Health plans moving employees to low-risk
Companies promote wellness
Health care insurance companies want their members to be healthy, and what better place to start than with their own employees?
"We are a health care company, so we believe in the well-being of our members. It was a natural evolution for our company to be engaged with wellness for employees," says Amy Walloch, manager of the wellness programs for Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Portland.
About 61% of Regence employees participate in Building a Healthy Future, a holistic program that focuses on stress relief and work-life balance as well as nutrition, diet, and physical activities.
Medical Mutual of Ohio's Wellness for Life program has paid off for the health insurer in many ways, says Sarah Susalla, RN, BS, CCM, manager of health promotion and wellness.
The Cleveland-based company's Wellness for Life program received the C. Everett Koop National Health Award for its comprehensive health improvement program for employees.
In addition, the program's outcomes demonstrate that employee health is improving, Susalla says.
"In 2008, our health care costs did not increase significantly, which is an important medical trend. In addition, we've had success in moving people to a lower-risk category," she says.
Medical Mutual's employee health assessments stratify employees into risk categories, based on their responses in 14 areas ranging from tobacco and alcohol use to seat belt use and stress in the workplace.
The health plan has increased the number of employers in the low-risk group by 5% and the moderate risk group by 2.5%.
Regence employees can earn up to four $50 gift cards a year by participating in the company's wellness programs.
"We have a tiered program so people can participate wherever they are. They don't have to be athletes to earn points. People set their own benchmarks and get points when they reach them," Walloch says.
One of the most popular programs is the Regence Summer Games, a six-week pedometer challenge in which teams of 10 choose a team name and walk individually to reach a "destination." Each year's challenge has a theme such "Journey to the Land of Oz" or "To Infinity and Beyond."
"They can do it at lunch or at home on the weekend, keep track of their steps and walk back. Team members can monitor their progress on a database. There's a blog where teams post pictures, and talk about their experience," she says.
In 2009, the company began offering a combination nutrition and physical activity program led by one of the personal coaches at the company's on-site exercise facilities.
Participants attend weekly meetings to talk about exercise and nutrition and work one-on-one with their personal coach.
The company works with its food service vendor to offer healthy entrees at its company cafes. Employees get a 35% discount if they choose a healthy option.
Last year, the employees voted to have all the deep fat fryers removed from the cafes.
In addition, the company offers employees a stress relief program led by a member of the wellness staff.
The six-week program, designed by a certified stress educator who trained the company's facilitators, features webinars and web-based tools that employees can use to interact during the program. The webinars are held several times a day for six weeks twice a year.
"As an added element for people who can't do it during work hours, we offer a self-guided stress relief program that people can do at their own pace," Walloch says.
In addition to Walloch, the company has four full-time staff members who manage the wellness program and the on-site fitness centers and two part-time ergonomic specialists who consult with employees on ergonomic issues.
"We are continuing the research on return on investment as our programs change and evolve. We use the data we gather each year and input from employees to plan updates every year," she says.
Medical Mutual of Ohio typically implements its wellness programs for employees before offering them to their customers.
"We have a great group of employees who give us a lot of feedback on the programs. We use the information they give us to make improvements in our programs before rolling them out to employer groups," Susalla says.
The program started in 2003 on a small scale with a walking club, and over the years has added additional programs and features, she adds.
About 87% of employees participated in Medical Mutual of Ohio's Wellness for Life program in 2008.
"We take a multiple modality approach and try to offer a variety of activities and programs to meet the needs of any employees. Some prefer online content, some attend classes, and others want to participate in an organized program. We try to offer a large number of options so everyone can find a program that works for them," she says.
The program starts with a health assessment, which employees must complete every year.
"By having employees complete a health assessment, we can do a comprehensive analysis of where employees are at the beginning of the year and identify outcomes more easily," she says.
Employees can accumulate points throughout the year by completing various activities.
Incentives for employees who are insured by Medical Mutual are premium reductions or increases in their health savings accounts.
Employees who have coverage through a spouse can receive gift cards in varying amounts, depending on their performance.
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