Health Screenings: A Great First Step Toward Creating a Corporate Wellness Program
Oct 02, 2014 ● By Elizabeth Abrams
Photo Courtesy of InOut Labs
Workplace wellness is not dependent upon the size of a company or its budget. In fact, small businesses can create an appealing and effective plan with limited resources and a creative mindset. Even if a small company cannot provide group health plans it can create an environment of health and wellness.
You probably already know that big or small, employers report that healthy employees are more productive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthier workers are less inclined to call in sick or use vacation days for illnesses.
One of the easiest—and most cost effective—ways to increase wellness at work is to offer health screenings. Health screenings can help workers identify and target health risks that they may otherwise not discover. Offering health screenings makes it easy for people to begin taking care of themselves. Let’s face it: we spend a lot of time at work. Attending an onsite employee health screening can be a lot more convenient than using personal or sick time to visit the hospital or a doctor’s office for a test.
Health screenings can cover: height, weight, BMI, body composition, heart attack and stroke risk (cholesterol/ blood pressure), diabetes risk (glucose), and more. Empowering your employees to make healthy choices is one of the best benefits you can offer. Plus, healthier workers can help small businesses lower their healthcare costs, avoid serious illnesses, increase morale, and demonstrate the importance of taking control of one’s health. Providing screenings makes prevention of heart attacks, strokes and other illnesses easier and demonstrates to employees that the companies they work for care about their health and wellbeing.
The employer can even receive a HIPAA-compliant aggregate report that describes the overall health of the company. Personally identifiable information is kept private. The employer, however, will have information regarding the percentage of employees who smoke, have high blood pressure, or is at risk for diabetes.
If the company has a group health plan, or is self-funded, which is becoming more common among smaller firms, the benefits can be significant.
For example, blood pressure medication is infinitely less expensive than bypass surgery. In other words, early detection of many medical conditions can mean better treatment and improved overall health.
If you have any questions or would simply like to discuss options for your business, please call Tim Thoelecke at InOut Labs (847-657-7900) or send him an email: [email protected].
Elizabeth Abrams is the principle of Elizabeth Abrams Communications LLC. For more information, call 773-908-3465 or email her at [email protected].
For more information about InOut Labs, call 847-657-7900 or visit their website.
