Maintaining a Successful Corporate Wellness Program Studies... · Maintaining a Successful Corporate Wellness Program Woman’s Hospital Woman’s Hospital is a health care facility

Maintaining a Successful Corporate Wellness ProgramWoman’s Hospital

Woman’s Hospital is a health care facility dedicated solely to the care of women and infants. It’s seated in the heart of Louisiana—and heart is what the hospital is all about. Recognized as one of Modern Healthcare Magazine’s Top Places to Work in Healthcare, the well-being of employees is just as much a company focus as providing top-of-the-line treatment, care and service to patients.

Healthy Merits for healthy employeesWoman’s Hospital offers the Healthy Merits Wellness Program from Meritain Health® as a resource for employees. The hospital’s comprehensive offering includes a wide variety of information and activities employees can use to get and stay healthy. And employees have been receptive—in fact, the program has a 78 percent participation rate, and a recent company survey of the program revealed a 4.4 out of 5 satisfaction rating. It’s also helped Woman’s Hospital earn recognition as one of the Healthiest Companies in America from their biometrics screening vendor.

So, what does the Healthy Merits program at Woman’s Hospital consist of, and how do leaders encourage participation? What ingredients make it all work well?

Wellness program details—putting it all togetherHealthy Merits is a flexible wellness program that can include the products and services a company needs to address the health of its workforce. At its core, Healthy Merits includes an online wellness portal employees can use to access personal health challenges, sync up with devices and monitor their progress. It also includes program management and support from a dedicated population health management consultant.

As a dynamic wellness program, Healthy Merits can easily accommodate whatever a company needs to impact employee health. Beyond the basics, Woman’s Hospital has taken advantage of the flexibility offered by Healthy Merits to build a program that’s just right for them, and includes the following:

• Awareness activities—actions employees are encouraged to take each year as part of the wellness program. These include a primary care wellness visit, a self-reported health assessment and a biometric screening.

• Annual challenges—these types of challenges can include sanctioned event participation (such as 5k walk/run events), a weight management program through the on-site wellness center, or health coaching (digital or by phone).

• Quarterly company challenges—these are offered four times per year to promote company culture around wellness habits. Challenges can include activities to build healthy habits in all areas of wellness, such as financial, social and physical wellness.

• Points-based incentives program—employees can earn points for participation in wellness activities. These translate to a dollar amount, and ultimately a check in the mail at the end of the plan year.

• Wellness Committee support—comprised of employees, the Woman’s Hospital Wellness Committee meets regularly to determine upcoming company-wide challenges and participation in sanctioned events.

In addition to these program enhancements, Woman’s Hospital offers other resources that make its wellness offering truly exceptional. These include the following:

• On-site Wellness Center. Available to hospital patients, the Wellness Center is also offered as a convenient option for employees. Access helps empower those who might be apprehensive to work on their health goals on their own. The Wellness Center features support from a dietitian for healthy eating and weight management, a fitness coach for exercise guidance, plus the opportunity to participate in Weight Watchers®. Employees can earn points toward their incentive goal by joining the Weight Watchers program.

• Sanctioned events. Woman’s Hospital sponsors local sanctioned events that employees can participate in to earn points—currently 4-5 events per year. Past events have included the Susan Komen Race for the Cure and the Get Your Rear in Gear colon cancer race, among others.

• The Wellness Minute monthly newsletter. Created by the on-site employee health manager, this news letter contains timely content that often coincides with national health observance months, such as Heart Month. Sometimes healthy snacks or activities are made available to employees to complement the newsletter’s content and support all aspects of whole health.

• Monthly on-site farmers’ markets. Run by the Dietary Department and Wellness Committee, these are a popular way for employees to purchase fresh, in-season produce during breaktime.

• Employee health clinic. Available conveniently on-site, employees can visit the health clinic when they’re not feeling well, for diagnosis and treatment.

• On-site pharmacy. This service makes it easy and fast for employees to fill prescriptions, especially when they can’t get to an outside pharmacy during work hours.

Wellness Committee involvementThe wellness program at Woman’s Hospital is backed by a team of 10 appointed members representing a wide range of experience at the hospital. Committee members range from the hospital vice president, to members of Human Resources, Dietary, Community Outreach and Communications, to the employee health manager. This comprehensive team meets quarterly (or as needed) to vote on upcoming challenges and other event participation. Their involvement is visible to all employees.

Encouraging participation—making it workWith a robust program in place, how does Woman’s Hospital encourage employees to join in and take advantage of the wellness resources available to them? Through lots of communication! Outreach to employees includes:

• Weekly news updates on the company intranet, announcing current or upcoming events and wellness information.• Companywide emails and “snail” mail about upcoming challenges and reminders, and messages of encouragement.• An annual benefits booklet from Meritain Health that includes detailed information about the Healthy Merits program, what’s included and how to register for an online account on the Healthy Merits portal. • Posters about the wellness program, posted within the hospital.

Motivation through cash incentivesPossibly the most successful means of motivation is the points-based incentive program offered by the hospital. Employees earn points for participation in specific events and activities during the year. These points translate to dollars—and cash is one of the most effective forms of incentives used to motivate employees.

Employees earn point for participation:

Level Points Earned Reward

1 1–399 $150

2 400–699 $200

3 700–1,000 $250

Examples of ways to earn points:

Qualifying Activities DescriptionWellness

Points You Can Earn

MaximumPoints Per

Year

HealthyU

There are over 100 online courses on topics like physical activity, nutrition, sleep and lifestyle management. Much of the course content is presented in video form to make the learning experience more enjoyable.

100 200

MoveIt

Take 8,000 steps a day for at least 46 days per quarter, or log two 30-minute exercise sessions each week for the entire quarter. Don’t forget to track your activity! All tracking will need to be done digitally. Healthy Merits will not accept tracking forms.

100 400

HealthFocus Engage in telephonic health coaching. 200 per quarter 400

Wellness Program Satisfaction Survey Results

Satisfaction with program

Satisfaction with app

Satisfaction with challenge

Likelihood to Recommend

(0=very unlikely, 10=very Likely)

About the Healthiest Companies in America Report

For 2019 and in previous years, a biometrics screening vendor reviewed the progress of its clients for successful outcomes.

The Healthiest Companies in America have the following in common:

• >70% wellness program participation rate• At least 40% of high-risk members reduced risk• At least 45% of moderate-risk members reduced risk• Low health risks across employee population• In 2019, just 107 companies across the country and throughout a variety of industries were awarded this honor

Measuring success—positive outcomes• Step one: build a comprehensive wellness program. • Step two: tell employees about it and drum up participation. • Step three: positive reactions and improved health outcomes? Absolutely!

A recent survey of employees who participate in the Healthy Merits program at Woman’s Hospital showed an overall 4.4 star satisfaction rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being very satisfied). Employees also ranked the wellness app high, and reported they are likely to recommend their wellness program to others.

Woman’s Hospital has also been recognized as one of the Healthiest Companies in America by the biometrics screening company they accessed through Healthy Merits. This means employees’ personal health scores were better overall in five key risk factors (blood glucose/A1c, blood pressure, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and tobacco use) than the national benchmark. To qualify as one of the Healthiest Companies in America, a company must have an overall score of 0 or lower. Scores range from -20 (healthiest) to 20 (unhealthiest). Earning this recognition places Woman’s Hospital among just 107 companies nationwide in 2019 who accomplished the same.

Health Score: Comparison to National Benchmark

Ready to begin your success story?Becoming a healthy company requires commitment, knowledge and experience. That’s why Meritain Health is your Advocate for Healthier Living. We work with companies and organizations every day to understand your unique population health needs and what’s driving up plan costs. We help our clients build efficient health plan strategies, including wellness programs, to improve employee health and lower the Total Cost of Care. Plus, we offer easy-to-use health care and ancillary benefits your employees can use to lead healthy, productive lives.

www.meritain.com | © 2020–2021 Meritain Health, Inc.

Woman’s Hospital

Benchmark

Healthiest Companies

8/2017–11/2017 8/2018–11/2018 8/2019–11/2019

Woman’s Hospital -5.7 -5.3 -6.3

Benchmark -2.4 -2.8 -1.6

Healthiest Companies in America -4.2 -4.1 -3.9

(Higher risk)

0

-1

-2

-3

-4

-6

-8

(Lower risk)

Aggr

egat

e PH

S

To learn more, just contact your Meritain Health representative or Healthy Merits population health management consultant.

This material is for information only and is not an offer or invitation to contract. Health benefits and health insurance plans contain exclusions and limitations; see your plan documents for complete description of benefits, exclusions, limitations and conditions of coverage. Plan features and availability may vary and are subject to change.

The reference to previous outcomes made as a part of this communication does not guarantee success in any new or future case(s), as the result of each case depends upon many factors, including the facts of each case.