It’s easier than you think!

Yesterday: Health care is a benefit, up to the individual and a cost to be controlled.

Today: Health is a driver of performance. Investing in health enhances employee productivity while simultaneously lowering costs.

In the past the

emphasis has been to

“Fix – it!”

In the future the emphasis will be

“Prevent it!”

McCunney: A Practical Approach to Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lippincott 2003

Lee County Business Climate Survey Report, 4th Quarter 2013. Prepared by Regional Economic research Institute, FGCU and Horizon Council

The Road Map

Implementing Workplace Wellness Programs

Company Culture and Work Environment

Drug Free Workplace Tobacco Free Workplace Healthy Food Options Employee Assistance Program Support from Leadership for healthy lifestyle

Company Assessment

Data and Metrics

Data and Metrics

Modeling of “Typical” Company”

http://blueprint.acoem.org

Operational Plan

Evaluation & Refinement

Lee County Business Climate Survey Report, 4th Quarter 2013. Prepared by Regional Economic research Institute, FGCU and Horizon Council

• Company strategies are developed for all other factors that impact the financial bottom line of an organization.

• So why do so many companies not have a strategy around health & wellness?

• Don’t most companies spend $$$ on the health care for employees & dependents?

• If so, then why not have a formal approach to keeping employees healthy and managing the health care expenditures?

• What is your company’s vision for the health of the employees?

• Remember the employees are the most valuable asset!

• What wellness mission statement will you want all employees to understand & follow?

• Understand the health of the employees

• Know their health risk factors

• Manage acute illnesses quickly

• Use clinical guidelines to manage chronic illnesses

• Emphasize preventive health care

• Manage large claims continuously

• Health history questionnaires

• Wellness evaluations

• Fitness testing

• Data collection (clinical)

• Categorize employees into low, moderate & high health risk segments.

• Develop programs & services that keep those in the low risk category healthy .

• Develop programs & services to move those from high & moderate into a lower risk category.

• Keeping a person in a low risk category saves the company $350

• Moving a person from a high to a lower health risk category saves the company $151

• This emphasizes the importance of keeping the healthy people healthy!

• “Fit –it” medical care does not work - Waiting for chronic illnesses, cancers, etc. to develop is a recipe for disaster!

• The best way to lower health care costs is to keep people healthy.

• Preventive health care starts with the individual but requires that all in the continuum of health care participate.

• This requires participation from the primary care providers, the patients, specialists and all ancillary health care workers.

• Specific attention has to be paid to each & every individual that is designated as a “large claim”.

• Many company health plans define a large claim as one over $50k.

• The health care team reviewing these claims should include an impartial medical director, a social worker, the director/manager of the health plan, a clinical person who works directly with the patients, and legal counsel as needed.

• Wellness efforts must be emphasized at every level of

health care delivery.

• The primary care physicians & nurse practitioners should deliver preventive health care to each & every patient.

• Patients (employees) should be incentivized to have a wellness examination annually.

• The marketing department should work with the health care providers to develop educational literature on the importance of the wellness programs & services.

• Employees who have access to urgent care for minor acute illnesses get better quicker and get back to work sooner.

• Quick access to acute care leads to lower absenteeism and improves presenteeism.

• Companies can participate in a health care consortium when they are not large enough to have their own employee health clinics.

• Chronic disease management (CDM) programs are an integral part of the wellness efforts & should be accessible to all companies & employees

• Corporations should insist on reviewing aggregate data that shows the link between specific clinical patterns of health care, clinical outcomes and the financial implications (clinical & financial ROI)

• CDM programs should be developed for all the most common chronic illnesses (Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, etc.)

• Similar to all other corporate programs & services an annual budget needs to be set for health & wellness.

• This cannot be seen as “the flavor of the month program”.

• It has to be continuously supported for long term success!

• Corporate leaders need to understand the ROI comes after

2-3 years.

• Concrete plans for implementation of wellness services need to be developed and discussed with the health plan, corporate leadership and then all the employees.

• The leadership & marketing personnel should deliver these messages throughout the organization and ensure that all in the company know why wellness is supported and encouraged.

• The message should be “it’s the right thing to do”!

• A healthy workforce translates into a healthy company.

Intervention

Identify wellness champions; develop incentives for physical activity; make healthy nutrition available; encourage EAP programs to deal with the stress of life; etc.

• Intervene early: Screening programs to identify those with

unknown/untreated high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes or other common diseases. Offer smoking cessation classes & Weight management programs. Help manage the work schedule to lower stress in the workplace.

• Manage chronic diseases: lifestyle coaches, registered dieticians,

diabetic educators, exercise/fitness trainers, nurse managers.

• Clinical ROI

• Financial ROI

• Data collection is of paramount importance and will help drive the programs and services

So how do you start to develop a wellness culture in your organization?

The purpose of the afternoon session is to help with this question.

The “Solution Providers” in the room are here for this reason – they can help you start your program depending on your specific needs.