Delia Vetter, Senior Director of Benefits at EMC, talks about comprehensive approach to creating a healthy workforce - from plan design, incentives, PHR’s and employee education.

In today’s global economy, employers must think about health care beyond ‘just paying for health care’. It requires a new way of thinking. It’s a shift from the traditional employer mind set of providing and paying for health care, to managing the health and of the workforce.

A healthy work force is a competitive advantage.

Tony Miller co-founded Lemhi Ventures in 2006 to build the capital base and value added approach of forming and helping companies continue to advance the marketization of the healthcare industry. Additionally, Mr. Miller is part of the leadership team at Carol Corporation, a Lemhi Ventures Portfolio company. Mr. Miller serves on the Boards of VisionShare, and Carol Corporation. Prior to founding Lemhi Ventures, Mr. Miller was a co-founder and CEO of Definity Health, a national market leader in consumer-driven health benefit programs, which was sold to UnitedHealth Group in 2004.

John Kelly, former Chief Medical Officer, Union Pacific Railroad, started our conversation by saying, “Union Pacific has recognized for a long time that the health of our employees affects the success of our business.” Healthy employees make for good, safe and productive workers.

By focusing on specific issues, such as smoking, Union Pacific has been able to create a healthier workforce. Employees who smoke, for example, have more health expenses and are absent more often.

Education is important, but not enough. Incentives are also important. Rules such as not smoking in the office was a start. The next step was to ban smoking from the facilities. Finally, the company stopped hiring smokers. Support programs were implemented to help smokers quit.

Union Pacific implemented programs to help employees quit smoking. But just focusing on the employee is not enough. Union Pacific focused on the family and the community as well. Support was offered to family members who smoked.

This interview was filmed at the Consumer Health World Conference in Washington DC. Click here to watch all interviews from the Conference. Click here to purchase conference multimedia.

David Miller: Partner & Director of Brand Strategy, STOKE, discusses brand design at the Healthcare Communications Forum, hosted by Insight Forums.

Health care marketers face significant challenges to developing clear brands. The clutter of messages about “quality,” the barrage of “world-class” technology claims, and the proliferation of “Institute” names has resulted in a vast sea of sameness. Leading organizations in other industries - among them Starbucks, Target, Whole Foods, and Apple — are using the principles of brand design as a strategic driver, and an effective platform for market differentiation.

This session provides insights into how brand design is being and can be used in the context of health care to create high-performance businesses.

Watch this session and you will learn:

• How brand design correlates to business performance
• How to measure the performance of your brand and compare it to your competitors’
• How to integrate brand design into your strategic planning and to organize brand design programs within your organization
• How to use brand design to shape your customers’ perceptions

David Miller

David Miller
Partner & Director of Brand Strategy, STOKE

David Miller has a diverse background in strategic marketing and brand development. As a founder of STOKE, a Seattle-based brand design firm, he works with leading health care, financial service, technology, and consumer product clients, using research and strategic planning to guide clients to the organizational change and market positioning that creates winning brands.

Mr. Miller has worked with GE Healthcare, Starbucks, McDonalds, Swedish Medical Center, Colliers International, Callison, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, AAA, Safeco, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Washington, and Children’s Hospital. His work has been recognized by Advertising Age magazine with the “Newspaper Marketer of the Year” award, and The Puget Sound Business Journal recognized him as one of Washington’s “40-under-40,” placing him among the top young business leaders in the Northwest. He was named as one of Graphic Design USA’s “50 People to Watch.” A noted public speaker and guest lecturer at the UW’s MBA program, his writing has been published in Brandweek, HOW Magazine, Communication Arts and Marketing.

Mr. Miller has served as President of Marketing Communication Executives International (MCEI), on the board of The Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center-Business Alliance, and as board chair to the American Marketing Association in Seattle.

Caroline Waters, Director People and Policy, British Telecom, discusses the benefits of providing flexible scheduling to caregivers, how it has made British Telecom a better company through employee retention, and debunks company fears about having a flex-time workforce.

George Pfeiffer of the WorkCare Group, Sean Slovenski of Hummingbird Coaching Services, and Richard Perryman of Health Coach Systems speak about Worksite and Corporate Wellness Programs at Consumer Health World in Las Vegas.

This video is from Consumer Health World.

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Russ Newman, PhD, of the American Psychological Association, Jeremy Nicol, MBBCH, of Virgin Life Care, and Larry Goldman, DMD, of ValueOptions speak about Incentives for Behavior Change at Consumer Health World.

This video is from Consumer Health World.

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Increasingly, individuals and families are considering health insurance policies with higher deductibles than traditional policies. Sometimes, employers are asking their employees to enroll in these plans, either as an option or the only health insurance plan available to employees. Individuals and families purchasing health insurance on their own can sometimes only find affordable health insurance if they choose a policy with a high deductible.

Some, but not all, of the newer health insurance policies with high deductibles may qualify individuals and families for a new type of trust or custodial account that has certain tax advantages, called a “Health Savings Account” or “HSA.” An HSA offers a way to put aside money to pay for your routine medical expenses and help you save money on taxes. HSAs are designed to fill in the gaps for “catastrophic” insurance policies that cover larger medical bills.

Most of us know that we can lower or premiums on our auto or homeowners insurance by raising our policy deductible. But few of us actually put the savings into a “rainy day” fund in case we actually have to pay our deductible when we have a claim. HSAs offer a way of putting money into that “rainy day” fund for health care. The tax benefits that come with the HSA make the opportunity that much better.

Health Savings Accounts do not solve all of the problems with obtaining health insurance. However, for many individuals and families, HSAs can make health insurance more affordable while providing an alternative way of financing their medical coverage.

Dr. James Goodnight, CEO of SAS Institute believes that if you create a work environment where everyone is healthy happy and content, the company will be better off. Sounds intuitive, but there must be a cost associated with this. Dr. Goodnight says that on-site health care, which includes doctors and nurse practitioners who are company employees, actually saves the company money.

Pam Armstrong, EOS Airlines, represents the employer community and has recently adopted HSAs for her small 250 person company. The rate of increase of health care costs has been EOS’s major challenge.

A high deductible health plan, packaged with health savings accounts, helps open employees eyes and make sure they become accountable and watch how their health care dollars are spent. The HSA gives the carrot, if they save more, employees can keep the money and will have a better long term ability to pay for things.