The author of “Industry Voices” this quarter is Chris Behling, CEO of Mollen Immunization Clinics. He and Rebecca Kelly, Director of Health Promotion & Wellness at the University of Alabama, have co-chaired a joint study committee comprised of thought leading representatives from HERO, ACOEM, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association whose purpose is to develop a guidance paper for employers on planning onsite biometric screening events for their workers as part of a comprehensive employee health management program. In his column, Chris shares an overview of this report to be released later this spring. The work of this Joint Screenings Committee will provide a follow up to the joint consensus document on outcomes-based incentives published in July. We thank the many members of this joint committee for their work on behalf of the industry.
As you may be aware, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury have recently published proposed regulations pertaining to the legislation passed in the Affordable Care Act affecting worksite wellness programs. The departments have asked for comments on certain aspects of the proposed regulations. HERO has submitted our comments, which may be accessed here.
HERO has been active in research as well. The most recent research study facilitated by HERO and led by Ray Merrill, PhD, Brigham Young University was published in January in JOEM. This study titled “Self-Rated Job Performance and Absenteeism According to Employee Engagement, Health Behaviors, and Physical Health” is a sister study to an earlier study on the same employee population, looking at presenteeism. Both studies are based on self-reported Well-Being Index data provided by Healthways. See the “Research Update” section of the newsletter for more details.
In late January, we presented a webinar featuring members of a group of organizations in the state of Maine who created an employer-community collaborative model to provide comprehensive wellness programs to very small employers. This webinar, “Small Business Wellness, A Community-Based Approach”, was recorded and is available on our website, www.the-hero.org. This collaborative approach between employers and community health is an example of a growing number of initiatives nationwide Bringing together employers and the community to improve health of employees and the entire community population. We plan to share more examples of such innovative approaches in the future.
Finally, thank you to Seth Serxner, Chief Wellness Officer for Optum Health for his enlightening commentary “Strategic Planning- a Path to Greater Health Impact” based on data from the HERO EHM Best Practice Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer. Nearly 900 organizations have now completed a HERO Scorecard at least once which is helping us identify and share self-reported best practices in building program participation, improving employee health and reducing medical costs for companies large, medium and small.
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