Dear Health Care Executives:

Most organizations have initiatives to encourage employees to reduce stress, reevaluate unhealthy habits, increase physical activity, or simply look at the food they eat. These ideas probably sound familiar to all of you as you try to find ways to positively impact both the lives of your employees and the cost spent on employee benefits. Having said that, ASHHRA is continually looking to find ways to support you; thus the introduction of this Benefits and Wellness Bulletin. ASHHRA wants to help bring you new and innovative ideas around employee benefits and wellness. We are all facing these challenges together, both as employees and as health care leaders.

We hope you enjoy.

Sincerely,

Stephanie H. Drake, MBA
Executive Director, ASHHRA

 

To Cut Costs, Motivate Nurses, Take a Cue From Airlines

By Karen Minich-Pourshadi
In health care finance there is a constant drumbeat to cut costs and that often equates to cutting seemingly non-essentials. But, sometimes by putting small money toward the non-essentials, you can motivate your staff without shelling out big money later. And you may even find they are able to cut costs.
SOURCE: HEALTHLEADERS MEDIA

 

Get Workers Moving and Add Two Years to Their Lives

By Christian Schappel
Time to get employees out from behind their desks and moving around the workplace. A recent study predicts the health gains from anti-sitting policies. OK. So truth be told, the study, published in the online medical journal BMJ Open, doesn’t go so far as to suggest companies implement policies to keep employees on their feet at work. But it did say limiting sitting time to three hours or less per day could add two extra years to a person’s life.
SOURCE: HR MORNING

 

Social-Media Apps Help Retain, Recognize and Reward Employees

By Michelle V. Rafter
Recognizing an employee for a job well done can be a big morale booster and doesn’t have to cost a lot. These days, employers can choose from a variety of low-cost, Web-based rewards-and-recognition programs to give employees a public shout out.
SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS NEWS / REUTERS

 

Benefits Play Critical Role in Retention

By Lisa V. Gillespie
Leading U.S. organizations are turning to prevention-based employee health benefits to improve workforce health and reduce health care costs. Yet, according to a survey released by Virgin HealthMiles, there's a critical awareness gap threatening that strategy's success.
SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS NEWS

 

Working on Wellness

By Bob Kehoe
Quinlan tells why the urgency around population health is prompting him to move to the Center for Wellness and Health Policy.
SOURCE: HOSPITALS & HEALTH NETWORKS

 

More Companies Offer High-Intensity Wellness Programs

By Bob Glissmann
Bryan Hanson wanted to lower his cholesterol. His employer, Creighton University, gave him plenty of help. About $2,000 worth. Blood tests, a pedometer, a blood pressure monitor, journals to track food intake and physical activity, free access to the campus fitness center, plus monthly meetings with a health care provider. Under a program that targets high-risk employees, Hanson kept track of what he ate and shrunk his portion sizes. He wore a pedometer every day and logged his number of steps. He checked and recorded his blood pressure every night, watching for things that caused it to spike.
SOURCE: THE OMAHA WORLD HERALD

 

Five Wellness ROI Mistakes to Avoid

By Linda K. Riddell
Senior managers, CFOs, accountants and HR/benefits professionals all want to know that their company wellness programs are making a difference. I can share with you five mistakes to avoid.
SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS NEWS

 

Hospitals Are Finding that Wellness Pays

By John Morrissey
The business of wellness is going well for 802-bed Mercy Medical Center, a health care system across three campuses in Des Moines, Iowa. A concentrated program of health risk assessments and screenings for medical problems that reached into the surrounding metropolitan area and its employers realized more than $3 million in referral business to Mercy's orthopedic program in the last fiscal year.
SOURCE: HOSPITALS & HEALTH NETWORKS

 

The Hottest Trend in Giving Back

By Ryan Scott
Human resources professionals know the drill: if you want to maximize an employee's potential, you need to engage him as fully as possible. That's why attractive employee benefits and compensation packages only go so far, and why corporate volunteer programs are on the rise. Corporate managers agree that volunteerism delivers big benefits with employee engagement, professional development and employee morale. No surprise, then, that according to the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy's 2011 Giving in Numbers survey, 89% of leading companies had a formal domestic employee volunteer program and 94% offered at least one matching gift program in 2010.
SOURCE: THE HUFFINGTON POST

 

Health System Offers Staff 'Carrots' to Slim Down

Geisinger Health System is serious about health, including that of its employees. The company, which serves about 2.6 million Pennsylvania residents, was among 66 U.S. employers named 2012 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles by the National Business Group on Health. Geisinger was acknowledged for cultivating a culture of wellness among employees.
SOURCE: HR.BLR.COM

 

Hospital Nurses Suffer from Depression at Twice the Average Rate

By Alicia Caramenico
Hospital nurses suffer depression at twice the rate of the general population, according to a study published in the May/June issue of Clinical Nurse Specialist. In fact, nurses showed depressive symptoms at a rate of 18 percent, double the national norm of 9 percent.
SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE

 

Hospital Makes Nutritious Food More Available

By Elana Gordon
A surprising number of hospitals continue to host major fast-food restaurants on their premises. In Kansas City, Truman Medical Center is trying to compete with McDonalds' by serving healthier food. In the past, hospitals have been slammed for offering not so healthy choices.
SOURCE: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

 

Social Networks Influence Health Behavior

By Allison Floyd
Organizations can use social networks to prevent disease and promote general health, according to research conducted at the University of Southern California. USC researchers say that intervention made through social media on such topics as discouraging smoking, promoting physical activity to curb obesity and preventing the spread of STDs is likely to succeed because it passes information by word-of-mouth.
SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE

 

Why There Is a Big Employer Focus on Getting Employees to Stop Smoking

By Fran Melmed
Tobacco use holds a top spot among the health risks employers focus on through their wellness programs. You may wonder why. After all, public bans on tobacco use at work, restaurants and even in homes must be making a dent, right? Well, yes and no. Tobacco use steadily declined from 2000 to 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but it has stalled since then. Currently, 20 percent still smoke.
SOURCE: TLNT

 

Hospitals Focus on Worker Wellness Savings, Population Health

By Karen M. Cheung
Hospitals increasingly are formalizing population health management programs with most health leaders planning to launch such programs in the next two to five years, according to a white paper from business solutions provider Aegis Health Group.
SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE

 

By Sara Arthurs
For Laura Ritzler, balancing work life and home life is all about being a good role model. After all, Ritzler, co-director of wellness for ProMedica, has dedicated her career to helping others find wellness in the form of a healthy diet, exercise and stress management. Ritzler, who lives in Fostoria but is co-director of wellness for the entire ProMedica system, is responsible for the employee wellness program for ProMedica's 14,000 employees, worksite wellness such as health screenings, education and assessments for other employers, and community wellness classes for the public.
SOURCE: REVIEWTIMES.COM

 

Hospital Employees Lose Weight, Get Free Health Insurance

By Melissa Sersland
Neither Liz Quinones nor Howie Manuel followed a magic formula to lose more than 30 pounds each in less than six months. Both Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital employees named healthy eating and working out as the keys to their success in losing the most weight in a hospital-sponsored healthy living contest. In recognition of their achievement, both will receive free health insurance for a year – a prize valued at more than $1,200.
SOURCE: PATCH

 

Detroit Medical Center Is Latest in Growing Number of Michigan Hospitals to Stop Hiring Smokers

By Melissa Anders
Most companies require drug tests before hiring a new employee, but some Michigan hospitals are taking their applicant screening a step further. Several Michigan hospitals will not offer a job to someone who smokes or chews tobacco. It’s a growing trend among hospitals a select other employers in an effort to cut down on employee health care costs while promoting a healthy lifestyle.
SOURCE: MLIVE

 

New Study Explains Why Doctors May be Apprehensive to Recommend Weight Loss and Exercise

By Milt Bedingfield
If getting exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight are so important, particularly for patients with prediabetes or diabetes, have you ever wondered why your physician may not have really emphasized to you the need for exercise and losing weight, that is if you need to lose weight? As it turns out, a study published in the January issue of Obesity suggests physicians that maintain a more normal body weight themselves are more likely to recommend to their overweight or obese patients the need for weight loss and feel comfortable doing so.
SOURCE: THE HUFFINGTON POST

 

Hospital Meals Overdo it on Salt

By Genevra Pittman
Hospital food often contains much more sodium than dietary guidelines recommend, a new study from Canada suggests. Researchers found that almost four in five patients not on a sodium-restricted diet ordered hospital meals that exceeded the Institute of Medicine's maximum recommendation of 2,300 milligrams of salt per day. And almost half of all patients who were supposed to be watching their salt intake were served food with sodium levels above their prescribed limit.
SOURCE: REUTERS HEALTH / MSNBC

 

Hospital Kitchen Feels and Works Like Home

By Courtney Kasianowicz
The goal: Create a kitchen at the Franciscan Hospital for Children in Brighton, Massachusetts, where patients and staff could work and eat together in a homelike setting. The facilitator: Donna Venegas of Venegas and Company in the Boston Design Center, who lead the charge to replace the cramped and outdated commercial kitchen in the Community Based Acute Treatment (CBAT) Program Unit with one that is invitingly colorful, easy-to-use, and homey.
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE

 

110 Smart Snacks for Nurses

By Daryn Eller
In the middle of your shift, suddenly things calm down and you realize: I’m hungry. So you survey the options: A.) the vending machine (too unhealthy, to say nothing of unappealing); B.) the thank-you box of cookies made by a patient’s well-meaning spouse (too fattening and too full of sugar...and will end up sapping what energy you have left); and C.) snack du jour from the cafeteria (too time-consuming and not exactly great gourmet fare). Inevitably you end up with choice A or B, feeling guilty or dissatisfied (or both!), and wishing you had thought ahead to bring something from home—not just anything, but something delicious.
SOURCE: SCRUBS MAGAZINE