Unlock the secrets to proactive health management with the expertise of Dr. Cindy Hanawalt and Dr. Micki Hall from HealthWorks. This episode delves into the essential role of biometric screening in personal health management, dispelling myths and clarifying its purpose in identifying potential risk factors for various health conditions. We emphasize the importance of these screenings as proactive measures and discuss their historical context, access methods, and their potential downsides, advocating for informed health engagement.
Join us as we examine the accessibility and benefits of biometric screenings, whether through your annual wellness labs or specialized services like those provided by HealthWorks, which even offer on-site workplace screenings. Learn how biometric screenings can spark meaningful conversations with your healthcare provider, enhancing your wellness journey without replacing regular check-ups.
Transcript
Cami Smith:
Hi and welcome to, & so Much More. I am your host, cami Smith, and I am here with two wonderful ladies who are going to help us dig into some live well, health, wellness type content that we are introducing throughout this year. And so I'm here with Dr Cindy Hanawalt, and she is our medical director of HealthWorks, and then Micki Hall recently Dr Micki Hall, who is a well-being services coordinator. Thank you, guys for coming in and for taking the time to have this conversation.
Cami Smith:
I'm going to let you all kind of share a little bit about yourself, but I want you all to know what we're going to be talking about today is in line with all the things that we're bombarded with the beginning of every single year Get healthy, get thin, no matter the cost, drink more water but sleep more, but also work out every day but also walk at least 30 minutes, and it's overwhelming.
Cami Smith:
And so there's all these fads and buzzwords out there, like cold plunge and red light therapy and biometric screening, and so today we are going to talk about biometric screening, because it is not this go and get it done on a Tuesday type thing that I think the media and culture kind of leads us to believe that A, you have to get it done to know what you need to know about your body, and then B, it's readily accessible. So we want to talk about what biometric screening is and what it is not, to just better help all of us make more informed decisions. So I would like for the both of you to take a minute and just kind of let us know who you are.
Dr. Micki Hall:
Sure, so I'm Cindy Hanawalt. I joined Centra last fall as their medical director. My training is pretty diverse many years in family medicine and occupational medicine trained as well. So individual health has been a priority of mine, as well as populational health and health of employees.
Dr. Hanawalt:
Okay, yeah, so my name is Micki Hall. My education is primarily in public health and I recently got my degree in education, so I have a really big passion for both public health and education as well. So in the current role that I'm in, I have been able to look at well-being services, wellness programs really expand upon education.
Cami Smith:
Okay, why don't you guys explain a little bit, since you're both coming from HealthWorks, what is HealthWorks? Because we're going to say HealthWorks and you all might be Googling at this exact moment. So what is HealthWorks?
Dr. Micki Hall:
Sure. So HealthWorks is the occupational medicine clinic, so we provide services for businesses and employers in the community. We're really trying to make sure that we put efforts forward to keep workers safe and take care of workers when they're injured or they've had certain occupational exposures, but we also take care of our health care workers. So a part of our team, and much of the work that Mickey does, is making sure that we keep our frontline workers and all of our workers in the hospital healthy and safe.
Cami Smith:
Yeah, and that's a huge initiative.
Cami Smith:
I've seen your facility. It is incredible. I happen to be in there. Actually, Jacob, our videographer, photographer, we were both in there taking photos and it just it blew my mind at how much was happening in that space. There was physical therapy happening, there were people kind of coming in for was it counseling, like for EAP? It's just so diverse and so, yes, google it, you can go to centrahealthcom/healthworks, or just search it when you get to our homepage, and we're in the process of building some legs to the web page itself. So go learn more, especially if you are an employer, and this is something that could be of interest to you. Little commercial there, but we are going to dig into biometric screening. So it's the buzzword what is biometric screening?
Dr. Micki Hall:
I think that the simplest way to look at biometric screenings is really a way for individuals to personalize their health and it's a way to identify factors early so you can modify, make some changes and then ultimately prevent disease. So it's not like screenings for cancer, where you want to find the cancer. These are screenings to find risk factors for health outcomes, much as heart disease, stroke, obesity, sleep apnea all of the things that impact our well-being.
Dr. Micki Hall:
So it's really it's a series of measurements and testing, almost like personal statistics on ourselves. It's a way for us to identify where are we at and where is our health at. I'm not sick, I'm not feeling anything. This is the time to say what if I find it now? There's things I can do then to drive my health profile and not go on to have some of the negative repercussions from those diseases.
Dr. Micki Hall:
So, the measurements are like as simple as taking height and weight and then making a prediction based on that. What is the risk for diabetes? For example, taking blood pressure measurements, making sure that we have certain laboratory studies laboratory studies that we know what they mean. We know that if your sugar is high at a certain level, you're more likely to develop diabetes if you don't make changes early. So it's really it's the whole package of these measurements and these statistics individuals can have one time or they can have them over time so they can plot their measurements and try to determine what am I doing to make a difference in my overall health and make me stronger, make me better in the work that I do, make me better in my family relationships. So it's the package and the separate part of that which is kind of the work that Mickey does, is the interventions. So it's not just knowing your numbers, it's knowing what those numbers mean for you and knowing how to access resources to be able to make a difference.
Cami Smith:
Okay, tell me about that pairing.
Dr. Hanawalt:
Yeah, so kind of you know how it's developed over time. A bit is that now some of these digital platforms that have been developed allow you to take the screening results, put them into the platforms and then it generates what's called a risk health analysis, and so what it does is, if you have high blood pressure or you high, you have high cholesterol, you take that and you tie it to healthy behaviors. So, what diet? You know, how can I alter my diet or how can I improve my exercise routine? So really connecting it with those lifestyle modifications in this analysis, to figure out what can we do to to truly make a change.
Cami Smith:
Yeah, so you're really and I love what you were talking about about looking at it over time and like seeing what are the established patterns, um, and then setting goals really for yourself based on where you see those numbers going. Um, we talk a lot about screenings and so thank you for making that distinction, because I think sometimes, when you reach an age where it's time to get X screening, you know sometimes it's too late and you find things that you don't want to find, and this is a way, I think, to get ahead of that.
Dr. Micki Hall:
Would you agree Absolutely, and that's the different points of prevention. I mean there's primary prevention, secondary, tertiary prevention, but what we're trying to do is to prevent the risk factor. The risk factor is really ultimately what leads to the disease consequences. And that's why it's so important to know this information early. A lot of times we know if we're overweight. You know, back in you know the 1960s, 13 percent of the United States population was considered obese.
Dr. Hanawalt:
Now we're up to 40 percent of our population that's obese.
Dr. Micki Hall:
We know that. But now we couple it with other factors, other information, other points that individuals then can utilize to direct their resources and their choices towards things that will make a difference. So it's really targeting now because you know what, we're all busy. We only have so much time and energy to put forth. So now we're saying you know what. Let's really look at what I need, not just what you know the majority of people need.
Cami Smith:
Yeah, and how empowering, too, to be able to get some numbers and some facts underneath. What you need to do so is this? I mean it's, it is everywhere, and maybe I'm just I've been talking about this and so now all of my meta channels are like telling me I need this. But how is this new? Is this something that has evolved? What is kind of like the history of this becoming such a thing? Right?
Dr. Micki Hall:
now, you know, if you look at historically biometric screenings, you know they came about at a time when employers were realizing the impact that healthcare costs were having on their ability to provide a benefit for their employees. So, as they were learning so many expenses that were associated with accessing healthcare, they were trying to find a way how can I help identify the health of my workers? And identifying them with exactly these measurements. But they were using those to say you know what, if I can help support my employee to be healthier, to take away some of these modifiable risk factors, then they will access the system, less Healthcare costs will go down, they won't have to pay so much in premiums and they were using that as a benefit for their pocketbook, as well as for the health of their employees.
Dr. Micki Hall:
But what happened in the 80s is, as costs were escalating out of proportion, they also use those measurements to say, well, who's not so healthy? And so who are my smokers, who are my individuals with uncontrolled blood pressure or uncontrolled diabetes that are getting sick more often? And so then they put into a strategy called risk rating insurance. So then say, well, maybe I can incentivize individuals to be healthier if they pay less for their insurance, while those that are not so healthy, are not modifying their risk factors, are going to pay more. Move that forward. We're recognizing now it's like you know what we want to retain our workforce, we want to engage them. So employers now are saying I want more than just numbers and I don't want it to be punitive, I want it to be effective. And that's where we come into play with saying we're going to give the tools and resources and platforms to engage individuals, to really being able to change their path and make it more informative for the employee and really more cost effective for the employer.
Cami Smith:
So, I mean, that is the why right there, for I would think, employers as well as employees to kind of step into this direction. So let's kind of help build some access or answer some access questions around this. How do people get a biometric screening?
Dr. Hanawalt:
Yeah, so biometric screenings can be had individually if they schedule an annual wellness visit with their primary care doctor. So typically they go in, they receive their labs and that's considered a biometric screening. Otherwise, you can schedule with HealthWorks, because we're an occupational medicine clinic where we have professionals that can come on site to an employer location and offer a biometric screening. So we have nurses or phlebotomists who do the lab draws and either we can do health consulting right there or we have a physician review the labs afterwards, just depending on you know what style of biometric screening you choose. Yeah, otherwise they can be offered via other health initiatives.
Cami Smith:
So that's so easy. Yeah, you can come to their workplace Right. And I mean that's incredible. That's like when the man van parks in your parking lot and you can get your man van.
Cami Smith:
Right, that's incredible. And for those who are like wait a minute, how do I get involved with this? So what about these employers? What about these business owners who are watching this and they're like I don't have that for my employee what does? That look like for them when they hear about something like HealthWorks and they want to get involved and they want to make some kind of partnership in that way.
Dr. Hanawalt:
Yeah, so they could contact us. So I know you shared the website, so by reaching out to us that way, you could contact us directly as well. So our number is 434-200-2933.
Dr. Hanawalt:
So you could always give us a call and we will be able to address it that way and just kind of figure out what is best for the population. And it really just depends, right, it's dependent on, you know, the size. There's some logistics that go into it and really what's best? Cholestec, which is a finger prick, or venipuncture, which is an actual like venous lab draw population, and then from there we schedule a time, you know, we have signups, and then, um, we come on site, we set it all up, we provide the service and then we clean up and that's really it.
Cami Smith:
It's as easy as that. So easy, so easy. Um, so you mentioned something about going into your PCP and getting like a, a physical or lab work. How is that, or is that different from like a full biometric screening workup? Cause you said is that different from like a full biometric screening workup? Because you said essentially that's what it is. Is there a difference?
Dr. Micki Hall:
Yes and no. Essentially, it's still taking measurements and data points, and so what biometric health screens do is they try to take those data points that are directed towards the leading causes of disease. So we're really trying to detect early heart disease and diabetes and stroke prevention with blood pressure medicines. What we can do with the primary care visit is very similar when you go for your annual wellness, which you know, biometric screens should not replace your primary care provider. However, it can help direct your conversations with your primary care provider.
Dr. Micki Hall:
You know and unfortunately, some insurance companies make it difficult for your primary care provider to order certain tests. A lot of people they want to know what their thyroid levels are, they want to know some of their hormones. Well, insurance companies have said you know if you're not at risk for this or you don't have these certain statistics then, they won't pay for the test, and so then you have these out-of-pocket expenses.
Dr. Micki Hall:
These biometric screens kind of open the door for further conversations and more meaningful testing, which is really being a better consumer of our health care.
Cami Smith:
Yeah, absolutely so, for all of the pros and cons people out there and I haven't heard any cons yet. Is there a disadvantage to doing this Like? Is there a? I'm assuming it's accurate because you're drawing from the person, but what are the cons, if there are any?
Dr. Micki Hall:
So one of the biggest cons is that with screenings, you in order to make sure that everybody gets identified who's at risk. When you do that type of broad screening, there's always that chance of having some people screened positive when they don't have the risk or, alternatively, missing some individuals in that point in time that still have the risk, which is why those repeat measures over time are helpful. So what we don't want to do is we don't want to worry someone because sometimes when you have a positive test and some of the biometric screenings that are done.
Dr. Micki Hall:
Some are through, like you said, the accuracy with testing. Some is done through a blood draw, some is done through a finger stick and we know that there's different error rates of that. So these are just conversation starters. These are identifying risks. It's not identifying disease. So the disadvantage is that we don't want to give people false information that could lead to more testing or we don't want to cause unnecessary worry.
Cami Smith:
Yes, this is such great information. Thank you both. And for those of you who are watching, I think the greatest message here other than if you've seen something you want to dig in, whether you are an employee or an employer please do dig in. But for those who are just wondering, like, how do I get the grasp on my health? Where do I begin? I mean I would explore it, look for where this door can be open for you and then just walk toward it and keep in mind thank you, Dr Hanawal, for saying this.
Cami Smith:
his isn't like a one and done, don't like take something as as fact right away and walk away. Um, be open to looking at patterns in your healthcare, be open to the conversations with your PCP. Um, it is so important to have that relationship to just create a foundation for these conversations that can just be so illuminating. So good luck for those of you. I know we're all on this wellness journey and we're going to be talking about wellness moving forward. So stay tuned and thank you guys for joining us on & so much more.
