Research Update

R. Bill Whitmer MBA, Co-Founder HERO

The HERO Research Committee, along with several member organizations, has been actively advancing research designed to inform the employee health management industry and support the efforts of our member organizations. For this issue of HERO on Health, we’ll focus on
recent HERO research projects, the latest HERO Scorecard report, and the HERO Research Partners (HRP) project.
Recent Research
We’re pleased to announce that a new journal article based on a HERO research project has been accepted for publication, and another has been submitted for peer review. In the coming months, be sure to watch for: 

1)  “Presenteeism According to Healthy Behaviors, Physical Health, and Work Environment” to be published in the October 2012 issue of Population Health Management.
2)  “Self-Rated Job Performance and Absenteeism According to Employee Management, Health Behaviors, and Physical Health,” which has been submitted for publication
Presenteeism and self-rated job performance and absenteeism are important issues for employee health management programs, and we anticipate that this research will provide new and important information on these topics.

HERO Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer
Several important Scorecard projects are under way. Currently, the HERO Scorecard database contains information from over 750 organizations. Each of these organizations has received a complimentary report that compares its program to other similar programs. You can learn  more about the Scorecard and evaluate your own employee health management program here. HERO continues to improve the Scorecard through the following activities:

Scorecard Validation Research
While the Scorecard has become one of the most popular and widely accepted benchmarking tools for best practice employee health management programs, HERO is in the process of making it even better. Efforts are underway to enhance the validity of the Scorecard and, when complete, the entire employee health management industry will benefit from this effort.

Scorecard Version 4 of The HERO Scorecard
The Scorecard was first developed four years ago. Since then, HERO has introduced Versions 1, 2, and 3 of the Scorecard, with each iteration an improvement on the previous version. HERO is currently collaborating with Mercer to create the Scorecard Version 4. Watch for further information in the coming months.

HERO Research Partners (HRP)
There is strength in numbers. Guided by this concept, HRP brings together organizations that collectively fund employee health management research projects that are of common interest to the contributors and that support the HERO research agenda. This approach provides a mechanism for companies who are interested in funding research to pool resources and address issues of importance to the evolution and growth of employee health management.
HRP Success
We’re happy to announce that the first HRP project (at an estimated cost of $100,000)  has been successfully funded. Funding organizations include: Alere, HealthFitness, Healthways, Kaiser Permanente, Plus One Management, Prudential Financial, StayWell Health Management, and University of Pittsburg Medical Center. 

We’re now ready to start the planning and fundraising for our second $100,000 project . We’ll continue to update you on this second initiative in future issues of HERO on Health. To learn how your organization can become an HRP Charter Member, please contact Jerry Noyce at jerry.noyce@the-hero.org.