ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse

FROM ASHHRA
The Call for Proposals for the ASHHRA 51st Annual Conference & Exposition is now open. Join ASHHRA for the premier educational event and networking experience for the health care human resources (HR) profession! Consider becoming ASHHRA faculty to share your best practices, innovative solutions and expertise with health care HR professionals and enable them to lead the way to achieve excellence in their organizations.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.ashhra.org/conference/2015/index.shtml
 
BENEFITS

By Nick Otto, Employee Benefit News

Preparing Americans for retirement is at the forefront of priorities for lawmakers and industry, as putting off saving for retirement for even a few years will shortchange employees in their golden years.

Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/ebn_retirement_education_finance/stalling-retirement-savings-costs-big-for-employees-2744741-1.html?portal=ebn_co_benefits_strategy to view the full article online.

 

By Andy Stonehouse, Employee Benefit News

EBN’s inaugural technology survey indicates that 41 percent of respondents plan to increase their spending on technology next year, with 45 percent having already increased their spending from 2013 to 2014. Much of that spending is directed toward new employee portals and front-end systems to better integrate and utilize various benefits functionalities (health, retirement, voluntary benefits and more).

Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/ebn_co_benefits_strategy/employers-hungry-for-improved-enrollment-communications-tools-2744758-1.html to view the full article online.

 

By Dan Cook, BenefitsPro

Priorities within the benefits management community may be shifting. A survey of a small group of HR and benefits professionals found that, within this group, benefits communications with employees outranked lowering overall health plan costs as the top priority.

Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2014/11/14/benefits-communications-slowly-turning-around to view the full article online.

 

By Nick Otto, Employee Benefit News

Engaging with employees can be difficult, and the routine, repetitive manner of barraging workers with nagging emails doesn’t quite seem to do the trick. But some employers are taking different tactics, such as text messaging, to enhance employee-employer engagement.

Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/ebn_co_benefits_communication/going-mobile-can-add-weight-to-employee-engagement-2744737-1.html to view the full article online.

 

By Marlene Y. Satter, BenefitsPro

As plan sponsors increasingly incorporate features to coax them in, millennials – who have indicated in numerous surveys that they don’t see much point in saving for retirement and are too raddled with student loan debt to contribute much – are apparently beginning to change their tune.

Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2014/11/17/millennials-waking-up-to-401k-possibilities to view the full article online.

 

EBRI.org

The vast majority of workers say their benefits package is important to their decision to take a job, as supported by the high take-up rates when benefits are offered, according to a new report by EBRI. 

Visit http://www.ebri.org/publications/notes/index.cfm?fa=notesDisp&content_id=5459 to view the full article online.

 

By Laurie Winslow, Tulsa World

Diane Knights’ motivational moment occurred in 2011 when Danny Cahill,
a former winner of "The Biggest Loser," was invited to speak to
employees at Williams Cos. Inc., where she works.

Visit http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/retail/getting-fit-company-wellness-programs-run-the-gamut-programs-encourage/article_2e5f49ee-e257-5412-9ac5-d7c356991335.html to view the full article online.

 

By Tom Murphy, Times Record News

Many workers will soon find that their health insurance costs more and
covers less next year and that employers have taken a sharper interest in their
well-being. Experts say the effect of a health care overhaul tax that doesn’t
start until 2018 is already being felt.

Visit http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/onthemoneyemployee-health-benefits_54624656 to view the full article online.

 
WELLNESS

By Nick Otto, Employee Benefit News

If employers only look at wellness from a 9-to-5 point of view, they
are missing valuable opportunities to engage employees. Wellness doesn’t end at
5:00 p.m., said one expert at the National Business Coalition on Health’s
annual conference.

Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/ebn_hc_wellness_disease/gamification-helps-workers-take-wellness-home-2744718-1.html?portal=ebn_co_benefits_strategy to view the full article online.

 

WorldAtWork

While the unemployment rate may have dropped in the past year, that doesn't mean the workloads of those already employed are easing up. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. full-time employees are suffering from work overload, a 14 percent increase from 2013.

Visit http://www.worldatwork.org/adimComment?id=76176&from=Work-Life%20News to view the full article online.

 

By Dan Cook, BenefitsPro

Financial wellness programs are starting to get more attention from
insurers and benefits designers as studies continue to support their inclusion
in a strong benefits package.

Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2014/11/04/commitment-to-financial-wellness-pays-dividends to view the full article online.

 

By Dina Overland, FierceHealthPayer

Prudential Financial has implemented wellness programs, with a strong emphasis on holistic care, that have significantly lowered employees' health risks and decreased stress and depression among its workers.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/story/holistic-focused-wellness-programs-helped-lower-employees-health-risks/2014-11-11 to view the full article online.

 

By Dina Overland, FierceHealthPayer

I did a lot of shaking my head as I wrote about Honeywell's wellness
program last week. The New Jersey-based company is planning on penalizing
employees who don't participate in health screenings; and a federal judge just
sanctioned those penalties, which include fining employees $500 for not
undergoing biometric screenings and withholding $1,500 annually in company
contributions to employees' health savings accounts for not undergoing wellness
screenings like blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol tests.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/story/why-wellness-programs-should-use-positive-incentives-instead-negative-conse/2014-11-10 to view the full article online.

 

Rene Letourneau, HealthLeaders Media

While retail locations and wellness centers may not be big moneymakers in their own right, the return on investment can be considerable if measured through increased market share and reduced government penalties for readmissions.

Visit http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/HR-309934/The-Indirect-ROI-of-Retail-and-Wellness-Models to view the full article online.

 

By Sarah McColl, TakePart

Food-service managers and chefs from seven medical facilities along the 11-mile stretch between the downtown areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul, called the Central Corridor, met recently to eat community garden carrots and local handmade tamales. They gathered, along with nine area colleges, not just to nosh, but to figure out how to keep more of what is collectively a $25 million annual food budget within the Twin Cities. Not only are handmade tortillas, crisp watercress and chocolate sorbet infinitely more appealing than jiggly cubes of green Jell-O, buying local products is a boon to the communities these hospitals and clinics serve.

Visit http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/10/28/hospitals-local-food to view the full article online.

 

By Dolly A. Butz, Sioux City Journal

Drivers for a Le Mars, Iowa, over-the-road trucking company are
constantly on the move; but in spite of their hectic schedules, they are able
to participate in a company-sponsored wellness program. Erica Wenzel, director
of human resources for Schuster Co., said the program was developed a year ago
out of concern for the health of the company's drivers.

Visit http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/siouxland-worksite-wellness-programs-paying-off/article_2c2c04ea-1740-5161-b150-d6e0c9babc2c.html to view the full article online.

 

HealthDay

Health workers in hospitals wash their hands less often as they near
the end of their shift, a new study has found; and this lapse – likely due to
mental fatigue – could contribute to hundreds of thousands of patient
infections a year in the United States, the researchers noted.

Visit http://consumer.healthday.com/caregiving-information-6/hospital-news-393/hospital-workers-wash-hands-less-at-end-of-shift-693627.html?related=true&utm_expid=38353063-2.r5ETjFV6SrG5_xobVbsyDw.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F to view the full article online.