SmithKline benchmarks other wellness leaders
Seeks validation, directions for future
SmithKline Beecham, the global health care company, already had an impressive offering of wellness programs in place in the mid '90s under the umbrella of its Life Management Center. For its health promotion leaders, however, this was not enough; they wanted to compare those offerings to other similar programs across the country. So in 1996, a process improvement team was instituted, and in early 1997 a research and benchmarking process was formally launched to gather information and draw those comparisons.
"We thought of ourselves as leaders, and we wanted to compare ourselves with those other companies we saw as leaders in the industry," recalls employee services specialist Connie Dougherty, CESRA. "We also conducted employee focus groups to obtain their input."
A model for success was already in place. The Life Management Center (LMC), which is part of the company's Corporate Health Management department, was organized into five functional areas:
· employee recreation activities (fellowship);
· fitness center;
· health promotion;
· clinical services;
· learning link (resource library).
Each area is staffed by its own professionals, and each seeks to incorporate the five dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being.
"Our group has always had an holistic approach to health, seeking optimal physical and psychosocial health for our employees," says Ron Joines, MD, MPH, medical director in SmithKline's U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia. "The challenge was to have a facility to support integrated programs - a platform, if you will."
As a result of the process, the company has moved to a relatively standardized concept at all of its Delaware Valley sites, whereas several years ago the headquarters facility had a far more comprehensive program in place than did other facilities.
Getting started
The first step in the process was the formation of the process improvement team, which included several members from each of the five discipline areas.
"We needed to identify each of the services provided in every area," explains Dougherty. "Then, we generated a matrix to outline the rest of the process." (A copy of the matrix can be found on p. 114.)
To generate a list of "leaders," the team contacted the Washington Business Group on Health, the Association for Worksite Health Promotion, the Association of Occupational Health Nurses, and other networking sources. "We developed a set of questions (see below), checked them out with our legal department, got the blessing from our sponsors [the three heads of corporate health management], and then proceeded to benchmark those companies who were easy to visit on site, or through conference calls," says Dougherty.
The site visits were conducted in teams of two. In exchange for their hospitality, SmithKline agreed to share its benchmarking data with the eight companies visited.
There were a number of wellness objectives reported from these companies that the corporate health management department is either considering adopting or already adopting. They include:
· increasing efforts to target high-risk employees with innovative interactions;
· maximizing efforts around outcome measures;
· focusing on integration and synergy with other SmithKline Beecham divisions and departments;
· leading the industry (i.e., on-site physical therapy, travel, medical surveillance, ergonomics, life balance programs);
· providing tools for people to move through the stages of readiness.
Additional services being considered as a result of the survey include:
· physical therapy/work hardening;
· on-site employee assistance program;
· more diverse weight management programs;
· measurement of the flu vaccine program;
· enhanced injury prevention through education;
· more diverse programs dealing with family life events (i.e., healthy babies, domestic violence, living with loss, summer camp for kids);
· additional quality-of-life initiatives;
· alternative medicine options;
· programs based on the transtheoretical model of stages of readiness;
· a reward system for healthy behaviors and participation.
Already the Life Management Center is implementing new programs based on what the benchmarking process revealed.
"Developing the high-risk programs, and tools to help people to move through the stages of readiness, is critical," says Dougherty.
Joines agrees. "Targeting high-risk employees is certainly a logical priority. They are at the greatest risk of having adverse health outcomes, and generating major costs. It will also help us increase the cost-effectiveness of our programming, by using a 'rifle' rather than a 'shotgun' approach."
A new team is in training to provide information to employees this month on behavioral change, to help them understand what needs to occur in order for behavioral change to take place. "In one of our primary tools, our HRA, we ask people questions that can help us identify their stage of change readiness, and to assign them to specific programs," Joines explains. "We are also in the process of developing stage-specific interventions in the form of counseling and written materials."
The findings of the research reinforced the importance of the holistic approach, Joines adds. "There is no one solution that is appropriate for all people; there are different barriers for different individuals," he says. "You have to have a range of options available to help employees achieve behavioral change and positive outcomes. We have seen how a variety of companies combined their health management approaches and non-traditional work/life programs and used them synergistically to improve health."
Accordingly, the SmithKline team is also considering several new quality-of-life initiatives. "We have created a work/life advisory board in each group, and they are currently working with outside consultants to develop new strategies," says Joines. n
Ron Joines, SmithKline Beecham, 1 Franklin Plaza, P.O. Box 7929, Philadelphia, PA 19101. Telephone: (610) 270-6111. Fax: (610) 270-5826.
Connie Dougherty, SmithKline Beecham, 1 Franklin Plaza, P.O. Box 7929, Philadelphia, PA 19101. Telephone: (215) 751-4526. Fax: (215) 751-5252. Web site: www.sb.com.
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