April 8, 2011
Efforts to improve team member health while saving the health care system money are paying off, as TriHealth has been named the 2011 Healthiest Employer in Greater Cincinnati with 5,000 or more team members.
“Within the TriHealth system, we’ve always been good at taking care of other people,” said John Prout, president and chief executive officer of TriHealth. “What makes me so proud of this recognition is that it reflects that we also have become a leader in taking care of ourselves."
From 2005 to 2009, as TriHealth Corporate Health teamed up with Human Resources, team member wellness programs saved TriHealth $14.3 million and improved health among the 10,000-team member organization. Those efforts continue today.
"We've really come together over the last several years in our efforts to collaborate across disciplines, review corporate health data and ask team members about their needs and wants,” Pam Shannon, vice president of Population Management at TriHealth, told the Cincinnati Business Courier. "We’re acting on that information by providing convenient access to our expertise through offerings of programs to help them manage diabetes, learn healthier eating habits, combat obesity, exercise, practice preventative health, get appropriate health screenings (and) quit smoking.”
"Our team members are happier and healthier, and our bottom line is healthier as a result.”Nancy Garrison, director of Human Resources at TriHealth, says team members are catching diseases including hypertension, diabetes and cancer sooner, while it is still treatable. This has a profound impact for the team member, but it also saves TriHealth money because preventative care doesn't cost as much as emergency episodic care.
Many TriHealth team members are not only healthier, they're saving money along with the organization. "We’ve been able to bend the trend in drastic spikes in insurance costs by investing in our team member health efforts. Our premiums have gone down the last two times we’ve had to go to bid,” Garrison told the Business Courier.
Some of the ways TriHealth is improving team member health is by offering:
TriHealth Corporate Health worked with TriHealth Human Resources to offer a tobacco-free discount and consumer directed health care plans, introduce a wellness program and review prescription drug usage.
"Our team members are happier and healthier, and our bottom line is healthier as a result,” Shannon told the Business Courier. “We’re making a real impact on our mission to improve the health status of our community (which) is the ultimate reward for us.”
TriHealth’s pride also extends to the client winners and finalists with whom Corporate Health has worked to provide preventive health services. iSqFt/Construction Software Technologies won in its category for 100-499 team members, and numerous other clients made the list of finalists: Chiquita Brands, City of Cincinnati, Great Oaks, PEP, Standard Textile and Total Quality Logistics.