While not all stress happens at work, employers can go a long way to help their employees reduce the pressure. Not only does reducing stress lead to fewer trips to the doctor, and less absenteeism, there’s a bonus: it helps increase productivity too.

Here are a few ways employers can help.

1.Encourage healthy behavior. Exercise is a proven stress-reducer. Just a brisk, 10-minute walk around your company campus can do wonders. Try implementing a walk break a few times a week and see what happens. Add a seventh-inning stretch during a long meeting. Good nutrition also helps overall mood. Encourage healthy snacks like fresh fruit and nuts rather than vending machine fare like chips and candy.

2.Promote positive thinking. Negative attitudes in the workplace can drive down morale and spike the stress level. While a Pollyanna attitude isn’t useful, remind managers to keep things in perspective when setting the general company mood.

3.Bring in some fun. Research shows that a good guffaw beats an apple for keeping the doctor away. Incorporate humor and fun activities, appropriately of course, to help lighten the mood.

4.Offer options for relaxation. While exercise helps the overall mood, sometimes just a break from the frantic pace can be a good short-term fix. Consider adding a lounge chair in a break room to allow employees to lie back and close their eyes for 10 minutes. Invite lunchtime speakers with tips about simple things like yoga stretches and deep breathing exercises. This type of information is often more well received in smaller groups rather than in an all-company meeting.

5.Remind employees of all of their options. Going to the doctor, where the answer is often medication, isn’t always the best solution. If your company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) make sure you are promoting it, often and in various communication styles, to reach all your target audiences.

Businessolver makes it easy to target special audiences. HR administrators can craft messages to go to the whole company; break it down by department, location or employee class; or down to the individual level.   Talk to a Businessolver representative today to find out more about personalizing YOUR message.

As you recover from the blur of annual enrollment, you’re likely thinking about what worked and what didn’t work. You may be wondering about that really cool-looking HR technology that your team is sure will make everything better. Be careful not to fall in love with features that may not actually address your real needs. Before you write the check, be sure you’re making decisions with an HR technology strategy in place. Start with the basics:

• Consider the business outcomes. Instead of focusing on the technology first, start with the outcomes you’d like to accomplish. Make a list of outcomes and make those the centerpiece of your technology evaluation.

• Align your HR tech strategy with overall corporate goals. You’ll likely have a hard time selling HR technology to decision makers if you’re focused solely on your team’s outcomes. Understand corporate goals and draw a straight line to your HR tech strategies and outcomes.

You may have purchased a corporate wellness package, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But often such programs are one-size-fits-all, while most research shows that the most successful wellness programs are customized.

Don’t throw up your hands in despair if you feel you’ve thrown money at something that won’t work; just realize that you need to tailor your purchased program to your company’s needs, and to specific populations within your structure. For example, 20-somethings will probably be more motivated by fitness challenges and messages that speak to their vanity, while older workers might be more likely to respond to information about disease prevention.

Also be realistic about changing lifelong habits overnight. Obesity is the number one health problem facing the healthcare industry today, which means you have a two-front war: diet and exercise. Eating patterns are established very early in life and often come with strong emotional ties; even the most well-intentioned have trouble thinking about food differently. Simply offering a program and self-service links to websites probably isn’t going to motivate much change.

The following strategies are recognized by industry experts for making sure your wellness program is still alive and well after Groundhog’s Day.

1. Get support from the top. Your executive team can set an example by visibly participating in wellness programs. Top leadership should also share the “we’re all in this together” message about controlling costs.
2. Put your money where your mouth is. Research shows considerable ROI is possible with wellness programs. But success doesn’t come for free. Be prepared to outlay some expenses in order to see a greater return.
3. Get the word out. Motivation takes reminding. Constantly. Keep the message fresh and keep it coming. Tailor it to small groups, down to the individual level if possible.

The Businessolver online enrollment platform offers many opportunities to promote and track wellness participation. Your wellness plan can be linked to annual benefits enrollment, and then promoted and supported all year long with links to websites, custom messaging, surveys and more. Resolve to connect with your Businessolver representative today to find out how we can help you achieve your company’s wellness goals.

A good place to start is your company’s wellness program, especially if you implemented something new. Capitalize on your employees’ New Year’s resolutions and encourage participation in smoking cessation, weight loss and exercise programs. Consider a January special incentive for participation to get the year off to a good start. Heart rate monitors, exercise clothing, water bottles and gym bags make great prizes.

This is a new plan year and your insurance plans may have changed. Employees might appreciate reminders and updates about the new plans. If this is the first year for a Consumer Directed Health Plan (CDHP) which might include a Health Savings Account (HSA), consider holding educational brown bag lunches to answer questions or concerns about how to maintain these accounts and take full advantage.

Keep the reminders going about spending FSA accounts; if your company has a grace period for last year’s reimbursements, send out reminders.  Employees will be digging through receipts to get ready for tax time; it’s also a good time to review 2011 medical expenses.

Winter is blah time and many employees may suffer from seasonal depression or winter blues. If your company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), they may appreciate a reminder that limited free counseling is available.

Suddenly, it sounds like you have a busy January, but time spent wisely now will enable you to have a less stressful 2012. And, after all, wasn’t that one of your resolutions?

A recent study conducted by Buck Consultants shows that this is beginning to happen.

Participants in the study say they are making healthier lifestyle choices, putting more money in their HSA accounts, shopping for lower cost prescription medication and researching healthcare options.

It’s not always easy to change behavior. “You can’t expect an employee to do something that benefits the employer if it is difficult,” said Devon M. Herrick, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.  Employers need to give them tools to become better consumers and a reason to use those tools.”

“It all comes down to plan design, incentives, a communication strategy and facilitating right behaviors,” said Joann Hall Swenson, health engagement best practice leader for consultancy at Aon Hewitt. It’s important that when employees use healthcare services, they are aware of the costs and have an incentive to reduce those costs.

The most common incentive is an employer contribution to HSAs and HRAs connected to the CDHPs.  But some employers are beginning to add a “stick” to their “carrot.”

The Buck survey shows that more employers are jumping on federal regulations that allow penalizing employees who don’t participate in wellness programs; nearly 40% of employers plan to add such penalties in 2012.

Businessolver can help you help your employees get the most out of their HSA. Online calculators and the ability to link to other sites without leaving the benefits enrollment page make it easy for them to make choices. Custom messaging options, surveys and wellness program tracking help keep them engaged all year.

For more information about how you can promote your company’s wellness program, contact Businessolver today.

“The best approach is to individualize it and make it about me and what I need to do, given my health status and risks,” said Cathy Tripp, managing consultant at Aon Hewitt.

When preparing to personalize, consider the motivation. Some employees are inclined to improve their health because of chronic disease in their family; perhaps a close relative died at an early age from heart disease or cancer. Others are more concerned about maintaining weight for appearance. For better participation, tailor messages to both audiences. For example, posters, fliers or paycheck stuffers correlating high blood pressure to coronary disease might motivate one audience to monitor and control their blood pressure through your wellness program. The “vanity” audience, however, might respond better to a “biggest loser” competition or signs posted in your cafeteria with calorie content of foods served there.

Just as the message needs to match the population, so does the incentive. A recent report by the Incentive Research Foundation shows participation plummets to 20% when no incentive is offered. But it has to be the right reward. Highly paid employees aren’t likely to respond to cash awards, while cash and gift cards might be just the ticket for hourly or lower salary employees.

The Aon Hewitt survey also shows that 40 percent of respondents would like access to a wellness website, and 35 percent of respondents are in favor of personalized health tips and reminders. With Businessolver, that’s a snap. On Businessolver’s online enrollment platform, HR administrators can customize  the employee enrollment experience to include links or even single sign on to wellness sites. You can create personalized communication to various audiences, and then develop surveys to gauge  interest and get feedback. To discover more about how to tailor your wellness message to your audience, contact a Businessolver representative today.

Marcia A. Wright, senior director of medical affairs with Pfizer Inc., was a keynote speaker at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ annual conference in November.  She said employers should track the cost and volume of their workers’ most common health conditions and the pharmaceuticals and procedures they use. Then use that data to guide your strategy.

You can get your aggregate claims data from you plan’s insurer, broker, third-party administrator or benefits administration partner. Since the information is not revealed per individual, is not against HIPAA regulations to study the data.

One of the best indicators of future trends, according to another of the seminar speakers, is pharmacy data. William J. Einhorn, an administrator with Teamsters, said the medications your employees purchase today are a good indicator of the onset of conditions and diseases that may become extremely costly down the road.

Einhorn said to look for information such as: What services are being used? What services are not? What benefits or services should be covered but are not?

The 2007 book, BeneFIT Design: Seven Steps to Value-Based Health Benefit Decisions, lists the following information that should be “mined” for nuggets of gold:

Enrollee Information
• Who is enrolled and using your plan?
• Age, gender, member contributions, etc.

Direct Costs
• Utilization
• Paid claims
• Contributions and administrative costs
• Claims distributions

Indirect Costs
• Absenteeism (includes lost time because of disability)
• Presenteeism (includes return to work with limitations)
• Impacts on quality of life

Businessolver’s single source platform, Benefitsolver, delivers real-time analytics that allow you to closely monitor enrollments by benefits class to determine if your communication strategy is effective. Learn more about what enrollee and other information you can analyze within the Benefitsolver system by contacting your Businessolver representative.

Or, perhaps they’re overlooking some expenses incurred in 2011, which may mean they’re underestimating their 2012 needs.

As the year winds down, remind employees that if they have funds sitting in their FSA account, they need to spend it or lose it. Most plans allow a few months to submit claims, but expenses must be incurred this calendar year. Make sure you communicate to employees what your company’s policy is regarding submission dates.

In the weeks remaining, encourage employees to do the following to make sure they get the most out of their FSAs:

1. Be a receipt sleuth. Dig through old receipts to make sure you’ve claimed all qualifying expenses. If you find receipts for a pain reliever and ankle bandaging in conjunction with a sprained ankle, or a cough medicine at approximately the same time you had the flu, see if you can get your doctor’s authorization to submit them. To stay in your doctor’s good graces and avoid overwhelming the office staff, try to batch and submit requests all at once rather than trickling them as you find them.  Remember, you may have a few months’ grace period to submit them as long as the expenses were incurred this year.
2. Stock up. If you have disposable contact lenses, order refills. Usually you don’t need to visit your eye doctor if the prescription is up to date. If your prescription should change before you use unopened boxes, you can often exchange them. If you still have funds sitting there, consider purchasing  another pair of eyeglasses, or prescription sunglasses, on any current prescriptions.
3. Plan ahead. See if you can pay ahead on a procedure that is scheduled for next year, or on recurring expenses such as orthodontia.
4. Schedule routine appointments. If your child is due for immunizations or a dental checkup soon, or if you haven’t had your flu shots, get them taken care of during the holiday break from school.
5. Get a jump start on your New Year’s resolution. With a doctor’s recommendation, many smoking cessation and weight loss programs are eligible for reimbursement.
6. Calculate mileage. Gas and transportation fees to and from eligible medical, dental and vision appointments can be reimbursed at 19 cents per mile, as are visits to the pharmacy to pick up medications.

There is evidence that communicating effectively pays off. Once you get them there, they are happy. The Aon Hewitt survey shows a 97% satisfaction rating among wellness program participants. So how do you effectively communicate to encourage buy-in?

Aon Hewitt and Jennifer Benz, founder and chief strategist for Benz Communications, a benefits communication company, recommend the following strategies:

• Cut the jargon. Sometimes the technical terms for procedures—biometric screening, wellness assessment—can seem daunting. Make sure your terminology is clear, and repeat concepts and phrases in different ways to reinforce understanding.
• Paint the big picture. Just because YOU understand that tying employee wellness helps the whole company doesn’t mean the employees understand it. Making them feel part of a team effort generates enthusiasm and boosts participation.
• Reinforce privacy. Make sure your employees know that the information gathered during screenings and assessments will be kept confidential. Some are reluctant to participate because of the perceived “Big Brother” aspect.
• Don’t stop communicating. Your communication efforts shouldn’t stop when the enrollment deadline passes. Keep the message going all year long, to reinforce participation for those who DO participate, and to plant seeds for next year in those who were reluctant to join the effort.
• Hit close to home. Consumers say that want personalized information. You probably don’t have time for a one-on-one session with every employee, so how do you make it feel personal? When preparing your communication materials, include plenty of real life examples, citing as many specific scenarios as you can. In group meetings, make sure you make enough time for questions but also understand that many people are reluctant to share personal information in group settings and may also be hesitant to share in a one-on-one meeting with HR staff. Be sure to provide access, including online links, to information that will be helpful.

Businessolver makes it easy for companies to encourage and track wellness program participation. Our single sign-on system allows you to link employees to wellness sites and providers without leaving the online enrollment platform. You can create, personalize and post messages about company-sponsored wellness initiatives, and track participation through surveys and other tools.

For more information about how you can tie your wellness message into your enrollment platform, contact Businessolver today.

• Most employers don’t know, or seem to care, much about their employees’ health until they get the bill for an emergency room visit.
• Few employers understand that managing the most chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, depression, high cholesterol) can lead to reduced costs. They know how much they’re spending to treat their employees with these conditions, but they don’t have a good grasp on the percentage of their employee population affected by the diseases.
• Incentives bring mixed results. Some companies showed better outcomes without incentives for prevention and wellness screenings.

As a result of these findings, CHVI recommends employers begin to take a more active role in health benefits, starting with screening. Follow through by guiding employees on setting and tracking goals and and then building accountability.

“It’s important to treat employee benefits and health care expenses like other business practices,” says Gregg Kamas, CHVI board director. “Aligning responsibilities for all parts of the puzzle is a necessary step in taming health care and absence costs in a way that encourages good performance and good health.”

Are you integrating your wellness message into benefits annual enrollment? The message is more important than ever. Even if you’re not yet tying insurance premium rates to participation, it’s a growing trend, and integrating your message at enrollment time is a good way to introduce or reinforce the concept to your employees: YOU are responsible for your health, and you should be at least partially responsible for rising costs, especially if you engage in behavior that increases costs.

Benefitsolver, the single-source benefits enrollment platform implemented by Businessolver, makes it easy for employers to tie wellness in to the annual enrollment process. The system can, for example, link to smoking cessation programs and tie participation to plan offerings. Messages about company-sponsored wellness initiatives can be promoted and participation tracked. You can create custom surveys and tailor them to various employer groups. Links to health and wellness programs can be integrated into the appropriate stage of the enrollment process; for example, when enrolling a dependent, links to childhood immunization programs and child obesity prevention appear.

For more information about how you can tie your wellness message into your enrollment platform, contact Businessolver today.