Get Well Wellness strategies, polic y updates to be discussed at health care summit

BY KRIS BEVILL

More than 500 people are expected to attend the upcoming 2014 Health Care Summit, hosted by the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce at the Holiday Inn in Fargo, N D , on July 22 The one-day event will feature a ke ynote presentation from Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York and health policy expert, as well as updates on the latest changes to the Affordable Care Act and information specific to large and small employers

A Spectrum Aeromed employee participates in biometric screening, offered annually onsite as part of the company’s worksite wellness program

Craig Whitney, president and CEO of the FMWF Chamber, says the group hosted a health care summit soon after the passage of the ACA in 2010 and felt the time was right to provide another informational opportunity on the complex topic “We think it’s going to provide a lot of information that will be beneficial to our members and the people who attend,” he says.

Ross Manson, principal at Eide Bailly LLP, helped to develop content for the event and will moderate several of the day’s sessions He says the summit has been designed to give specific points of advice to businesses preparing for the new year of regulations in 2015

While businesses may have appreciated the delays granted for several components of the ACA this year, Manson says he hasn’t noticed many of them taking advantage of the extra time to prepare. “I think they’re missing out on an opportunity to be more on the leading side versus being a bit more reactionary further down the road when they have to make a decision,” he says. Panels at the summit will provide strategy planning advice for large and small businesses as well as provide updates on mandates and grandfather clauses related to health care regulations.

Aside from addressing the regiments of regula- tion compliance, the summit w ill also hig hlig ht wellness strateg ies as a g row ing trend among businesses seeking ways to improve the health of their employees and reverse the continual upward climb of health insurance premiums

Tammy Enright, director of marketing and office manager at Spectrum Aeromed, will be among the panelists sharing their experiences in implementing wellness initiatives She admits the company ’ s wellness strategy was slow to catch on when it was initially implemented four years ago, but the commitment of CEO Dean Atchison and other management members to the program helped it to catch on among employees and become an integral part of the company “Now we ’ re at the point where these guys are really competitive and they’ve got their pedometers and are out there [on the production floor] comparing,” she says “It’s gotten so that if you ’ re not participating, you ’ re kind of the odd one out ”

Spectrum developed its program in-house with the help of Healthy North Dakota’s Worksite Wellness program An employee survey was conducted to gauge their top needs and was complimented by a biometric survey, which measured the actual health of workers and identified focus areas for improvement based on the group ’ s overall results. A committee was also formed representing all types of workers at the company, from manufacturing positions to administration, and tasked with planning events and activities that serve both the perceived and real needs of the company ’ s workers. Enright says the committee plans a full year of events in advance for easy implementation throughout the year and focuses on holding one large event each quarter Events vary, but she says the key to participation is to provide incentives and to make all participants eligible to receive the reward, regardless of their final “ score ” in the event The strategy has worked All of the company ’ s 33 employees participate in the annual biometric screening and between 80 and 90 percent take part in the fitness challenges

Aside from the health benefits, the company has also reduced its insurance costs as a direct result of the wellness program After launching the program in 2011, the company ’ s insurance premiums increased by only 2 percent in 2012 as opposed to the 18-25 percent increases imposed on the company for each of the three years prior In 2013, Spectrum’s premiums actually decreased by 7 percent. Of course, the trade is that there are some costs associated with implementing a wellness program, but Enright says the outcome is worth the investment.

“We’re creating a culture that shows we care about our employees and we care about their families,” she says “That turns into a great recruiting tool, we have very low employee turnover, people come to work excited, they’re sick less ”

Linda Otterson, human resources manager at Cass County Electric Cooperative, says the cooperative’s wellness program began years ago with physicals, hearing tests, first aid training and other basic offerings, but has since grown into a full-fledged program that includes incentives, reimbursements for certain expenses and other components. “CCEC’s strategy made a change to focus on a consumer-driven program, which included a high-deductible health insurance plan, health savings account and additional wellness initiatives,” she says “This change was made not only to help us manage health care expenses but also encourage employees to manage their personal health care. Our goal was not to just shift increased health care costs to employees but to make employees responsible for their own lifestyle choices and encourage employees to take action to make changes if needed.”

Incentives vary and range from reimbursements for fitness center and weight loss programs to interest-free loans for home fitness equipment Otterson says that while those types of financial incentives help to encourage healthy behavior, they alone cannot be expected to launch and sustain a successful wellness program “Even with financial incentives, [our] employees were skeptical and participation rates were low at first,” she says “The key to success is providing information and being patient. Participation increases each year in each area of the wellness program and incentives Management support and participation is also important it’s a ‘walk the walk’ type of concept ”

For more information on the upcoming health summit, visit fmwfchamber com PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag com