Where to Start with Wellness.

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Wellness Programs

The Wellness Program management world is evolving quickly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on healthcare costs.

A lot of big corporations that began Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and employees compensation costs. Small to mid-size corporations are watching all this and wondering where to begin with wellness.

Getting  senior management support and budget approval is one of the challenges at the beginning of a Wellness Program. This is the case because Wellness Programs can be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per year in large corporations.

Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for corporations on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when beginning a Wellness Program.

1. Start with  executive management. Without  executive management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your health care claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what has not thus far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health providers including health, disability, Worker Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85 percent of claims are normally attributed to 15 percent of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching people  who are at risk for developing avoidable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs like lunchtime wellness seminars miss many of the individuals  who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but don’t motivate everyone.

5. Be certain to set short-term objectives for the wellness programs. Be certain to set some realistic short-term objectives based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could’ve an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could’ve immediate results?

6. Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they attempt to change behavior?

7. Be sure you’ve a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars should go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all your future wellness activities.

A good Worker Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of employees. at no additional cost, the Worker Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for employees who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Make sure to set three to five year objectives for healthcare savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term objectives for your health, disability, and employees compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that will help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure healthcare savings over the long term.

9. Be certain to set objectives for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and corporation of choice issues in setting objectives. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components such as consumer education, wellness, health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, and regular biometric screens.