Guest Posting from Paul Lotharius, President & CEO HealthFitness Corporation

What’s the secret sauce?

Does it really work?

That’s one of the most common questions I hear when I tell people my company helps workers improve their health and wellbeing. In our industry, we think it’s important to test our success: That’s why health management organizations evaluate how a program itself is performing, its impact on participants, and the total change in cost and health risk reduction (Merrill, Aldana & Pope, et al. 2011).  Employers know the value a population health management program (PHM) brings, and this hits home when results are reported with clear,

Message from Our CEO

Welcome to the second issue of HERO On Health. We appreciate the many kind comments received about the first issue, and look forward to hearing your thoughts once again. If you have a comment to share, please email me at jerry.noyce@the-hero.org.

Our Industry Spotlight article in this issue comes from Dr. Andy Crighton, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Prudential Financial. His topic, building a culture of health in an organization, applies to companies of

Industry Voices

Creating a Culture of Health

By Andy Crighton

A culture of health is one of, if not the most important driver of improving the health of a workforce. John Harris touched on this in the February issue of Hero On Health, which focused on incentives when he stated, “In fact, studies have shown the better the culture and communications effort, the smaller the incentive required to drive

Scorecard Quarterly Commentary

Every quarter, a HERO member is invited to comment on a particular topic derived from an analysis of the most current HERO Scorecard data. We’re pleased to share the most recent commentary from  Jessica Grossmeier, PhD, MPH Director, Research at StayWell Health Management

Employer investment in onsite screening services and “know your numbers” campaigns is on the rise.  A recent survey of employers indicates 54% of employers

HERO Objectives for the Next Two Fiscal Years

John Harris, HERO Board Chair

As we begin a new fiscal year, I have both the honor and the As we begin a new fiscal year, I have both the honor and the privilege to serve as the Chair of the Board of HERO for the next two fiscal years. I enter the role with confidence because of the outstanding job my predecessor Andy Creighton did, and because of the fine team we have in place including both our paid staff led by Jerry Noyce, and our incredible volunteers. They make the organization hum and have done an outstanding job in taking the handoff from the founding team of Bill Whitmer and Mark Dundon, to advance us to where we are today.

So what does our future hold? To a great extent

Learning Series Webinar:

Organizational Energy: A Primer on Improving Health
Jack Groppel, PhD, Vice President of Applied Science and Performance Training

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC /REGISTRATION OPEN

July 11, 2012

1:00 - 2:00 p.m., Central Standard Time

Register     

Organizations worldwide are facing a human energy crisis. One only has to review

HERO Events

Research Meeting
July 19, 2012, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Marriott, Detroit Metro Airport
Join HERO in planning the strategy for upcoming research projects. 

If you are interested in more information on this meeting
please email:  jerry.noyce@the-hero.org (HERO members only) 
RSVP

Pre-Forum Think Tank Meeting (Members Only)

October 1, 2012

Radisson Plaza Hotel, Minneapolis, MN 
Register Now 

2012 HERO Forum for
Employee Health Management Solutions
October 2-4, 2012

Radisson Plaza Hotel , Minneapolis, MN

Register Now  (Open to the  public) 

Recent Article

A Review of the Knowledge Base on Health Worksite Culture
JOEM April 2012, volume 54, issue 4, p 414 - 419
Steven Aldana ,PhD; David Anderson, PhD; Troy Adams, PhD; R. William Whitmer, MBA; Ray Merrill, PhD; Victoria George, MPH, Jerry Noyce

Objective: To identify the need for worksite cultures of health, the organizational factors that support worksite cultures of health, the tools that have been used to measure worksite cultures of health, and the research needs related to healthy worksite culture.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving a sample of 500 companies representing a broad spectrum of industries and business sectors. A literature review was conducted.

Results: Similar to a culture of safety that encourages safer behaviors and enables a safer workplace, a culture of health provides a supportive work leadership with a favorable work environment and health-related policies that promote employee health and result in substantial decrease in employee health risks and medical costs.

Conclusion: Worksite policies and environments supporting a culture of health are important to helping employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.

Full article available to purchase from JOEM

Forth coming articles

The following articles have been accepted for publication.

· Toward an Employee Health Management Research Agenda:  What Are The Research Priorities?
AJHP The Art of Health Promotion Section:  expected:  July/August 2012
David Anderson, PhD; Melondie Carter, DSN, RN; Kristi Rahrig Jenkins, PhD; Terry Karjalainen,PhD, Whitmer, R. William, MBA

· Presenteeism According to Healthy Behavior, Physical Health, and Work Environment Population
Population Health Management, date pending
Ray Merrill, PhD, Steve Aldana, PhD, James Pope, MD, David Anderson, PhD, Carter Coberley, PhD. R. William Whitmer, MBA, Studies subcomittee

Recent additions to the Think Tank library (LOGIN REQUIRED)

Legislative Update:

Tami Simon, Mercer
Full presentation from the February 2012 Think Tank meeting 

Healthy Incentives:

Dr. Michael Parkinson

SR. Medical Director of Health & Productivity, UPMC Health Plan

How health incentive accounts can help reduce spending and improve employee health DR. MICHAEL PARKINSON is senior medical director of health and productivity for UPMC Health Plan, which is part of the UPMC Insurance Services Division

Please contact angela.giedd@the-hero.org if you are a Think Tank Member in need of your company login information.

New Members of the Think Tank

American Heart Association
Laurie Whitsel, Director of Policy Research
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

ACEC Life /Health Trust

Pat Feyen, President

For the past 45 years ACEC Life/Health Insurance Trust has been dedicated to supporting the health, dental, disability and life insurance need to engineering firms.

http://aceclifehealthtrust.com/ 

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of MA

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has nearly three million members, and for more than seven decades, the company has focused on making the vision of high-quality, affordable health care a reality for the individuals, families, and businesses it serves. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is a community-focused, not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Boston. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2012, the company is committed to working with others in a spirit of shared responsibility to make quality health care affordable. Consistent with their corporate promise to always put their members first, they are rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality.

www.bluecrossma.com/root/index.html 

Master Brand Cabinets

Robert Jacobs

Executive VP Human Resources

MasterBrand Cabinets,Inc., based in Jasper Indiana is a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. and  is the largest manufacturer of kitchen and bath cabinetry in North America.

http://www.masterbrand.com/

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Theresa Frost-Goodrich

Employee Wellness Program Coordinator

Memorial Sloan Kettering is the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center and has devoted more than a century of patient care and innovative research, making significant contributions to better understand, diagnose and treat cancer.

http://www.mskcc.org/ 

Yum!Brands

Steve Linden

Wellness Manager

Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world's largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants with over 37,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked #214 on the Fortune 500 List and generated revenues of more than $12 billion in 2011. The Company’s restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opened approximately four new restaurants each day of the year. The Company has consistently been recognized for its reward and recognition culture, diversity leadership, community giving, and consistent shareholder returns.

http://www.yum.com/

Become a member of the HERO Think Tank
Contact Angela Giedd, Coordinator of Member Services
angela.giedd@the-hero.org

Research Update

By, Bill Whitmer, MBA & Co-Founder of HERO

The HERO effort to be a leader in employee health management (EHM) research continues to flourish.  Since the last issue of the HERO On Health, two new research projects have been published or accepted for publication. Here is a synopsis of these two projects. 

Toward Employee Health Management Research Agenda.  What Are The Research Priorities?