, but at least it is a start.  And you have to start somewhere.

It seems that there is a new health care crisis looming -one we may not have seen coming.  The average monthly COBRA bill for a family is almost $1500.  And the newly unemployed simply can’t afford it.  Sometimes, the monthly unemployment insurance is less than that. Only a very small percentage of those affected by layoffs are accepting COBRA.  And that means that we have a whole new uninsured population.  

Doctors are reporting fewer office visits.  Dentists who never had available appointment slots do now.  Pharmacists are reporting an increase in unfilled prescriptions and refills not being  picked up.

At this point, this is fairly anectodal but the short and long term impact on the health care system is likely to be severe. We haven’t seen where this is going but it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere good.

For years now, the CDC tracks the spread of influenza each year beginning in early October.  They receive reports from emergency rooms, hospitals and doctors nationally and publish that data on their website – generally about two weeks after the fact.

But here comes Google with Google Flu Trends and a totally new way to find out what is happening out there in real time.  Who is sick enough today to be googling flu remedies?  Who is wondering how long their ailing spouse is going to be home?

http://www.google.org/flutrends/

Google Flutrends tracks computer users web searches for words related to flu – influenza, flu, fever, flu remedies, etc.  And it appears that Google is accurately trending the spread of flu two weeks ahead of the CDC.  All we can say is Wow!

Of course, there are already naysayers.  Google insists it is tracking and using anonymous aggregated data to conduct its trending analysis.  The folks at EPIC , the Electronic Privacy Information Center,  filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking federal officials to disclose how much user search data the company has recently transmitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, as part of Google Flu Trends.

But the implications for predicting a flu pandemic and being able to take precautionary action at an earlier point are signficant.  And its potential tracking other infectious diseases and other types of illness is incredibly exciting.

Google does it again…

It’s here and it’s 750 pages long.  It was originally published in February, 2008.  And on November 17th, the Department of Labor finally published its revised regulations to guide employers as we navigate FMLA.

Employers had identified many areas that required clarification  since the FMLA was enacted. And the new regulations do address many of them.  For instance, most of us see a potential of abuse of intermittent leave and  we also find gray areas that prevent asking medical questions regarding FMLA that are allowed under the ADA.

But, and it’s a big but, according to Frank Alvarez of Jackson Lewis, ” Many employers do not have the resources to master complex FMLA rules.  Most are cutting staff and slashing training budgets.  At the same time, they can’t afford to ignore this issue.  FMLA is a major compliance obligation, and in the midst of today’s economic uncertainty, attendance and productivity can be keys to a company’s survival.”

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Around this time of year every year, we start to get calls from our corporate clients asking us what to expect this flu shot season.  And nearly every year, we have different answers from the previous year.

The good news….

There are more manufacturers and much more vaccine being produced this year than in previous years.  Upwards of 150 million doses should be available between August 1st and November 30th. The price of flu vaccine is up too, although much less than in other flu seasons.  We’ve seen increases averaging 10% in past years. This year, prices are up only slightly (although nursing and shipping costs are up). More… Advances in flu vaccine manufacturing, moving away from egg-based manufacturing to newer cell technologies are moving forward.  Flu vaccine is still generally reliant upon the availability of sterile eggs (used as the medium in which the strains are grown).  The newer cell technologies don’t require eggs, are much more targeted in strain selection and eliminate the allergy concerns for those allergic to eggs. (more…)

This week, SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, released the findings from it January 2008 poll of members regarding employee flu shots.  And overall, their news was good.   They found that: 

• 59 percent of employers offered free flu shots to employees – up 5% from last year
• 52 percent of employers made hand sanitizers, tissues and other items that help prevent the spread of flu available to employees – up from only 2% the previous year. 
• Most importantly, a full one third of employers sent sick employee home vs. only 20% in 2007.
  

That’s progress!

 The CDC – AMA National Flu Summit meets the second week in May in Atlanta.  The medical professionals attending are very concerned that this past year’s flu season, with a less effective vaccine than past years, will discourage employers from offering flu shots this year and employees from taking flu shots. 

As we had hoped, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision that held UPS liable for making sure its drivers could hear before driving. Seems a bit silly that they had to go to all the way to the Appeals level for that ruling, doesn’t it?

The earlier ruling by a three judge panel, also in the Ninth Circuit, told employers that they couldn’t screen prospective employees to ensure they could safely perform the essential functions of their jobs if they were screening for conditions that might be considered disabilities.So, according to the original ruling – knowing that employees can see or hear to identify safety hazards around them wasn’t considered as important as making sure they weren’t discriminated against if they couldn’t see or hear.

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In an aggressive move, Walgreens bought not just one but both national providers of on- site employee health clinics. These two acquisitions will make up the cornerstones of Walgreen’s new Health and Wellness Division. This is an interesting move that HR and Benefits Managers and occupational health professionals will be closely watching.

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