Huge Opportunity for Spa Industry in Integrative Medicine and Corporate Health Sector
~ Keynote speech at the Global Spa Summit in Istanbul ~
Dr. Kenneth Pelletier (one of the world’s foremost integrative health experts) laid out a powerful, straightforward case for the spa/wellness industry in his keynote on Summit Day Two. Overcome TWO key hurdles, and this industry faces unprecedented opportunities to become a legitimate part of the healthcare system – and to capture a profitable share of the vast corporate health market.
1) The industry must get organized/aggressive about generating and communicating evidence-based data about the efficacy of its various approaches and therapies (…To be ‘heard’ by the medical establishment (by doctors who prescribe, public officials who legislate, insurers who reimburse), you can’t just assert things, you have to prove them, adhering to the scientific method of documenting outcomes, effects and follow-up.
Presenting a ‘Research Heirarchy’ (an ascending set of initiatives that would allow the spa/wellness industries to convincingly make an evidence-based case), the lower-hanging fruit included tackling industry case studies, surveys, qualitative research and amassing the existing medical research on the benefits of spa approaches (massage, acupuncture, hydrotherapies, other CAM) into an accessible archive.
2) The industry needs to document and communicate the cost benefit/real ROI of its wellness solutions, to make the industry worthy of investment from sectors like corporate health.
The Broken Healthcare System—Particularly Dire in US
Dr. Pelletier first painted the picture of the colossally costly, inefficient international healthcare system, where a small percentage of total expenditures actually goes toward ‘health,’ while the lion’s share goes to reactive ‘disease management.’
Examining the most developed nations by health expenditures, i.e., what percentage of gross domestic product healthcare consumes…the message was clear: the nations spending the very most are getting by far the least.
* The US stands out as the negative example: Americans are spending nearly $6,000 a year on healthcare, and it’s consuming 12-15% of GDP. And yet, compared to a country like Greece, (where people spend less than $1,000 annually per capita), by every authoritative measure, Greece is outperforming the US in delivering effective healthcare.
* US health costs are at $2.1 trillion, and will rise to $3.6 trillion by 2014. And 55 million Americans are still uninsured.
* By 2030, with an aging Baby Boomer population, healthcare costs will skyrocket to $16 trillion, eating up 33% of GDP!
Healthcare Killing the Corporate Sector
For the global Fortune 500, spending on health services will devour 80% of their corporate profits this year – and experts project that by 2011-2012 their health costs will be higher than after-tax profits. Managing corporate health costs will now determine which businesses survive—and which will not.
Take Ford Motor Company: every car that rolls off the assembly line has $2,000 in medical costs baked into it. Ford spends $100 million a year JUST ON BACK PAIN. And each car has $500 in back pain incorporated into its price tag.
Dr. Pelletier then reviewed case studies from his Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP, which has been going strong for 25 years), revealing that instituting corporate wellness programs delivers an average 3:1 ROI for companies. 74 of 75 of the worksite wellness program interventions resulted in positive clinical outcomes. He noted that, in fact, there is no larger body of scientific evidence for ANY medical approaches, than the body of evidence that already exists that mind-body approaches work, because they involve the active engagement of the individual in their own outcome.
One of Dr. Pelletier’s statements – that the spa and wellness industries have been FAR, FAR too conservative…far too passive and quiet about making valid, evidence-based claims that many of their core approaches really work, resonated as one of the most provocative statements emerging from the Summit. There are so many extraordinary opportunities to integrate spa and wellness into the medical industry—the industry can grab that banner—if we set about EARNING it through EVIDENCE.
