PNS News

How many Aggies does it take to run a successful multifaceted physician management group … in the heart of Raiderland? It doesn’t take just one person, it takes a team, but at the head of it is UMC Physician Network Services CEO Paul A. Acreman who was recently ranked No. 93 on the Aggie 100.

The Aggie 100 is an annual ranking of the world’s fastest growing companies owned or operated by graduates of Texas A&M University. Of the 100, 34 are listed on the Fortune 500, according to Texas A&M officials.

“As a healthcare administrator, it’s an honor to go to work every day, and as a businessman, it’s always an honor to be recognized by your peers in this way,” Acreman said. “As an Aggie in Lubbock, it’s also great to give some of my co-workers a chance to make a good Aggie joke punchline at my expense with this recognition.”

Awarded at the Texas A&M Mays Business School’s Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, the Aggie 100 is packed full of technology- and energy-based businesses. UMC Physician Network Services is one of a handful on the Aggie 100 in the business of healthcare.

In 2005, PNS was also recognized as an Aggie 100 company. Last year, UMC Physician Network Services was recognized by the Medical Group Management Association for superior performance in several business metrics. Acreman joined the UMC Health System in 1997 as chief executive officer of UMC Physician Network Services. Acreman received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture from Texas A&M University in 1975. He also holds a MBA from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

Posted: June 26, 2010
By Joe Gulick, Education Reporter
Lubbock Avalanche Journal

Barry Holly, 62, said his life was saved by a wellness screening similar to the ones the Lubbock Independent School District will be offering its employees this year.

Holly, a physical education teaching assistant at Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, learned he had type 2 diabetes as a result of a wellness screening he took in December to qualify for discounts on prescriptions for blood pressure and cholesterol medications.

"My diabetes could have kept going, ... I was literally killing myself (with what he was eating) and didn't even know it," Holly said. "I also was at risk of losing my eyesight and limbs."

The LISD Board of Trustees committed at a special Friday morning meeting to spend up to $50,000 for employee wellness testing in August. Bill Tarro, the school district's risk management expert, said the district could save 10 to 20 times that amount in the course of the year.

Superintendent Karen Garza told the board that employees who undergo the screenings will receive a monthly reduction in their health care premiums. The screenings will involve a very small time commitment on the part of the employees, said Garza, who drew laughs when she noted to the board in a humorous way the screenings will involve a prick on the finger to draw blood and not a needle drawing blood from the arm.

Garza credited Tarro, whose title is executive director of risk management, with the idea for the screenings. Tarro said in an interview after the meeting the amount of the monthly reduction of employee insurance premiums had not been decided but could be up to $25.

"It's going to be worth their while. We're trying to come up with a figure we can live within our self-funded insurance plan and still make it worth their while," Tarro said.

The district's financial return from the investment in employee wellness will be in savings on employee insurance claims, which are paid by the school district, and in reduced sick days of employees, which require the hiring of substitute teachers, Tarro said.

The projected savings of the school district is hard to pinpoint, Tarro said, but added the wellness program could save the district between $500,000 and $1 million a year.

Tarro said the early detection of Holly's diabetes is a good example of the how the wellness testing will save money He estimated the school district is saving $12,000 or more a year because Holly's early detection allowed the disease to be treated with medication, diet and exercise rather than progressing to the point where Holly needed an insulin pump.

The Mesquite Independent School District, which is similar in size to the LISD, introduced a wellness screening for employees in 2007 and has identified 250 cases of diabetes early, Tarro said.

Holly said he never put much stock in wellness testing before the one in December that revealed he had high blood sugar.

"I didn't think much of it. I looked at it as being another trip to the doctor," he said.

He has lost 36 pounds since the diagnosis and feels great, he said. He and his wife attend classes about living with diabetes.

Tarro said stations for the wellness testing will be established through University Medical Center's Physician Network Services and set up in various locations in August. Physician Network Services will have 25 staff members dedicated to the testing and will conduct it for six days a week during the month.

The locations of the wellness testing stations have yet to be determined, Tarro said. They will be set up in multiple places with the intention of making it as convenient as possible for employees.

The testing will involve checking the employee's weight, blood pressure and blood. A machine will instantly test the blood and identify any abnormalities on the spot, he said.

He estimated the process should take no longer than five to eight minutes per employee.

The district would love to have 100 percent of employees participating, but statistics indicate getting a 50 percent participation rate initially would be good, Tarro said.

The LISD will publicize the wellness program in several ways, including a video shown on LISD-TV and the district's website, the district's employee newsletter, an automated telephone notification to employees and a mention of the wellness program at the convocation in August that will officially begin the 2010-11 school year.

A local business that set up a similar screening program currently has 84 percent participation from its employees, Tarro said.

"If we would get an 80 percent participation rate, we may have to come back to the board for more money. That would be a good problem to have," he said.