U.S. Preventive Medicine Appoints Ron Loeppke, M.D. as Co-Chairman of its National Advisory Board

U.S. Preventive Medicine has appointed Ron Loeppke, M.D., MPH, Co-Chairman of the company's National Advisory Board. The Board is focused on researching the role of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention (health promotion, early detection and early intervention) in improving health and productivity in the workplace, as well as in the home.
 
Dr. Ron Loeppke is the former Chief Strategic Officer and Executive Vice President of Matria Healthcare, Inc. In this role he led the firm's strategic initiatives across the company as well as provided counsel on medical, health and productivity issues to Matria clients. Prior to joining Matria, Dr. Loeppke was Chief Medical Officer, Chief Strategic Officer, and Executive Vice President for CorSolutions. Before CorSolutions, Ron was the Founder, President and CEO of the Health and Productivity Corporation of America (HPCA), headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Christopher Fey, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Preventive Medicine, said, "Having Ron serve as co-chair of our National Advisory Board is an exciting development in furthering the research agenda for U.S. Preventive Medicine.  The Board will continue to research the areas in which primary, secondary and tertiary prevention can play a role in improving health outcomes and productivity while reducing costs."

Dr. Loeppke is Board Certified and residency trained in Preventive Medicine as well as fellowship trained in Occupational Medicine. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and the American College of Preventive Medicine, (ACPM). He is Co-Chairman of the ACOEM Section on Health and Productivity, which is actively involved in defining and establishing measurement criteria for research in health and productivity initiatives, as well as assimilating input from practice experts in the field, employers, corporate medical directors, employer coalitions, pharmaceutical companies, the provider community, and other key stakeholders on the frontlines of the health and productivity arena.

Dr. Loeppke has over 20 years of clinical and physician executive experience in the Occupational Health, Preventive Medicine, and Medical Management arenas. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters relating to health and productivity, occupational health, managed care, quality care improvement, adoption of evidence based medicine, employer health initiatives, consumer driven health care, preventive medicine, and innovative models for the business of health care.

As the recent lead author of "Health and Productivity as a Business Strategy" in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM), July 2007 issue Dr. Loeppke and his fellow researchers demonstrated that the total cost of poor health far surpassed medical and pharmacy claims alone.  The multi-employer based study determined two major results: 1) Health-related productivity costs were more than four times greater than medical and pharmacy costs. 2) The full cost of poor health is driven by different health conditions than those driving medical and pharmacy costs alone. The study demonstrates that Integrated Population Health & Productivity Management should be built on a foundation of Integrated Population Health & Productivity Measurement. Therefore, employers should reveal a blueprint for action for their integrated health and productivity enhancement strategies by measuring the full health and productivity costs related to the burdens of illness and health risk in their population.