Many organizations are now offering free health and wellness screenings for their employees. It is a true win-win: employees receive a thorough assessment of their current health status and potential future health risks at no cost, while employers are able to determine the total population health of the organization and can take the first steps towards treating employees at-risk for developing chronic health conditions (such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.) as well as helping employees with existing chronic health issues to manage and improve their conditions.
Determining this information is essential to a company’s bottom line. According to a 2011 Gallup poll, it was estimated that unhealthy workers cost U.S. businesses $153 billion dollars per year in lost productivity, and without proper preventive care measures, this number continues to climb as health care costs continue to rise.
How to Run Wellness Screenings
Health and wellness screenings can come in many forms, but combining an initial Health Risk Assessment with a comprehensive biometric screening is a highly effective way to obtain the data needed to identify, stratify, reach and treat your highest risk employees.
Marathon Health uses a proprietary Health History and Risk Assessment (HHRA) tool that is available to all of our customers’ members online. The HHRA tracks 20 important health risk factors, including: blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol use, body mass index, stress, exercise, safety belt use, amount of sleep and more. The HHRA matches patient information with an extensive medical database to provide guidance tailored to each individual patient, and then automatically populates the data to the patient’s online Personal Health Record. It is recommended that employees complete the HHRA annually, but this may vary depending on organizational health incentives and goals for risk factor measurement.
Standard biometric screening services include blood pressure, weight, BMI, body fat percentage, full lipid panel, and fasting glucose levels. Biometric screenings involve a blood draw, and testing can be performed using the finger stick method or venipuncture. Marathon Health utilizes the finger stick method, as biometric results are available within five minutes and can be discussed with the patient during a “teachable moment” immediately following the screening. The biometric screening data, like the Health Risk Assessment data, also auto-populates into the PHR for employees and the EMR for clinicians. Marathon Health recommends holding mass biometric screening events annually.
Putting the Data to Use
Once the data is obtained from the HHRA, the biometric screening, existing claims data or encounter data from an onsite or near-site health center, Marathon Health is able to stratify the employee population at three risk levels (high, medium, and low). The Marathon Health EMR then automatically creates patient lists, allowing our clinicians to reach out to all at-risk patients, starting with those with the highest risk. Using this combination of wellness screening data, risk stratification and outreach, we are able to help patients develop effective, manageable plans to improve their health and become happier and more productive employees.
