Methods of Controlling Healthcare Costs - Essay Example

? Company wellness plan Traditional methods of controlling healthcare costs such as reducing the employees benefits and increasing employee contributions and the recent emergency of the consumer driven health plans have totally failed to address the soaring health care costs hence companies have focused their attention on prevention strategies like health risk management and workplace accidents control. Lack of proper planning of the wellness program may lead to employee resistance and increased medical costs to the organization. It is the duty of the management to sensitize the employees on the overall benefits of participation in wellness programs from both the employee and Company perspective. The management should strive to capture the demographic information of all the employees including their medical history and wellness needs. The management should also incorporate the needs of the employee spouses and dependants in the wellness plans in order to attract full participation of all the employees. Cost shifting and reducing the employee benefits in order to provide the wellness programs may attract a lot of resistance from the employees Company wellness plan Introduction Employers are now expected to create safe working environments, improve the employee health and implement programs which reduce the medical costs as well as increase the employee work efficiency (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Employers are also expected to meet the workplace health regulations set by the local and State regulatory authorities hence the company wellness plans can be customized to meet these needs. The company wellness plan should include wellness facility planning, health and productivity plans, executive health programs, employee health improvement plans, on-site health care and worker’s compensation management (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Third parties can be contacted to provide wellness services like weight management, disease prevention and control services, smoking cessation programs and health screening programs like blood pressure testing and cholesterol screening (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). A company wellness program should also include on-site physical therapy, prompt referral to specialized treatment and comprehensive networking with different health care providers. Customized Company wellness programs are beneficial to the organization and cost effective to the employer (Bray, 2009). Company wellness plans have numerous benefits to both the employers and the employee. The plans result to increased productivity, less absenteeism and reduced disability claims (Bray, 2009). Health promotion in the wellness plan gives the employees a sense of ownership of the program hence they can work together to improve the safety standards in the organization (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Tobacco smoking is one of the leading causes of respiratory related diseases hence implementing tobacco cessation programs in the wellness plan can help the company retain most of its skilled employers and reduce the costs associated with recruiting and training new employees. Companies benefit greatly from prevention of violence in the workplace and diversity education since the wellness plans result in economic savings (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Obesity and tobacco provoke indirect hazards related to health care hence the company can improve the welfare of the employees by addressing these health challenges. The Company wellness program develops a Company culture of shared beliefs and norms where employees know that they are expected to exhibit a particular healthy behavior and lifestyle (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Companies face numerous challenges in implementing the wellness plans. The main challenge is the availability of demographic data of the employees. Companies’ employees comprise different age groups each with unique health needs (Bray, 2009). The company may face challenges in obtaining the disease history of the employees since such information is classified as private information. Some companies have operations in multiple locations hence it is costly to implement wellness facilities in all the locations (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). The modern wellness programs improve the financial bottom line of most companies due to reduced medical costs and disability claims. The programs included in the wellness plans currently include health assessments, web-based health education and coaching, programs on weight loss, smoking cessation programs and stress management. The programs encourage employee exercise, good dieting and ergonomics which generally will improve the employee productivity and morale in their work (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2012). Case study of Fresno and Sunnyvale wellness plans According to the current wellness plans, the medical costs have increased by 15 percent which is above the industry average of 12 percent. The company preferred provider organizations have not prevented the members from seeking services to the exclusive provider organizations since the wellness plan is not standardized. For instance, Coinsurance for the out-of-network employees is low compared to the coinsurance for the in-network employees hence the Company should standardize the services offered irrespective of the provider. Hospitalization charges are double for the out-of Network employees. The preventive services which form the bulk of modern wellness plans have been capped to a maximum of $ 1,500 where only there is 90 percent after deductible for the out-of Network employees. The wellness program provides zero deductible for Exclusive provider organizations hence does not consider the needs of employees who may seek services in those organizations. According to the available wellness program, participation rate is 7 percent of the population. This means that health risk assessment program in the organization is not well communicated to the employees. The program is only advertised once in the year during the open enrollment. Participation of the manufacturing employees and their spouses is 4 percent yet they are the most exposed to the health risks like accidents in the workplace (Bray, 2009). The 10,000 steps program which encourages employees to improve their walking is offered to only employees but no their spouses and dependants. Only professional employees participate with little or no engineers. Participation of the program is about 8 percent which is quite low. In disease management, only three types of diseases are catered for which are cardiovascular, asthma and diabetes. The wellness plan only includes phone calling which means there is no sufficient communications with the related employees (Chenoweth, 2011). The disease management vendor only calls some members who he considers high-risk members hence it has no prevention mechanisms for the employees. The wellness plan only considers the medical and pharmacy data hence no on-site screening which is based at the company location which may be the reasons for the low participation of the employees. The program does not allow members to return the calls. The vendor has limited his operations since he has only identified only 200 members who he considers high risk out of the 13,000 members of the wellness plan. Only 25 members of the high risk are considered in the phone coaching which leaves the rest of 175 members with no other communication mechanism (Bray, 2009). The company holds 2 annual health fairs which happen during the working days. The company should at hold the health fairs during the non-working days so as to allow all the employees to participate in the health fair (Chenoweth, 2011). It is a good move by the company to pay for the expenses of the blood screening but it should expand the same service to the screening of other diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and asthma. The Health E-newsletter is both available in the company intranet and members receive it in hard copies after every four months. The company should change the trend and allow the members to receive the newsletter each month in hard copy. The company should implement a online messaging system where every member can receive is health progress on an ongoing basis by sending a simple text message to the Company wellness plan system (Bray, 2009). The wellness plan does not provide for gyms in the workplace. The Company should provide gym facilities in the two locations since they can improve the recreational needs of the employees which are essential in dealing with the cardiovascular diseases (Bray, 2009). The company does not consider the demographic characteristics of the employees in the wellness plans. For instance, engineers who hardly participate in the health risk assessment and walking programs have the lowest tenure which implies dissatisfaction with the company current wellness programs thus high turn over (Chenoweth, 2011). The Company wellness plan has not addresses the wrists and back problems which generally are likely to be high due to the physical nature of the work which is provided by the engineers who compose bulk of the workforce (Chenoweth, 2011). The company has incurred high compensation costs for the musculoskeletal diagnosis which means that most of the patients seek such treatment from the out-of-network providers using their income (Bray, 2009). Conclusion: Recommendations Evidence shows that companies needs to implement wellness plans which reduce injuries, health costs and the disability cases in the company. Additional benefits of Company wellness programs include the reduced absenteeism, increased employee productivity and the reduced use of the health care benefits provided by the Company. Wellness programs also increase the employee loyalty to the company which reduces the level of turnover hence many companies have implemented the wellness programs. The percent of participation in the wellness plans which is currently low. The management seems not committed to the welfare program hence it is their duty to disseminate information on the benefits of the wellness program to the employees. The current sensitization programs which include the bi-annual event, Health E-newsletter which is delivered after four months and the risk assessment online questionnaire are limited in their effectiveness of delivering information to the employees hence real time methods should be implemented like a real time online messaging system which assesses the employee wellness progress and recommends on areas of improvement. The company has done well in providing a cafeteria to the employees but it has failed to coach the employees on proper dieting which is essential in reducing cardiovascular diseases and stress related diseases. All the members should be allowed to use phone coaching and return calls and recreation facilities should be implemented in the two work locations since the engineers have low participation in walking program which may be due to their tight working schedules. The employees have not been offered an opportunity to share their views on the impact of the wellness plan which may be an indicator of the low participation hence the management should provide conducive environment where the employees are free to share private information on their disease history and wellness needs. Cases of hypertension, asthma and musculoskeletal diseases account for more than 60 percent of the medical costs hence it is the duty of the Company to improve on the physical facilities and implement early prevention measures where these diseases can be diagnosed at their early stage. The wellness plan has not provided for any coaching on the safety rules in the workplace hence the management should provide adequate training on safety precautions within the facilities since the cases of accidents and disabilities to the employees are increasing every year. The providers of the wellness plans have not provided for the diagnosis of musculoskeletal complications despite it affecting most of the employers. The musculoskeletal diseases can be attributed to the low participation of the employees in the walking programs. The company should sensitize the workers on the musculoskeletal diagnosis and implement measures which reduce such conditions such as enough work-life balance or tools which ensure comfort while working. The Company should implement programs which address the healthy and eating habits of the workers since employees are only allowed to complete questionnaires on habits such as smoking and exercise. The company should implement tobacco cessation programs which in my view may be the highest cause of cardiovascular complications. The company should increase the incentives for participating in the wellness programs such as promotions. References: Bray, I. (2009). Healthy employees, healthy business: easy, affordable ways to promote workplace wellness. New York. Berkeley Publishers. Chenoweth, D. (2011). Worksite health promotion. Champaign. Human Kinetics. Jackson, S., Schuler, R & Werner, S. (2012). Managing human resources. Mason. South Western Cengage Learning. Read More