Engagement
and value on investment lead discussions at HERO Think Tank
Q:
What do the following statements have in common?
“One
cannot be prepared for something, while secretly believing it will not happen.”
A:
They were all key points or memorable moments from the recent HERO Think Tank
Roundtable meeting.
More
than 120 HERO members convened at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference
Center in Dallas, Texas in February for the winter Think Tank meeting, where
the hot topics were consumer engagement, value on investment, and wellness
metrics.
Updates
were provided on HERO research and organizational initiatives, including the
launch of the HERO Scorecard v4, the core metrics initiative, the HERO
Scorecard Validity study, and HERO’s partnership with the Clinton Foundation
and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to promote a connection between worksite
health and community health.
Other
highlights included a consumer engagement case study from Marriott Corporation
and Kaiser Permanente, with a spotlight on Marriott’s innovative promotora
program and results to date. And, to help keep members informed on the
implementation and evolution of the Affordable Care Act legislation, the Think
Tank session ended with a special session on navigating the health care waters
and how the ACA is affecting workplace wellness now, and what the coming years
might hold.
HERO
members who were unable to attend the Think Tank can still benefit from a
meeting summary and highlights that will be distributed in March and available
in the HERO Think Tank Resource Center at www.the-hero.org. To learn more about
the Think Tank or for information about the fall Think Tank meeting that takes
place in conjunction with the HERO Forum, please contact jerry.noyce@the-hero.org.
Jerry
Noyce
INDUSTRY VOICES
When
company leaders are wellness role models, great things happen
Wellness
role models are not only champions of the program; they are active and visible
participants. So, how can we drive more company leaders to become wellness role
models? And what great things could happen if we do?
A
mature program with wellness role model leaders provides insights
The
president’s answer? Success starts with leaders serving as role models for
the rest of the organization. And, while he ad-mits that getting leaders to be
actively and visibly engaged can be challenging, he realized that the task can
boiled down into four, simple elements:
Call
to Action: Establish a compelling call to action that garners attention
and triggers action. Succinctly state what you need, how it applies to the goals
and objectives of corpo-rate leadership, and why it’s business critical. When
talking with management, ask “how” they can get involved in-stead of “will”
they get involved.
Personalization: Recognize
that each leader has unique inter-ests. Encourage variation in how management
gets in-volved by seeking to understand their personal values. Strive to
connect their involvement to a greater purpose or cause in which they are
highly invested.
Progression: Start
at a place that matches their current skill and comfort level. Eliminate
potential barriers to participa-tion and make it easy to get, and stay
involved. Progres-sively advance their level of involvement as the leaders
experience success and their sense of ability increases.
Feedback: Provide
continuous and timely feedback on how employees are responding to leadership
involvement. Pro-vide outcomes that are of interest to leadership. Com-municate
appreciation in ways that leadership values (and that encourage their sustained
involvement).
Applying
the recommendations to a start-up program
At
the company I work for, MedFit, we’re constantly refining how we approach
leaders and how we engage them to become wellness role models. Here’s an
example of some early results we’ve achieved by ap-plying the approaches
recommended above:
Since
the launch of this effort, 93 percent of executives at individual sites have
actively led a physical activity challenge, many of them doing so twice.
Additionally, when compared to other physical activity offerings that do not
enjoy this level of leadership involvement, we’ve realized a 70 percent
increase in employee participation.
About
the Author
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
HERO
Interview with Barry-Wehmiller Companies
Barry-Wehmiller, a diversified global supplier of manufacturing
technology and services for a broad spectrum of industries, first began
offering wellness programming to its employees nine years ago. The company,
which employs 7,500 associates at 65 locations worldwide (approximately 5,000
of which are eligible for the employee health management program), manufactures
equipment for large and small companies in industries from pharmaceuticals to
labeling and packaging. The company also provides engineering and IT consulting
services, as well as designing and building custom machinery for special
applications.
The employee health management program at Barry-Wehmiller,
operating under the vision of “Living Well, Thriving Together,” features the
traditional wellness offerings including a health risk assessment, onsite
biometric screenings, health coaching, health education and an incentive
program. But what really makes the program at Barry-Wehmiller successful is the
company’s well-being leadership team and the strong support received from CEO,
Bob Chapman, and executive leadership team.
Driven by the strong executive support and well-being leadership
team, Barry-Wehmiller’s employee health management program has enjoyed success
because of the caring and supportive culture that has been established. This
has fostered a familial atmosphere where associates support each other in their
efforts to live healthy and where the organization provides a positive
environment and gentle guidance toward healthy behaviors. For example, many
locations offer walking clubs, bike racks, healthy vending options and
lunch-and-learn sessions. Associates are encouraged to recognize one another
when choosing healthy options and share success stories. Communications include
featuring associates and/or family members participating in healthy lifestyle
activities to promote the “Living Well, Thriving Together” vision.
HERO: What have been the keys
to your success in creating an effective employee health management program?
Dendrinelis: Barry-Wehmiller has taken a comprehensive,
evidence-based approach to employee well-being, pulling from industry research
that demonstrates which strategies and tactics work best. We supplement this
knowledge with a few key activities each year:
HERO: When you look back at
your program outcomes, what results or outcomes do you feel are the most significant?
Dendrinelis: Historically, and still today, our main health
challenges are lack of physical activity and poor nutrition, which in turn are
causing obesity in our workforce. We have been focusing on the trifecta of
improving on these three factors, and we’re doing so by trying to make healthy
living easy, affordable and the cultural norm. For instance, we serve healthy
food at meetings, and many locations subsidize a fruit bowl and allow employees
to purchase for 25 cents a piece. We also began subsidizing fitness center
memberships to encourage associates and family members to be more active.
Our focus is to measure engagement in the program. Our three-year average is 76
percent based on completion of at least one health activity each program year.
A deeper dive into the engagement shows our associates are engaging in
activities on an ongoing basis, in fact:
· Thirty-five
percent of employees have participated in six or more activities in the last year
In respect to biometric outcomes, we’re proud to say that we
have successfully held obesity levels steady while employers across the rest of
the country are seeing increases in obesity.
HERO: What lessons have
you learned over the years that you can share with other companies that have
made a commitment to improving employee health?
Dendrinelis: Start by creating a supportive workplace culture
that inspires healthy living. Well-being is very personal and individuals
need to have their ‘personal why’ to make it a sustainable lifestyle choice.
Make well-being a part of your corporate mission, vision and goals so
associates understand the importance to the company. Next, turn to
evidence-based, scientific research when planning your program so you can
ensure that your strategies are proven and will be effective for your company.
Another key area is communications, because if employees don’t understand how
and why they should participate in your program, it will affect your outcomes.
Consider hosting employee focus groups before you launch a wellness program or
before you make changes to your existing program to ensure employees understand
how they will be affected and to get their feedback. Lastly, be willing to
pilot new ideas to keep programming fresh and share success stories to inspire
healthy behaviors.
About
the Author
SCORECARD COMMENTARY
Wellness champion networks associated with higher
participation rates and behavior change
By
- Jessica Grossmeier, PhD, MPH
Vice
President, Research, StayWell Health
Management
Many
U.S. based companies create employee wellness champion or health ambassador
networks to build grass-roots support for their health management programs. Of
1,154 organizations that completed a HERO Scorecard, 52% reported having such a
network in place. One reason that nearly half of the responding organizations
have not established wellness champion networks might be that there is little
research on their effectiveness. Much of the existing effectiveness
research is based on models in which individuals are trained to provide support
for peers addressing a specific health need (such as weight management or
diabetes self-care), rather than to encourage good health practices and
participation in local level wellness programs (The Art of Health Promotion,
Sept/Oct 2013). Additional research is needed to support the value
proposition and outcomes associated with this broader wellness champion role.
An
analysis of HERO Scorecard responses was conducted to determine whether
organizations with wellness champion networks had higher participation rates in
programs, better health outcomes, or better financial cost impacts than
organizations without wellness champion networks in place. Of the organizations
represented in the analysis, approximately a fourth (26%) had fewer than 500
employees.
While
about half of respondents had wellness champion networks, 29% reported having
an organized network of individuals at most worksite locations with formal
internal communication channels and periodic meetings – in other words, a very
robust initiative -- while 23% reported having wellness champions at some
worksite locations who received internal communications. As might be expected,
those with higher overall HERO Scorecard scores were more likely to have the
most robust wellness champion networks. When the respondents were divided
into three groups of equal size based on score, 53% of those in the highest
category of HERO Scorecard scores had the most robust level of wellness
champion support compared to only 9% of the lowest-scoring organizations.
Since
larger organizations tend to have higher scores, the analysis was stratified
based on organization size. Unlike trends observed for many of the health
management practices in the HERO Scorecard, smaller organizations were more
likely to have the most robust levels of wellness champion network support for
their health management program in every score category. In the highest scoring
category, smaller organizations were about 11% more likely than larger
organizations to have an organized wellness champion network. One reason for
this may be because smaller organizations have fewer locations, making the
network easier to develop and manage.
Respondents
are asked to provide program participation rates and an assessment of the
impact of their program on health risk impact and medical plan cost; about 400
employers provided responses to these optional questions. An analysis of this
data found little association between level of wellness champion support and
participation rates in various program components. However, in examining the
influence of wellness champion networks on outcomes, a much stronger
association was observed. Since the earlier descriptive analysis indicated
organizations with higher levels of support also had higher HERO Scorecard
scores, a stratified analysis was conducted based on organizations with the
highest category of scores. Sixty one percent of organizations with an
organized wellness champion network or wellness champions at some locations
reported significant impacts on health risks compared to only 35% of
organizations that recruit volunteers or with little or no grass-root support.
Similarly, 56% of organizations with the highest levels of support reported a
substantial positive impact on medical trend compared to 44% of organizations
with the lowest levels of support.
Percent
reporting a significant improvement in health risk due to Employee Health
Management (EHM):
Percent
reporting that EHM has had a substantial positive impact on their medical
trend:
About
the Author
Research Update
HERO
Scorecard Validity Study Published
Ron
Goetzel, PhD, and his team from Truven Health Analytics and Emory University
have completed a study for HERO to test the validity of self-reported outcomes
in the HERO EHM Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer. Over
thirty employers were identified who had both completed the Scorecard and had
medical claims results in the Truven database. This study compared actual
claims experience for those employers over time with the impact of their health
management programs on medical claims as they self-reported in the Scorecard.
The study did, in fact, determine that there was a consistent relationship
between self-reported and actual claims experience, further validating the HERO
Scorecard tool. This study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in
February.
HERO/Population
Health Alliance Recommended Program Metrics to Be Released
After
two years of research and discussion by more than seventy volunteers
representing nearly fifty employers and non-profit organizations, the Program
Measurement & Evaluation Guide: Core Metrics for Employee Health Management will
be released in March. HERO and PHA (formerly the Care Continuum Alliance)
collaborated on this project to identify a core set of metrics that, if adopted
by purchasers and providers of EHM services, will provide a set of measures
that all employers can use to evaluate program offerings from various
suppliers. This work has been vetted by subject matter experts in the field and
was posted for public comment in January. These comments are now being reviewed
for inclusion in the final work.
As
part of the process of creating a level of consistent measurement across the
industry, several organizations have joined in this effort by becoming
collaborators or endorsers of these measures.
This
includes:
These
organizations will partner with HERO and PHA to continue to develop and enhance
this initial work. If your company is interested in joining in this effort as a
collaborator, please contact Karen Moseley at karen.moseley@the-hero.org.
HERO
Scorecard V4 Nears Completion
The
next version of the HERO EHM Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with
Mercer, the most widely used tool of its type, is nearing completion. V4 will
represent the work of over fifty members of HERO, Scorecard Preferred
Providers, and industry subject matter experts. Anticipated release date is
early May.
About the Author
Jerry
Noyce
HERO HAPPENINGS
Mark
your calendars—Upcoming HERO Events
HERO
Members - Only Events
HERO
Research Meeting
Fall
Think Tank Meeting
HERO
Members - Open to Public
2014
HERO Forum
Recent
entries into the HERO Resource Center
The
slides from the 2014 HERO Roundtable meeting have been posted to the resource
library. You must log in to view the slides:
NEW THINK TANK MEMBERS
AbiTo
Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Learn more at www.bluecrossmn.com
The
Dow Chemical Company
Ergotron,
Inc.
HUB
International
Limeade
Lockheed
Martin
Lockton
Companies
Marriott
International, Inc.
The
MetroHealth Systems
ORCAS
(Oregon Center for Applied Science, Inc.)
Learn more at www.orcasinc.com.
SeeChange
Health Solutions
Target
CONTACT
Marlene Abels, Coordinator Member Services (952) 835-4257
Management (EHM):
Learn more at www.bluecrossmn.com
Learn more at www.orcasinc.com.
CONTACT Marlene Abels, Coordinator Member Services (952) 835-4257
