HEALTH MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT SMALL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS www.mma-newengland.com
Table of Contents Small Business Solutions: Health Management Overview 1 Getting Started: Health Management at Work 2 Health Management Implementation Roadmap 4 Health Management Environmental Assessment Overview 5 MA Wellness Tax Credit Summary 7 ThinkHR Health Management Training Courses 8 Your Health Management Support Team 9 Additional Notes 10
Small Business Solutions Health Management Overview Chronic diseases such as depression and hypertension can lead to a decline in the overall health of employees in a workplace, contribute to an increase in health-related expenses for employers and employees, and lead to days away from work. Many businesses have realized the benefits of health promotion, and to curb the costs of rising health care they have begun offering health management programs to their employees. Although chronic diseases like obesity are among the most common and costly of all health problems, adopting healthy lifestyles can help prevent them. A health management program aimed at keeping employees healthy is a key long-term human asset management strategy. CDC 1 (http://www.cdc.gov/features/workingwellness/index.html) Our Approach to Health Management The health management team at Marsh & McLennan Agency s New England Region provides small businesses with the insight on the best practices and resources for promoting health management within your organization. An introductory Health Management Toolkit is provided upon request which highlights the importance of a health management program, the benchmarks of a successful health management program, and a Health Management Program Implementation Roadmap to guide you every step of the way. Annual Health Management Calendar and Monthly Communications We provide you with an annual calendar of health awareness topics which is created to help you plan out your annual health management initiatives. To supplement this calendar, we provide you with monthly health management resources to share with your employees. Designed to educate and inspire your employees to lead healthier lives and achieve their health goals, these monthly resources include: A monthly newsletter Informative health articles A vibrant health poster Our Value Added Services and Resources We are also happy to offer you additional complementary services and resources throughout the year in order to sustain your health management initiatives and keep your employees happy, healthy and engaged. The following services and resources include, but are not limited to: Resources on cost-effective health management campaigns, incentives, and initiatives Implementation & communication plans for health management campaigns and events Access to over 20 all-inclusive online health management training courses for your employees Guidance and resources for onsite coordination of screenings and seminars To access additional Marsh & McLennan Agency s New England Region health management resources, please visit: http://www.mma-newengland.com/index.cfm/cdid=11297 1
Getting Started Health Management at Work Once an organization decides they want a workplace wellness program, the first question is often What kinds of things should we do? Before you have that discussion, you should lay the groundwork and get more information. The following is a summary of items you can do to get started. Gain Support from Management Support from all levels of management is key to the success of your Health & Wellness program. To ensure the support of management, inform managers about the program early on and encourage them to participate. Communicate the program s goals and benefits clearly and often. Gaining management support will help ensure you have sufficient resources and staff time to develop and implement your Health & Wellness program. Assemble a Workgroup Your wellness workgroup is a committee responsible for promoting the worksite wellness program, planning activities, recruiting team leaders and conducting evaluations. The size of the workgroup will depend on the size of your company and the scope of the program or activities. The workgroup should be large enough to represent your workforce and should include staff that represents various employee shifts and departments, such as management, union representatives, human resources and administrative assistants. If you already have a wellness or health promotion committee or other groups interested in taking on this role, involve them in the workgroup. Workgroup members can focus on recruitment, activities, events, rewards, incentives and evaluation. Designate a Coordinator Management or the workgroup should identify a Wellness Coordinator to manage the program. Although the workgroup and others can share some of the responsibilities, having the right person coordinating efforts increases the likelihood that the program will be well-managed and well-delivered. The level of success for the wellness program is often linked to the coordinator s time and ability. It is essential that some or all of the coordinator s time be dedicated to the wellness program. If this isn t possible, then the company should consider contracting with an outside party to provide programming. Local health care organizations and YMCAs often provide this service. Check with your local contacts to see if this is an option. Schedule Workgroup Meetings The workgroup should meet regularly, at least on a quarterly basis. The workgroup may meet more often during peak times when planning or implementing activities or programs. The frequency of meetings will depend on what the workgroup plans to accomplish. Analyze Your Needs Complete a worksite environmental assessment and conduct an employee interest survey to collect information on the topics that would be of most interest. This type of prior planning and analyzing can help you get the most for your investment. Set program priorities and plan activities and initiatives based on the results of these assessments. 2
Develop an Action Plan This should include specific goals and objectives, strategies to meet these goals, a timeline, a budget and an evaluation plan. If your goals are clearly identified and an action plan developed, it will be easier to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program. Invest Accordingly Building a successful worksite wellness program requires time as well as money. Some larger organizations may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps prior to launching a worksite wellness program. Monetary costs can fluctuate widely, depending on whether the employer pays all costs, the employees pay all costs or the costs are shared. The Wellness Council of America estimates the cost per employee to be between $100 and $150 per year for an effective wellness program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. Keep in mind that the return on investment will likely be greater with more comprehensive programs, so the higher cost will also generate a greater return on investment due to lower health care costs and less absenteeism. Evaluate Outcomes Periodically review your program goals and compare with measurable outcomes or results. Keep employees involved in the evaluation process, to make sure that they feel the program is benefiting them. Adjust programs and initiatives accordingly, based on employee feedback and evaluation results. After you ve laid the groundwork to develop a wellness program, take the time to plan the components that will result in a quality program. Following these steps and not rushing the planning process will ultimately make your program more successful. Source: Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit 3
Health Management Implementation Roadmap Articles listed beneath each step can be found on HRonline. Please inquire with the Health Management team for more information. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Get Management Buy-In Employer s Guide to Promoting Wellness at the Workplace Gain Senior Management Support for Wellness Programs Why Promote Wellness? Small Steps to Healthier Employees Presentation Potential Legal Issues Associated with Workplace Wellness Plans Senior leadership should communicate company s commitment to employee health: Introduction to Wellness Program Email Form A Team Creating a Successful Wellness Team Breathing Energy into a Wellness Team Analyze Data To Determine Focus Employee Needs and Interest Survey Health Risk Appraisals Wellness Environment Assessment Assessment Checklist Sourcing Data to Enhance Your Wellness Program GINA and its Impact on Wellness Programs Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Evaluate Results Evaluation Sample Evaluation Tool & Measures Calculating Your ROI 4
Health Management Environmental Assessment Overview Why do an assessment? Completing an environment assessment helps you identify your worksite s strengths and areas in need of improvement regarding health management. The assessment will lead your wellness team to recommend changes to make the worksite more supportive of healthy behaviors, such as healthy food choices in vending machines, encouraging walking during break times or policies to enforce no smoking on worksite grounds. You may find some of the actions for supporting healthy behaviors are easy to do and others may not be feasible or efficient in your worksite. The assessment results can also be used as a baseline measure for future evaluation. The initial assessment can later be compared with a follow-up assessment to track progress. Who should do the assessment? Identify a workgroup of at least four to five people who will be responsible for completing the assessment. This may be a subset of your wellness workgroup. Forming a diverse group from all areas and levels of your organization is important for meaningful assessment and successful planning and implementation. Participants could be human resources, employees from various departments, administrators, supervisors or wellness staff. When should the assessment be done? Use the assessment as a starting point for your wellness initiative. Once you have completed the assessment, determine which areas the workgroup will focus on, such as healthy eating, physical activity, general health, etc. Establish a time for the workgroup to meet and monitor the progress. Also determine a schedule for annual assessments, so that the assessment can serve as a tool for continuous improvement and accountability over time. Part 1 Health Management Assessment Checklist Complete a worksite wellness assessment checklist to determine which wellness components you currently have at your worksite. This can be done with the full workgroup, or you may want a few key personnel (such as the Human Resources lead, Wellness Coordinator or Workgroup Coordinator) to do a preliminary scan based on information they gather and then let the full workgroup react to their findings. Ask Marsh & McLennan Agency for a sample health management assessment checklist or create your own. Completion of the checklist provides a reference point of the wellness functions that are currently in place and provides an overview of some of the items that should be considered for a comprehensive program. Checklist Components: Categories. Consider using these six major categories: General, Physical Activity, Nutrition, Health Screening, Tobacco Use and Emergency Response Plan. Each category should have several questions that address what you currently have in place at your worksite. 5
Current Status. List whether you have the component (Yes), are in the process of instituting the component or planning for the component (In Process) or don t have the component at all (No). At the end of each category, subtotal the number in each column and then total all of the categories at the end of the checklist to get an overview of where your worksite wellness program currently rates. You should also use this baseline measure as a benchmark for later evaluation. By evaluating where your worksite is on each wellness component, you will be able to get a general idea of your status across each category. Potential Priorities. After you have completed the assessment and the employee interest survey, you can use a potential priority column to indicate what components you might want to focus on that are either currently in process or don t exist. This can serve as a first screening of possible areas to focus on as you develop your action plan. Part 2 - Employee Input Why should we conduct an employee survey? You should conduct an employee survey to get a better understanding of your target audience (i.e., your company s employees) and get an initial idea of their current health habits and interest areas. The survey can be tailored to your worksite and can be done in paper form or through the use of survey instruments on the internet or through a third party. You can create your own employee survey or ask Marsh & McLennan Agency for the Workplace Wellness Needs and Interest Survey. 6
MA Wellness Tax Credit Summary The application for the Massachusetts Wellness Tax Credit Incentive gives small businesses in Massachusetts a state tax credit for having an employee wellness program. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health published final regulations and an online application that Massachusetts employers with 200 or fewer employees will need to complete for consideration for the Massachusetts Wellness Tax Credit. Businesses may qualify for the tax credit for up to 25% of the cost (capped at $10,000) of implementing a certified wellness program for their employees. Employers must meet eligibility requirements in addition to program criteria. These requirements include offering health benefits, having the majority of employees working in Massachusetts, not having willful or repeat OSHA violations in the past five years, and meeting all other requirements as set forth in the final regulations which can be found here on the massgov.website below. The online application must be completed before December 31. Because of state budgetary constraints, the legislature has placed a $15 million per year limit on the total credits that can be issued. Consequently, any employer should submit their application as soon as possible. Any questions related to your eligibility status should be emailed to the Department of Public Health at the following email address: DPHWellness.taxcredit@state.ma.us. More detailed information on the MA Wellness Tax Credit, including a link to the online application can be found here: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/consumer/wellness/health-promotion/ massachusetts-wellness-tax-credit.html 7
ThinkHR Health Management Training Courses As part of our service model, all Marsh & McLennan Agency clients receive free access to a resource called ThinkHR. ThinkHR is a multi-faceted internet & phone-based HR tool designed to help protect you from the risk and liability associated with complex HR issues. In addition, clients are given access to ThinkHR s training module with web-based access for employees and management to over 200 training courses on common topics including workplace health management. Therefore, before launching an official health management program or introducing the below ThinkHR health management training courses to your employees, we first recommend that all (HR/Wellness) managers complete the first two trainings on this list as an overview to health management in order to better to understand a manager s role in a health management program and to become familiar with the benchmarks of a successful health management program. Creating a Program 1. A Manager s Role in Wellness 2. Creating a Successful Wellness Program A Guide for Managers Workplace Health Management 1. All About Nutrition 2. Avoiding Back Injuries 3. Avoiding Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens 4. Back Safety 5. Balancing Work & Home 6. Driver Wellness 7. Financial Wellness 8. Fitness for Everyone 9. Hazards of Smoking How to Quit 10. Healthy Aging 11. Healthy Sleep Habits 12. Heart Health 13. Keeping Yourself and Your Family Healthy 14. Office Ergonomics 15. Pandemic Flu How to Prevent & Respond 16. Stress Management 17. Substance Abuse in the Workplace What Employees Need to Know 18. Successful Weight Management 19. Wellness and You To access ThinkHR, please login to www.thinkhr.com* and click on the HR Training module at the top right of the page. If you aren t sure what your login credentials are, please contact Ashley Hamill at ashley.hamill@mma-newengland.com. 8
Your Health Management Support Team Wendy Rue Williams, MSW Director, Health Management Employee Benefits Practice Contact Wendy T: (617) 587-2344 C: (857) 243-0406 F: (857) 288-6944 E: wendy.williams@mma-newengland.com Liz Euglow Health Management Consultant Employee Benefits Practice Contact Liz T: (617) 587-2386 C: (857) 260-2513 F: (857) 288-6886 E: liz.euglow@mma-newengland.com Ashley Hamill Health Management & HR Systems Administrator Employee Benefits Practice Contact Ashley C: (617) 202-0577 F: (857) 288-6876 E: ashley.hamill@mma-newengland.com Kalyn Weber-Menno, MS, MPH Associate Wellness Consultant Employee Benefits Practice Contact Kalyn T: (617) 587-2304 C: (617) 416-6873 F: (617) 236-0909 E: kalyn.weber@mma-newengland.com 9
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