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4/18:  New Orleans, LA.   Drs. Ray Fabius (Co-President & Founder, HealthNext), Timothy Buckman (Director, Emory Critical Care Center), and Harris Allen will be focusing on recent purchaser and provider breakthroughs in VDPH at the American Occupational and Environmental Medicine's AOHC 2018 Conference.  Developments in Atlanta will be discussed

9/13/17: Atlanta, GA.  VDPH was featured as a principal organizing theme in the panel given by Drs. Joe Leutzinger (Principal, Health Improvement Solutions) and Harris Allen, and Mr. Sheldon Tyndall (Executive Vice-President, S4 Events), at the Disruption and Innovation Summit.

7/6/17:  Atlanta, GA.  Sheldon Tyndall andd Dr. Allen were interviewed live by Michael Moore and colleagues on the Pro Business Channel.  The focus was the above 9/13/2017 conference and VDPH.  Click here for an audio clip of Dr. Allen's segment.

5/12/17: Atlanta, GA.  Dr. Allen delivered an invited presentation on VDPH to the Emory University Goizueta Business School Executive MBA program.  Click here for video of the talk, entitled “Value-driven Population Health:  A ‘Glocal’ Opportunity for Atlanta.”

4/24/17:  Denver, CO.  Drs. Jeremy Nobel (Medical Director, Northeast Business Group on Health), William Bunn (past Vice-President of Health, Security, Safety & Productivity, Navistar), and Paul Brandt-Rauf (Dean, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Occupational & Environmental Science) joined Dr. Allen on a panel for the 2017 American Occupational Health Conference.  The title:  “OEM & Workplace Wellness:  Paving the Way for Value-driven Population Health.”

4/6/17:  Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.  Drs. Wayne Burton (past Global Medical Director, American Express) and Raymond Fabius (President, HealthNEXT) joined Dr. Allen as co-authors of the first peer-reviewed paper on VDPH. Its title:  "Value-driven population health: an emerging focus for improving stakeholder role performance" (published online: doi: 10.1089/pop.2016.0173)

1/17/2017:  Providence RI.  Dr. Allen delivered an invited talk to the Executive Masters in Healthcare Leadership Program in the School of Professional Studies at Brown University.  Click here for a video of the talk, entitled "Value-driven Population Health:  An Emerging Science for Improving Stakeholder Role Performance in Health & Health Care”.   

11-12-15:  Atlanta, GA.  Dr. Allen and Dr. Ray Fabius joined to deliver a mini-plenary at the 31st Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy.  Their session was entitled "The Triple Aim, Population Health, and Cultures of Health:  Behavioral Health Specialists as the Lynchpin."  The Carter Center "periscoped" this session on the internet.

11-9-15:  Atlanta, GA.  Dr. Allen met with staff at the Centers for Disease Control.  This meeting was to introduce his group's work on incorporating cost-effectiveness criteriai into treatment guidelines and to explore ways the Centers for Disease Control might incorporate and broaden this intiative into its multi-faceted approach toward prevention.

10/6/2015:    Atlanta, GA.   Dr. Allen delivered a lecture to the Health Policy and Management Department at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health entitled “Toward Greater Value in Health Care:  Grist for Obamacare Revisited".  This presentation examined past achievements initiatives that evidence employer capacity to achieve greater value in the health and health care space. The implications for revisiting health reform was explored.

6/1/2015:  S.F., CA.  Drs. Allen, Bunn and Erdil teamed up to deliver a national webinar for the Integrated Benefits Institute.  This webinar reprised their panel at the 2015 IBI Forum in March and was entitled "Low Back Pain: A Major Employer uses Guidelines to Manage Quality, Costs & Outcomes."

5/4/2015:  Baltimore, MD.  Dr. Allen and 7 co-authors received the 2015 Kammer Merit in Authorship Award sponsored by the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine during its annual international conference, AOHC 2015.  Also at this meeting, Dr. Allen teamed up with Dr. William Bunn (formerly of Navistar Inc.) and Dr. Michael Erdil (University of CT School of Medicine) on a panel, entitled "Improving Care for Low Back Pain", which focused on the paper getting this award .

3-24-15:  Boston, MA.  Dr. Allen joined with three fellow alumni as panelists for the Duke Boston Business Group's "First Alumni/ae Spotlight Event".  This meeting used a "ted talk-like" format in which each of the the following linked their professional interests to activities and roles they are playing as catalysts in Boston, and highlighted implications for mentoring:  Harris Allen, PhD '75 - Founder, Harris Allen Consulting Group;  Winston Henderson E'90 JD'96 - General Counsel, Nano Terra; Chris Wolfington MBA '96 - Founder and CEO, CityCar Services; and Kaveh Danesh, '12 - Harvard Graduate Student and Duke University Board of Trustee.

3/18/2015:  S.F., CA.  Dr. Allen teamed up with Drs. William Bunn (formerly of Navistar, Inc.), Wayne Burton (American Express) and Michael Erdil (University of CT School of Medicine) for a panel at the 2014 IBI Annual Forum hosted by the Integrated Benefits Institute.  The panel focused on purchaser perspectives regarding the above Kammer Award-winning study.  Their session was entitled "Low Back Pain:  A Major Employer Uses Guidelines to Manage Quality, Cost and Outcomes."

3/17/2015:  S.F., CA.  Dr. Allen met with Dr. David Lansky and members of the executive team at the Pacific Business Group on Health to discuss some innovative capabilties that he and colleagues are making available in the marketplace.  The focus of the meeting was his presentation entitled "Measuring & Managing to Improve Value:  Employers and Indirect Costs."

3/17/2015: S.F., CA.  Dr. Allen took up the invitation of Josh Stevens, CEO for Keas, a health management company, to address the Keas Customer Advisory Board annual meeting.  His remarks were entitled "Workplace Wellness:  Navigating the Skepticism and the Anticipation.  He was subsequently joined by Dr. Dee Edington, just recently retired from heading the Health Management Resource Center at the University of Michigan, to lead a Q&A session on both of their presentations.

3/2/2015:  Waltham, MA.  Dr. Allen joined with David Dlesk (Business Development, Curelator, Inc.), Greg Erman (President & CEO, EmpiraMed, Inc.), Frank McGillin (SVP & GM, NeuroMetrix) and Brian Reilly (Business Development, MC10, Inc.) for a panel hosted by the New England Healthcare Executives Network entitled "The Future of Mobile and Connected Health."

2/24/15:  Medford, MA.  Dr. Allen was joined by Robert Linke, President & CEO, Embera Neuro Pharmaceuticals, and Randy Peto, MD of Brown University in presentations delivered to Tufts University Economics class. The title of his presentation:  "Toward Greater Healthcare Value:  Employer Successes & Obamacare Revisited."

2/18/15:  Providence, RI.  Dr. Allen lectured and led class discussion during a two+hour class for masters students at the Brown University School of Public Health.  The title of his presentation:  "Toward Greater Value in Health Care:  Grist for Obamacare Revisited."

1/26 & 30/2015:  With Dr. Ray Fabius, Dr. Allen posted a two-part blog in  Health Affairs focusing on the workplace wellness debate and the need to move beyond return-on-investment to workplace "cultures of health."
     Part I offers reasons -- one conceptual, the other methodological -- for recent miss-steps that have hindered employer efforts to improve employee health and productivity while controlling healthcare costs. It also lays the predicate for focusing on "culture of health" as the goal.
     Part II overviews the approach toward wellness taken by a major self-insured employer from 1999 to 2009.  Ironically, this company paid little attention to ROI calculations for specific programs yet achieved an excellent return on its overall investment while making strong strides toward a sustainable workplace "culture of health".

1/15/2015:    Providence, RI.   Dr. Allen delivered a lecture to the Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership Program at Brown University entitled “Toward Greater Value in Health Care:  Grist for Obamacare Revisited".  This presentation reviewed two lines of evidence documenting employer capacity to achieve greater value in health care.  The implications for health care reform and for other stakeholder groups managing the value/sustainbility challenges that reform is presenting were explored.

1/8/2015:   In a Letter to the Editor of the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Dr. Allen summarized the work that he and colleagues have conducted for Navistar since 2001.  Across multiple projects that have produced 22 papers (12 peer-reviewed), this letter overviews how they helped the company evolve strategies that produced huge savings in direct healthcare costs, major gains in employee productivity and safety, and an excellent return on investment.

1/2015:  A paper that Dr. Allen first-authored entitled "Tracking Low Back Problems in a Major Self-insured Workforce:  Toward Improvement in the Patient's Journey"  (JOEM; 2014; 56:604-620) was selected as co-winner of the 2015 Kammer Merit in Authorship Award sponsored by the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

9/30/2014:  Boston, MA.  Dr. Allen delivered a guest lecture at Tufts University entitled:  "Refining U.S. Health Reform:   Grist for Obamacare 2.0."  This presentation overviewed major provisions of the Affordable Care Act for providers, plans and purchasers in the context of a major goal that is driving rollout of the legislation:  improving the value of healthcare being delivery and reimbursement.  A key question, what can be done to address the staying power of these reforms was examined by probing lessons learned at Navistar, Inc., whose approach to workforce wellness resulted in major reductions in direct and indirect costs and an excellent return on investment.

7/24/2014:  Hyannis, MA.  In a keynote address to the 2014 SEAK National Workers Compensation Conference, Dr. Allen reviewed provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and related recent developments with this question in mind:   how can we create a healthcare marketplace that works?  He discussed major reforms for healthcare delivery and reimbursement that are being implemented and how they are re-shaping the interdependent roles that stakeholder groups are playing in the marketplace.  He discussed the likely impacts of these provisions on direct and indirect costs, physicians, employers and workers’ compensation and occupational health professionals.  Dr. Allen ended up by offering suggestions for how to be proactive in this shifting landscape.

7/7/2014:  Carmichael, CA. The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress issued a press release citing the Allen et al paper on low back pain (see immediately below) as documenting the role of chiropractic in the better cost management of low back pain.

6/2014 issue: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. With coauthors Drs. Marcia Wright, Terri Craig, Jack Markedian, Raymond Cheung, Robert Sanchez (Pfizer), William Bunn (Navistar) and William Rogers (Tufts), Dr. Allen published a nine-year study of the total costs of low back pain (LBP) at a major self-insured employer and the impact of guideline-incongruent care on these costs. Focusing on over 10,000 episodes, this paper identified five patterns of care based on the first six weeks of claims and compared their total costs per episode with tests that included splits by episode type and duration, tests of guideline congruence, and propensity-derived adjustments.  The major conclusions:  1) approaches marked by higher resource utilization and lower guideline congruence are linked to greater LBP total costs;  and 2) total cost and employers both need to brought into publicly and privately funded efforts to improve guidelines.

2/19/2014:  Providence RI.  Dr. Allen delivered a guest lecture at Brown University entitled, “The Transition to Value in the Healthcare Marketplace: A Model for Driving Management through Measurement.”

2/18/2014:  Boston, MA.  Dr. Allen delivered a guest lecture at Tufts University entitled, “The Transition to Value in the Healthcare Marketplace: A Model for Driving Management through Measurement.”

1/7/2014:  Providence, RI.  Dr. Allen delivered a lecture to the Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership Program at Brown University entitled “The Transition to Value in the Healthcare Marketplace: A Model for Driving Management through Measurement.”  This presentation introduced a three-component model for informing and guiding the system’s transition to greater value predicated on the following propositions:  1) value improvement approaches that are now being spurred by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can be differentiated by the type of stakeholder collaboration/ interdependence being  targeted; 2) the success of each approach will be determined  in part by its impact on stakeholder capacity to manage value/sustainability challenge; and 3) this impact needs to be assessed and measures that have been developed primarily in the domain of healthcare performance assessment can be adapted for this purpose.

10/1/2013: Boston, MA.  Dr. Allen delivered a guest lecture at Tufts University entitled "The Transition to Value in the Health Care Marketplace: A Model for Driving Management through Measurement."

8/6/2013:  Boston, MA.  Dr. Allen delivered a presentation entitled "Silo-busting Our Way to Sustained Value in a High Performing Health Care System:  A Reset for Stakeholders Serving Patient/Consumers"  at the 11th Annual Value-based Congress in Boston.  The focus was three strategies for value creation that are now being implemented in the marketplace -- value-based purchasing, accountable care provision, and value-based partnering -- and the tactics each is using to promote new levels of collabortion across stakeholder groups.  Use of existing measures of stakeholder performance in relation to these strategies can serve to facilitate the overall systems transition to greater value.

4/26/2013:  Orlando, FL.  Drs. Pamela Hymel (Disney), William Bunn (Navistar), Ahmad Naim (Janssen) and Allen joined together to deliver a symposium at the 2013 American Occupational Health Conference that  explored what it will take to realize the promise of the health and productivity vision on the ground.  Building on the trio of papers published on the Navistar experience back in early fall 2012 issues of the Journal for Occupational & Environmental Medicine, the panel discussed a range of measurement and management steps that the evidence suggests need to be taken, not only with respect to those with a range of medical conditions (both high and low prevalent) but also the healthy.   The implications that successful experiences coming out of the private sector from companies like Navistar have for national health care reform was discussed.

2/26/2013:  Dallas, TX.  Drs. William Bunn (Navistar) Paul Brandt-Rauf (University of Illinois at Chicago), and Allen teamed up to deliver a symposium at the 2013 IBI/NBCH Health & Productivity Forum. The major session objective was to dig deep into management and measurement steps Navistar took to mount its strikingly successful strategy toward a more sustainable investment in health care delivery and reimbursement during the 2001-2009 period.  The discussion spanned the range of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention efforts implemented with respect to management, coupled with the wide array of analytic and reporting activities conducted on the company's leading integrated database.  Also examined were implications for how to pursue model health and productivity implementation in the field.

2/22/2013:  Orlando, FL.  Dr. Allen presented at the 8th Annual Employer Health and Human Capital Strategy Congress entitled, "On Value, Sustainability and Missed Opportunities:  Building on the Aligning Interests of Employers & Providers in the Changing Health Care Landscape." This talk:

  • Highlighted converging objectives that employers and providers are increasingly pursuing with respect to the advancement of better health
  • Honed in on opportunities missed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for fully capitalizing on the potential to advance these shared objectives
  • Called for wider use of indirect cost measures as perhaps the best way to transform these missed opportunities in the current highly partisan environment
  • Showed how use of these measures has helped leading employers -- and can similarly help providers -- manage their value/sustainability challenges
  • Emphasized the importance to employers as participants in meeting this call irrespective of the changes that the ACA ultimately brings to the system.

2/20/2013:  Providence, RI.  Dr. Allen delivered a guest lecture at Brown University entitled “Health & Productivity Gaining Traction:  A Corporate Leader Ups Its Game with Implications for Health Care Reform."

2/1/2013:  The following is excerpted from an article that the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine included in the monthly E-New letter.  It referenced publications appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (12/19/12) and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (8/2012) that are described below.

  • "E-News Focus:  Making Health Care Reform Work -- JAMA Viewpoint Focuses on Where Physician and Employer Interests Converge.”
  • This recent (12/19/12) JAMA Viewpoint article focused on how physicians and businesses share a common goal -- to advance better health, with the proviso that the business community has, and continues to, maintain a low profile in health care reform under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  In this Viewpoint, authors Harris Allen, Jeremy Nobel, and Wayne Burton write that "Employers need to reprise their role in health care reform efforts in a manner that will help advance their shared goal of better health with physicians.  Building on the ACA's legislative authority, businesses can reach out to their commercial carriers to coordinate, unify and standardize performance payment metric and insist that they include not only direct but also indirect health care costs.  Extending the process of standardization to both types of measures holds much promise for minimizing reporting complexity and clinical care redundancy in ways that will materially enhance physician capacity to deliver care in the unfolding reform environment." 

12/19/2012 issue:  Journal of the American Medical Association.  Dr. Allen and co-authors Drs. Wayne Burton (Global Medical Director, American Express) and Jeremy Nobel (Medical Director, Northeast Business Group on Health) provided a Viewpoint editorial whose focus is the growing alignment of interests that providers and purchasers have in promoting better health.  They contended that the Act stops well short of fully capitalizing on the potential for advancing these shared interests.  Both communities have financial incentives that can be harnessed by measures of lost productivity, disability and related indirect costs.  Given the highly partisan national landscape, wider use of these measures will not only forge new areas of common ground between these stakeholder groups but also enhance the staying power of key reforms under the legislation.  To access the article, go to jama.jamanetwork.com.

10/1/12 issue:  Milken Institute Review.  Dr. Allen offered a commentary an overlooked factor that may well prove pivotal in the sustainability of health care reform under the Affordable Care Act: the "buy-in" and collaboration of private sector employers.  Several areas of opportunity for engaging business in meaningful ways that were missed by the Act were identified.  He made the case that wider use of indirect cost measures, which embody the "why" behind health care purchasing, offers the best prospects for empowering businesses and the private sector more generally in the enactment of the legislation and thereby advance the staying power of reform in the current environment.  To see this commentary, go to www.milkeninstitute.org.

8/2012 & 9/2012 issues: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Allen teamed up in varying combinations) with co-authors William H. Rogers, PhD (Senior Scientist, Tufts Medical Center), William Bunn, MD, JD (Vice President of Health, Safety, Productivity at Navistar, Inc.), Dan B. Pikelny (Director, Health and Productivity, Navistar, Inc.) and Ahmad Naim, MD (Associate Director, Medical Affairs Operations, Janssen Services, LLC) to produce the lead three research papers for these two issues.  These papers document Navistar's striking counter-trend success at managing its health-related direct and indirect costs across the 2001-2009 period and probe the reasons for this success, both at the aggregate level and with respect to specific chronic conditions that pose unique challenges to measurement and management design in workforce settings.  They affirm the company's role as a leading corporate practitioner of sustainable health care and a model for health care reform.  For the press release that the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, sponsor of JOEM, put out on this work, go to www.acoem.org

5-1-12: L.A., CA. Dr. Allen teamed up with Drs. Robert McClellan (Dartmouth), Ron Loeppke (ACOEM), Paul Grundy (IBM) and David Dietz (Liberty Mutual) to deliver a symposium entitled " The Affordable Care Act, Accountable Care Organizations, and Patient Centered Medical Home" at the 2012 American Occupational Health Conference. Dr. Allen's presentation focused on the need for Occupational and Environmental Medicine to help steer Accountable Care Organizations toward a measurement framework that uses direct AND indirect cost outcomes for determining provider performance and compensation.

2-15-12: S.F., CA. Dr. Allen teamed up with Dr. Wayne Burton (American Express) to present a plenary address developed along with Dr. Paul Brandt-Rauf entitled "Accountable Care Organizations & Indirect Costs: Why Linking Them Matters to Purchasers, Payers & Patients" at the 2012 IBI/NBCH Health & Productivity Forum. Their presentation juxtaposed a recent private sector case study linking attention to indirect cost measures with striking reductions in total health burden on one hand with, on the other, the omission of indirect cost measures from the framework that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently issued in its Final Rule for evaluating ACO performance. The implications of this oversight for the sustainability of health care reform under H.R.s 3590 and 4872 (a.k.a. "Obamacare") were explored.

7-11-11: Journal of Health & Productivity. Dr. Allen and his co-authors, Robert Mendonsa MBA, Patricia O'Brien MD and Paul Brandt-Rauf MD ScD DrPH, published this white paper calling for public dialogue on a new national strategy to promote health and productivity (H&P) in companies and communities. In this paper, a rationale for long-term investment in health is outlined; components comprising H&P in implementation are defined; steps for promoting the needed collaboration of other stakeholders are identified; and policies for broadening public acceptance are recommended.

6-4-11: Orlando, FL. Dr. Allen led a 90-minute workshop at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts' annual national conference entitled "Divorce, Poor Health & Lost Productivity in the Workplace: Opportunity for the AFCC Community?" This session introduced principles of health and productivity measurement and management to establish a framework for documenting and reducing the burden of divorce that will gain employer attention. Roles that practitioners, policymakers and researchers can play to support employers as they become more aware of these linkages and what can be done about them were explored.

5-20-11: Orlando, FL. Drs. Colombi (PPG Industries, Inc.) and Allen presented the symposium, "Contributions of Socio Emotional Disorders and Perceived Stress towards Employee Productivity across Economies", at the Work, Stress, and Health 2011 Conference hosted by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Their presentation, "Stress: A Pivotal Window into the Management of Workplace Depression", focused on results from a recently published study on stress and its predictive relationship with workplace depression. Among the study's key findings: predisposition toward stress proved an especially potent predictor of mild depression, as did other factors that are subject to the influence of employer-sponsored health management programs. The importance of such programs for managing the burden of depression was discussed.

3-1-11: San Francisco, CA. Dr. Allen joined Dr. Alberto Colombi of PPG Industries, Inc. to deliver a symposium at the 2001 IBI/NBGH Health and Productivity Forum entitled "Measuring Workplace Depression to Manage It." This session examined the health and productivity implications of depression AND its context: work-life balance, personal factors, stress, financial concerns and environmental characteristics. The focus was recently published results from a large, international sample completing a leading HRA. Also discussed were how employers may vary depression treatment and management based on standardized screening techniques.

12-16-10: Denver, CO. Dr. Allen presented a two-hour symposium to the Colorado Business Group on Health and member organizations. His focus was the vision of health and productivity and its idea that health is best looked upon as an investment not just another “spend” item. His presentation examined how this vision has been shaped into an approach and implemented by certain large employers – its most effective practitioners to date. His remarks and the ensuring audience discussion also explored ideas on how to build on these successes to promote this approach on a community-wide basis in the state.

10-15-10: Washington, DC. At its national annual conference this week, the Care Continnum Alliance honored Navistar, Inc for its exceptional contributions to wellness, prevention and care management during the previous year (CCA press release available on request). The Harris Allen Group, whose collaboration with the company's health and productivity unit over the last decade has by this point produced 14 published articles, sponsored Navistar for this award.

10-11-10: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Allen teamed up with co-authors William Bunn, MD, JD, MPH (Vice President of Health, Safety, Productivity at Navistar, Inc.), Gregg Stave, MD, JD, MPH (Professor, Division of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University), and Ahmad Naim, MD (Associate Director, Medical Affairs Operations, Centocor Ortho Biotech Services, LLC) to produce the two lead articles for this month's issue. These articles focus on the use of health and productivity evidence to drive the development of health benefit design. The first paper presents the rationale for this approach while the second presents the Navistar experience as a case study for using this approach to successfully lower healthcare costs

4-10-10: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Allen and co-authors, Zorianna Hyworon (president, WellTech, Inc.) and Dr. Alberto Colombi (corporate medical director at PPG, Industries) published their work examining workplace depression. This work was conducted on a broad-based international employee sample (n=44,000) spanning Europe, the U.S., Canada and various Latin American countries. Their article was the lead article in this month's issue of the journal [citation: JOEM, 52(4): 363-374].

9-29-09: Gautineau, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Allen presented results from a new study on the description, prediction and management of severity-stratified depression on the health and productivity of an international employee sample who had completed the Wellness Checkpoint health risk appraisal (HRA). This presentation was made at a Users Conference hosted by InfoTech, Inc. of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the developer of the HRA.

7-21-09: New York City, NY. Dr. Allen teamed up with Thomas Slavin, Global Health and Safety Director at Navistar, and Drs. Linda Barrington and Chris Woock of The Conference Board, to deliver the webcast, "Can They Take It? Productivity, Overtime, and the Mature Worker" to human resource, benefits and finance executives of member companies in the Conference Board's Book of Business.

6-19-09 Phoenix, AZ: Dr. Allen joined Dr. Tom Wilson of the Population Health Impact Institute to give the workshop, "Evaluation Designs, Statiistical Design and Analysis: The Methods Evaluation Process (MEP) Certification: Level II Course", at the Case Management Society of America's 19th annual conference.

4-6-09 Orlando FL Dr. Allen collaborated with Dr. William Bunn, Vice President of Health, Safety, Productivity at Navistar, Inc., to give the plenary address, "The Total Burden of Illness in the Workplace: An Archival Portrait of Immune-Mediated Disorders, at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management's 9th Annual International Health and Productivity Outcomes Conference.

10-16 to 10-17-08: Scottsdale, AZ. Dr. Allen gave two presentations referencing recently published work at IHPM's 8th annual International Conference: The New Demographic Imperative -- Keeping Employees Healthy. The first was a plenary address with Dr. William Bunn focusing on the impact of working overtime on outcomes for older versus younger employees.. The other was a measurement symposium session on a recent analysis of Wellness Checkpoint Health Risk Assessment data that documented the importance of measuring and managing the impact of health in context when efforts are made to reduced productivity loss.

4-1-08: Orlando, FL. Dr. Allen joined Dr. Debra Lerner, developer of the Work Limitations Questionnaire, to deliver a symposium address at the 4th annual IHPM Health Management Conference on his work using the WLQ and the lessons learned from these recent applications in the field.

10-17 to 10-19-07: Scottsdale, AZ. Dr. Allen joined Dr. William Bunn, Vice President of Health, Safety, Productivity and Security at International Truck and Engine Corporation, to deliver a plenary address at the 7th Annual Institute for Health & Productivity Management International Conference on their recently published work on the health, productivity and safety risks of overtime at this heavy manufacturer.

9-06 to 9-7-07: Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Allen joined Sean Sullivan, Wolf Kirsten and colleagues at the 4th Annual IHPM European HPM Congress, co-sponsored by the Institute for Health and Productivity Management and Wolf Kirsten International Health Consulting, and hosted by Intel Corporation. His presentation provided a portfolio of research involving use of the Work Limitations Questionnaire for examining presenteeism. It included his recently published work on the impact of overtime on employee health, safety and productivity, with a focus on its policy implications for the European Union's Working Time Directive and its measurement implications for health and productivity assessment.

7-31 to 8-01-07: Sydney, Australia: Dr. Allen participated along with the Institute for Health and Productivity Management in the inaugural Australian European Health & Productivity Congress. He presented an introduction to health and productivity measurement, with a focus on published work with a heavy manufacturer on the impact of overtime on employee health and productivity outcomes. He also teamed up with Sean Sullivan to deliver on overview of health and productivity measurement.

6-19-07: Newark, NJ. Dr. Allen joined Dr. Dee Edington,, Sean Sullivan, and colleagues to deliver a day-long training session co-sponsored by the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) and Sanofi-Aventis. The title of his presentation: "Measurement: Key to the Business Case for HPM".

4-25 to 4-27-07: Toronto, Canada. Dr. Allen presented at a conference for Canadian employers hosted by Connex, a workplace health and productivity management consulting company located near Toronto, Ontario in Canada (www.connexhc.com) His presentation was entitled "Making the HBM Case for Purchasers With Measurement."

10-09 to 10-10-06: Vienna, Austria. Dr. Allen joined Sean Sullivan and his colleagues from the Institute for Health and Productivity Management at the 3rd Annual IHPM European HPM Congress. The title of Dr. Allen's presentation: "The Science of Measurement."

9-27 to 9-28-06: Las Vegas, NV Dr. Allen participated in three events at the 6th Annual Institute for Health & Productivity Management International Conference. The first involved participating in a half-day workshop with Dr. Joe Leutzinger and colleagues from the Academy for Health and Productivity Management. (Dr. Allen's presentation: "Advancing Health and Productivity Management with the Measurement of Presenteeism.") The other events were half-day symposiums with Drs. Deborah Lerner and Ron Kessler focusing on health and productivity measurement issues.

7-20-06: ClearPoint Employee Benefits Consulting, Seattle, WA. Dr. Allen delivered the keynote address to the Health and Productivity Symposium, hosted by ClearPoint for employers in the Seattle area. His presentation was entitled: "Employers, Employees, and Health and Productivity: Advancing the "Win-Win" in Seattle."

6-23-06: Mid-America Coalition on Health Care, Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, MO. Dr. Allen teamed up with other faculty (Dr. Rick Nevins, Dr. Joe Leutzinger, and Sean Sullivan , president and founder of the Institute for Health and Productivity Managemen) to deliver a day-long training session for the Academy for Health and Productivity Management. His title of his seminar: "Using Measurement to Advance Health and Productivity Management."

5-22 to 5-24-06: "Measuring and Quantifying the Value of Health Risk Appraisals", a conference held by the World Research Group in Boston, MA. Dr. Allen served as conference chair and led a 3-hour workshop entitled "Blending the Health Risk Appraisal with Employer Interests in Health and Productivity Management."

5-2-06: Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Academy, Employer Market Evaluation Program, Academy for Health and Productivity Management, Titusville, NJ. Dr. Allen served as faculty along with Dr. Joe Leutzinger, president of AHPM, and staff from the Institute for Health and Productivity Management. He made two presentations entitled (1) "Overview of Presenteeism Tools: Application, Selection and Data Integration Considerations" and (2) "Advancing the Objectives of Health and Productivity Management with Management."

4-26-06: Boeing Training Session, Academy for Health and Productivity Management, Seattle, WA. Dr. Allen served as faculty along with Dr. Joe Leutzinger, president of AHPM, and staff from the Institute for Health and Productivity Management. His presentation: "Overview of Presenteeism Tools: Application, Selection and Data Integration Considerations."

2-6-06: CNBC Power Lunch Show: See Paul Hemp, Senior Editor for the Harvard Business Review, being interviewed in a five-minute segment to discuss HBR's list of Breakthrough Ideas for 2006. The second of the three ideas on which he focuses (out of the 20 on this year's list) is our article (see the next entry). Interview available on request.

2-1-06: Breakthrough Ideas for 2006: The Harvard Business Review List. Dr. Allen and Sean Sullivan, president and founder of the Institute for Health & Productivity Management, joined together to write idea #10 in this year's list. Their focus was the business case for strategic investment in health and productivity.

12-15-05: Cisco Systems Training Session, Academy for Health and Productivity Management, Palo Alto, CA. Dr. Allen served as faculty along with Dr. Joe Leutzinger, president of the Academy for Health & Productivity Management, and staff from the Institute for Health and Productivity Management. His presentation: "Overview of Presenteeism Tools: Application, Selection and Data Integration Considerations."

10-24-05: Business Shrink show, Sirius satellite radio: Dr. Allen was interviewed by host Peter Morris. This show is devoted to understanding the strategy and psychology of business. The focus of the 15-minute segment: recent developments in the field of health and productivity and how they are impacting the approaches employers are taking to employees and their health care costs.

10-12-05: Dr. Allen teamed up with Sean Sullivan, President of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM), in a presentation on the burden of pain on employee health and productivity to the Academy for Health and Productivity Management Pre-Conference Workshop at IHPM's Fifth Annual International Conference in Phoenix, AZ.

8-31-05: “Secrets to a Healthier Workforce”. Dr. Allen joined Francis Fey (CEO/President of JI Companies -- the sponsor for the event) and Thomas F. Ferraro (Director of Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources) for an hour-long webinar consisting of three presentations followed by Q&A. Complete archive of the event available on request.

7/05 issue:  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. An employee survey at a Fortune 100 provider of business services focusing on the impact of pain on employee work performance and quality of life was conducted in late 2004 and led to a paper authored by Harris Allen, Sean Sullivan and David Hubbard that appeared in this issue.  This work was subsequently the subject of several news articles and interviews: 

  • 8-15-05: HR News. An HR editor examines the results for human resource professionals. (Enter Study documents pain's impact on workers, employers in the search window and click).
  • 8-2-05: Joint & Bone - an online journal for rheumatologists explores implications of the results for employers and the treatment of pain.
  • 8-1-05: Ergonomic News - A recent study found more employees drag themselves through their workday in chronic pain than anyone guessed. A closer look showed the problem is expensive on many fronts, and that the least painful - and most cost effective - solution is likely to be an ergonomics program.
  • 7-15-05: CBS News/WebMD report: Working In Pain Takes Toll – CBS News - USA Lost productivity due to performing at less than 100 percent on the job (presenteeism) as well as missing work days (absenteeism) directly attributable to pain amounted to three and two thirds days over a 20 day period.

7-13-05: NPR Marketplace radio interview (download MP3) with Harris Allen conducted by Tanya Ott at WBHM, (Birmingham AL); aired nationwide (on approximately 350 stations) in the morning Marketplace segment of National Public Radio's broadcast.

11-29-04: Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Newsletter summarizing Paul Hemp's article on Presenteeism in the Harvard Business Review (October 2004). Harris Allen is one of several researchers quoted .

9/2003 issue:  Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.  A two-year project featuring validation, observation, and intervention phases conducted by Harris Allen and colleagues with William Bunn, MD and his team at International Truck & Engine Corporation. This work focused on the burden of allergies in a heavy manufacturing workforce and produced the following papers: 

  • Allen H. & Bunn, W. Validating Self-Reported Measures of Productivity at Work: A Case for their Credibility in a Heavy Manufacturing Setting, pp 926-940
  • Bunn W. et al. The Burden of Allergies—and the Capacity of Medications to Reduce This Burden—in a Heavy Manufacturing Environment”, pp. 941-955
  • Allen H et al. An Intervention to Promote Appropriate Management of Allergies in a Heavy Manufacturing Workforce: Evaluating Health and Productivity Outcomes, pp. 956-972
  • Allen H and Bunn W. Using Self-Report and Adverse Event Measures to Track Health’s Impact on Productivity in Known Groups. pp. 973-983.
  • 9-10-03: Press release available on request.