Evaluating Approaches to Cancer Screening, Obesity Treatment, and Promoting Healthier Lifestyles In Sunday’s session on “Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention,” chaired by Julie Schmittdiel, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, five researchers presented work done on systematic approaches to chronic disease prevention. Jean Abraham of the University of Minnesota opened the session by presenting the findings of her study, “Is Regular Exercise Associated with Reduced Medical Costs and Absenteeism? Evidence from an Employer-Based Wellness Program.” She explained that fragile evidence from this work showed that persistent regular exercise associated with a wellness program could induce savings through reduced medical expenditures. However, there was no associated effect on absenteeism. Bijan Borah of the Mayo Clinic presented the findings of his study, “Explaining Obesity- and Smoking-Related Health Care Costs.” He used a new methodological approach—unconditional quartile regression—and found that targeting wellness or smoking cessation programs to the highest cost beneficiaries would likely produce the best results. Daniel Harris of the CNA Corporation found that a population-based approach to colorectal cancer screenings organized through a central agency could be an excellent solution for busy primary care practices who may not have the time to encourage preventive screenings in patients. Matt Maciejewski, of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham and Duke University, presented findings from his Journal of the American Medical Association article, "Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Survival in a Cohort of Predominantly Older Men." Contrary to most prior studies of bariatric surgery, Dr. Maciejewski found no increase in long-term survival in patients who received bariatric surgery. Finally, Steven Zeliadt of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Seattle, and University of Washington School of Public Health, shared findings that prostate-specific antigen testing is attributable for approximately $26 million in health care costs.