Humana, University of Miami take on 'pre-sick'

This week the University of Miami and Humana announced that they will work together on a research center to study the ways in which wellness and disease management programs can be combined to help improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. Humana chief innovation officer Jack Lord, says the research facility, which will be called the Health Services Research Center, will explore ways in which strategies developed for wellness programs can help patients considered likely to develop chronic diseases, a group he colorfully labels "the pre-sick."

The program will initially focus on the university's 10,000 employees. The administration is clearly sold on the project. "Ten years from now," one Miami official says, "people are going to talk about how this subject -- pre-disease management -- was developed at UM in 2005."

- see this story from the Miami Herald