Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Genetic testing moves into world of employee health

Big companies are considering using genetic testing with coaching on nutrition and exercise to help workers improve their overall health. It’s beyond the typical corporate wellness programs that many companies are using now and would help make workers aware of any genetic predisposition towards serious conditions like diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. Many employers and insurers would cover these tests and counseling for such medical reasons. Using genetic testing could be beneficial to employers desperate to cut health care costs, as it’s one of the biggest expenses for a company. Currently, health insurer Aetna and the company Newtopia are selling such a program to the insurer’s biggest employer customers and are seeking to sign up six companies this year. Some doubts still remain about the feasibility of introducing genetic testing to wellness programs because of employee privacy issues and employer skepticism about the effectiveness of tests.

As long as employees are comfortable sharing such information, I see no major disadvantages with companies using genetic testing. Not only would it help present opportunities for employees to improve their current health but it could inform them of an elevated chance to develop a serious condition in the future. A wellness program taking this into account could be personalized to help an individual live healthier and reduce their chances of a serious condition.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-genetic-world-employee-health.html

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v4n2/genes.html 

2 comments:

  1. This does seem like a great idea as long the companies do not use this information to discriminate in thehiring processes, or firing employees that are likely to have high Healthcare costs.

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  2. This is an interesting article. I feel like this could potentially get messy legally and ethically. Hopefully companies do not discriminate against individuals for having a predisposition to something genetically. However, I see the bigger picture. Many people are frequently inactive throughout the day, spending hours at a time in cubicles or in front of computers. This could lead to many health issues which the companies are trying to prevent.

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