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

A Message from HERO CEO Jerry Noyce

Welcome to the first edition of the HERO newsletter, HERO ON HEALTH. This quarterly publication is designed to help keep HERO members informed and connected with HERO activities and to provide a vehicle for members and staff to share thoughts, ideas and learning.   

Each issue will feature an article written by a HERO member on a topic of interest and importance in the world of employee wellness. This first issue features a guest column authored by John Harris, Vice Chair of the HERO Board, and a highly regarded industry expert. We asked John to write a column on the timely and important subject of the use of incentives in a worksite wellness program.

Along with the regular guest column, we will provide an update on HERO research efforts, the latest news related to the HERO Scorecard in collaboration with Mercer, happenings at HERO and a welcome to new members. Periodically, HERO ON HEALTH will spotlight member organizations whose programs successfully utilize employee health management best practices.

Getting back the topic of the use of incentives as a component of a comprehensive wellness program, HERO has been active in engaging a number of our members to serve together on an ad hoc committee,  the HERO Incentives Study Committee. This group has been meeting  monthly to discuss this subject of incentives with the goal of creating a document that represents HERO’s guidance to employers on the appropriate use of incentives. We are engaged in this work now and have created a document outline to guide our work.

In the midst of this effort, we were contacted by representatives from American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and American Diabetes Association to see if members of these groups could meet with a small group of HERO members that included a cross section of employers, providers and consultants to determine if we can find common ground in our positions on the subject of the appropriate use of financial incentives linked to the employer health plan. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has also been invited to send representatives to this gathering. I am hopeful that this meeting will provide a forum to unite these groups in their positions and provide thoughtful guidance to the employer community on this important subject. Stay tuned for more reports.

For members who plan to attend the HERO Think Tank Roundtable, February 29 through March 1, in Tampa, Fla., the subject of incentives will be a topic at the meeting.

Thanks to all our members for their great work in providing leadership and support to HERO.

Here’s to a healthy 2012,

Jerry Noyce

President and CEO
HERO

Industry Voices: John Harris

Incentives and the Employee Health Management Industry

Over the years, the field of employee health management has learned there are a number of virtues and pitfalls to using incentives to encourage people to live healthy lifestyles. The reality is that we still have a lot to learn.

By definition, an incentive is an extrinsic reward that is provided to a person until such time that the value to the recipient is internalized (intrinsic value) and thus, sustained. When it comes to health, many employers use incentives in the hopes that their employees will internalize the need to be healthy and achieve lasting behavior change, which ultimately creates a healthier and more productive work force with lower health care costs.

While there are many incentive approaches being used, what do we really know about the effectiveness at present? First, we know they clearly drive participation in health risk assessments (HRAs), coaching, health promotion classes, and other similar offerings. However, very few studies have shown that incentives actually drive sustainable behavior change, improved health, or cost outcomes. We know that incentives are most successful when they are combined with a work culture that is supportive of employee well-being and when they are part of a wider and effective employee communications strategy. In fact, studies have shown the better the culture and communications effort, the smaller the incentive required to drive higher participation levels. We also know that on average, the value of the incentives provided is going up each year, that the bigger the company the bigger the incentive, and that more incentive programs are being delivered through health insurance premium reductions than any other method. 

So where do we go from here?