Engage With AHA Solutions
Resource:
Employee Benefit News: Tailor Made
Practitioners, providers offer strategies for breaking the mold to create a unique wellness program that fits each employee’s figure
As wellness and chronic disease initiatives mature, employers are shifting their programs’ focus from rewarding basic participation to encouraging outcomes - based goals. To move the needle on improving employees’ health, savvy benefits and HR professionals are implementing member advocacy programs and other techniques to engage individuals and tailor the program to their specific needs.
The wellness program that serves Manatee County, Fla., employees, for example, features an entire staff of experts in physical and behavioral health to respond holistically to the individual’s needs.
“In-house, we have a very integrated team of people,” says Kim Stroud, benefits manager for Manatee County. “We’ve got nurses, a clinical pharmacist, a registered dietitian who is a certified diabetic educator, [as well as] behavioral health staff, fitness and wellness specialists. This crew of specialists works together to create integrated programming. Our philosophy is we want to deal with the whole person.”
By providing integrated care and having all experts and resources under one roof, “we’ve eliminated that silo effect,” says Stroud. “Our wellness program is much more than a wellness program, probably. It really has incorporated a lot of those pieces that a carrier or thirdparty administrator would do for employees and their covered dependents.”
The wellness coordinators conduct regular outreach to a caseload of members. For example, employees and spouses who seek out a fitness trainer receive advice and follow-ups regarding their exercise regime. With members’ permission, the diabetic educator has access to lab results and diabetes monitoring results, so they can monitor spikes in blood pressure during the night and reach out to the employee and their doctor to fix the problem.
Stroud believes the county’s success comes from the plan’s design: “For employees to get a low out-ofpocket cost plan for themselves, they need to engage in preventive care and evidence-based recommendations for preventive care,” she says.
Read the full article.
