A CEO’s Guide to Health and Wellness Programs

Once the lab work and screenings are done, you should receive a customized risk profile, based on the results, your age, family history and lifestyle. “Our goal is not only to give you a current state of where you are now, but to say, here is how you can maximize your health for the next 30 years,” says Elliott.

3. WHAT IS THE PROGRAM’S TESTING PHILOSOPHY? Some programs will test you for everything under the sun. That may sound good, but it may not ultimately be what you need or even what’s best for you, says Elliott. Northwestern, for example, does not order up scans for arterial blockages unless the patient fails the stress test or presents with other symptoms. “Because let’s say you do a C.T. scan and find you have two 10-percent blockages,” she says. “We won’t start you on meds for that and we don’t really know how to follow up on it, so you end up with this information that doesn’t change your management and then you just get anxious about it.”

Over-testing can also lead to more invasive tests that are often unnecessary, she adds. “Look for a program that practices ‘evidence-based medicine.’ And beware of over-testing.” Other patients, however, will only feel better once they’ve tested for everything and come up negative or dealt with the results. And some problems lurking beneath an asymptomatic surface require a course correction, says Gaman. “We’ve seen patients who had no symptoms or pain, but ended up having critical blockages.” If a small blockage is found, the patient may not need surgery or stenting, but would certainly benefit from intensive dietary counseling to prevent the small blockage from becoming a life-threatening one.

4. WHAT KIND OF WELLNESS/PREVENTION COUNSELING IS OFFERED? Education is as important as discovery, and you should leave any executive physical armed with the information and tools you need to improve your risk profile for the future. Look for a program that provides fitness tests, customized nutritional counseling and other consultations for healthy living. Mayo Clinic, for example, includes stress management consulting. “Stress impacts the immune system, which then impacts not only whether you get that cold, but how your body fights off cancer,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of Mayo’s executive and international health program.

For CEOs, who are tasked with running complex businesses that employ hundreds or thousands of employees and who must cater to demanding stakeholders, it’s impossible to say, “reduce your stress,” says Faubion. “You can’t always change the external stresses happening. You can’t change who needs to be fired. But you might be able to change the way you react to that stress. It’s learning to reframe things.”

5. DO YOU HAVE A PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR OR ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ONE? Most programs provide executive physicals and will then deliver all testing data and reports to your primary care doctor for follow-up. “But often your doctor won’t have the time to read the results, let alone manage them,” says Bret Jorgenson, CEO of MDVIP, a personalized healthcare program with a network of 870 doctors around the country who work exclusively with MDVIP’s more than 250,000 members. Each of the doctors has a network of specialists he or she calls on for follow-on treatment when needed, and MDVIP maintains partnerships with medical institutions around the country, including the Cleveland Clinic, MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering.

One of the big selling points at MDVIP is access to doctors. While most doctors require a visit to give feedback, at MDVIP, patients can text questions to their doctors and get a quick response back. Patients can also get in to see doctors anywhere in the country on short notice, which was a big draw for Greg Lucier, CEO of NuVasive, an $800 million medical device company.

“I travel about 60% to 70% of the time. So the national footprint was very important to me,” he says. Perhaps most critically, the program you choose should have plenty of experience dealing with CEOs, their unique stressors and their tendency to put their companies, clients and employees ahead of themselves.

As too many have learned the hard and painful way, losing a CEO to a sudden health event is not only tragic for the victim and his or her family, but devastating for the company. “The most important thing I can convey to executives,” says Lang, “is that their most important client, most important business project and most important matter at hand is their own personal health.”

PROGRAM PRIMER
With such a wide variety of executive health programs available it can be hard to know where to start. The capsule descriptions that follow offer a look at the facilities and services offered by some of the top offerings around the country.

CLEVELAND CLINIC EXECUTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM CLEVELAND, OH
Cleveland Clinic has decades of experience with the unique health challenges faced by CEOs. The integrated, head-to-toe evaluation includes screenings and risk assessments for numerous conditions and offers priority access to more than 120 medical experts, as needed. The Women’s Executive Health Exam focuses on unique gender-based health considerations. C | A | W | F clevelandclinic.org

COOPER CLINIC EXECUTIVE HEALTH DALLAS, TX
You won’t feel rushed at Cooper Clinic, where physicians see no more than three patients per day, spending up to two hours consulting with each patient to discuss the same-day exam and lab results. Cooper Hotel also offers out-of-towners respite after a day at the clinic. C | W | F cooperaerobics.com

JOHNS HOPKINS EXECUTIVE & PREVENTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM BALTIMORE, MD
Patients at Johns Hopkins feel pampered in a new executive lounge with leather seating, coffee bar and open views of the Baltimore skyline. Throughout the day, executives have access to private meeting rooms, lockers with charging stations and posh private bathrooms with heated floors and rain-head showers. C | A | W | F hopkinsmedicine.org

MAYO CLINIC EXECUTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM ROCHESTER, MN; SCOTTSDALE, AZ; JACKSONVILLE, FL
At Mayo Clinic’s program, in existence for more than 40 years, executives choose from one-, two- or three-day itineraries, with each patient receiving an individual “game plan” for healthy living and expedited access to Mayo’s wealth of experts in all medicine subspecialties. C | A | W | F mayoclinic.org

MDVIP ANNUAL WELLNESS PROGRAM MULTIPLE STATES
As a member of MDVIP, a CEO receives not only a comprehensive annual physical, but year-long care by their physician, including 24/7 access via email and mobile phone. The program’s national footprint means that CEOs having a health issue while traveling can get in the same day to see any of MDVIP’s doctors. C | W | F mdvip.com

MT. SINAI’S COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PROGRAM NEW YORK, NY
Mt. Sinai’s program offers executives two tiers of comprehensive evaluations: the corporate executive physical, which can be completed in half a day; and the premier full-day program that includes additional assessments in ophthalmology, dermatology, audiology and pulmonary function, among others. All patients are evaluated by senior-level physicians at Mt. Sinai. C | A | W mountsinai.org

EXECUTIVE HEALTH AT NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN/WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER NEW YORK
NY Executives at this one-day program receive a customized itinerary in advance and access to a private lounge and fully equipped conference room to use between appointments. A concierge can coordinate any additional appointments needed same-day with one or more of the more than 5,000 affiliated physicians. Members pay an annual administrative fee, utilizing insurance for all clinical services. C | A | W nyp.org