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How to Build a Strong Employee Wellness Program

A strong wellness program is accessible and tailored, with resources that can easily support realistic goals for every employee, regardless of their health and fitness level. A strong employee wellness program aims to help employees maintain their overall wellness, encourages employee engagement, and when possible, ensures any present health conditions do not progress.

There are four important components of a strong wellness program:

  1. Make self-assessments and education front and center. A comprehensive program should include employee buy-in, achieved through self-assessment tools that are completed during the employee onboarding process. The assessment identifies an employee’s individual health risk based on family history and current health habits. Based on the results of the self-assessment, the program should offer education modules specific to the risks associated with that employee. A thorough and tailored wellness program equips employees with tools and challenges that empower them to take action on the recommended healthy habits.
  2. Lean into digital. A strong wellness program needs to have digital capabilities, where members can interact on their mobile app or computer, 24/7, at whatever time and place it’s most convenient for them. Because a digital program is easy and quick to implement, this approach is cost-effective for employers, with little to no increased administrative burden to undertake. Digital programs should allow for seamless integration with wellness tracking devices and apps, such as Apple Watch or Fitbit.
  3. Prioritizing transparency. A digital administration portal should provide employers full backend transparency on employee engagement and utilization data, allowing employers to adjust the program and tailor it to their population’s use and behaviors.
  4. Boosting engagement whenever possible. Wellness programs should have exciting individual and group activities and challenges that will encourage employee participation. The goal is to promote social connection through group challenges. Fun and engaging activities can encourage employees to adhere to healthy habits because they are good for them and because the employees recognize the value in those habits and want to continue them.

A wellness program is most effective when it’s not a standalone effort, but when it is included with a preventive care program, including case and disease management. Additionally, it has been shown that having one vendor for multiple touchpoints yields better outcomes.

Employers who want to maximize their benefits, increase savings, and improve employee health, would benefit from working with HealthComp, which offers a wide breadth of services and vendor partnerships. These services—like patient advocacy, pharmacy benefit management, and clinical care management—give employers the data they need to ensure cost-effective health outcomes driven by wellness, preventive care, and informative algorithms that identify those who need the most support.

Partnering with HealthComp allows employers to experience savings through self-funding their health plan without adding any additional burden to their human resources or finance teams. We focus on improving the health of your employees through our clinical care management programs, including wellness, while helping to lower costs through claims management, proprietary analytics, and simplifying the care management experience by offering single-contact solutions and an easy-to-use online experience.