Programs like Bright Futures can help plans to develop creative ways to increase participation in preventive and health promotion programs. By using multiple people and working with the broader community, as Bright Futures urges, managed care plans can achieve health promotion and prevention goals more effectively. For example, Gateway uses primarily social workers to do case management and has often hired community organizations to do outreach to deal with specific issues for the Medicaid population it serves. Mr. O'Brien saw this as an example of what can be accomplished when there is an organization, such as a managed care plan, that is accountable and responsible for achieving health goals and has financial incentives to do so. To be successful, Bright Futures needs to pay attention to incentives, said Mr. O'Brien.
Incentives make things happen.
And, if we expect employers and public programs to pay for health promotion, we will have to show measurable results. Practitioners Perspective Forum participants heard from pediatricians who use the Bright Futures guidelines in their practices every day. One of the major challenges for Bright Futures is to train practitioners to consider a child's overall health situation, rather than simply treating a specific problem. Health care providers need to build a relationship with the child and family to encourage prevention and health promotion. Bright Futures provides a guide for doctors in dealing with the varied issues in caring for children.