Audio Conferences

  July 31, 2008 at 02:00PM ET

Insurers and employers agree: A key strategy to effectively containing medical costs is to improve the health of employees and their family members by offering wellness programs.

However, employee participation and activation remain a challenge, despite the increasing array of incentives to draw workers in.

And questions remain about what behaviors to reward, the type of reward and the how the new DOL regulations impact the legality of some incentives.

While wellness programs are the choice of many organizations seeking to control their medical costs, there are many issues that contribute to limited enrollment.

Employers are offering an increasing array of incentives to draw workers into wellness initiatives, such as lower premium contributions, gift cards, trinkets and cash rewards.

However, questions remain about what behaviors to reward, the type of reward and the how the new DOL regulations impact the legality of offering incentives that benefit some, but not all workers or dependents.

Join IOMA for this interactive audio program on the full spectrum of incentive considerations from design through implementation. Learn how to ramp up your wellness program by offering incentives that can really start workers on the path to eating better, losing weight, exercising, and managing their chronic diseases.

In just 90 minutes, you’ll hear about incentive ideas that other organizations are successfully using as well as:

• What type of behaviors and programs can be tied to incentive models
• The latest trends in employer adoption of incentive and rewards in health promotion and wellness programs
• How the new DOL regulations and HIPAA non-discrimination rules apply to rewards in wellness programs
• In the world of unsustainable health care trend rates, what really works to drive a measurable ROI
• Success stories from employers who have used incentives effectively to increase participation and reduce costs
• An in-depth case study of a sophisticated incentive program for hospital employees—one of the highest risk employee groups
• How to determine what programs are most appropriate for your workforce
• Design tips and communication strategies
• Ideas for expanding incentive programs to include workers' family members
• Administrative considerations for putting your incentive strategy into operation
• How to get business level support and commitment

FEATURED FACULTY

Michael Wood
Senior Consultant, Health & Productivity, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Michael Wood is Senior Consultant in Health & Productivity Management for Watson Wyatt Worldwide and leads the practice for the western U.S. His clients include some of the West’s largest and most prestigious organizations, such as McKesson, CalPERS, Microsoft, Agilent, Dole, Harrah's Entertainment and Providence Health System.

Michael is also an industry visionary and pioneer, with 30 years of experience: He conceptualized and co-founded CareWise, the nation's first commercial nurse-provided telephone coaching service, a capability which is now in every insurance company and most employers, and has evolved into the disease management industry.

He is on the national leadership group at Watson Wyatt for incentives strategy as well as onsite health centers. Michael is viewed by many as one of the most effective and respected consultants in the industry, with an ideal mix of academic training and rigor, with practical business sense. He has a masters degree from the University of Illinois in Health Education and a Master's of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

Cathy Trip
National Leader for Consumerism, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Cathy Tripp is the National Leader for Consumerism in the Minneapolis office of Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Cathy has more than 20 years of health care and consulting experience, which includes developing health improvement strategies, consumer activation tactics and the design and delivery of information through web technology. She also leads some of Watson Wyatt’s employee research and national survey activities around the “Voice of Consumer”. Prior to joining Watson Wyatt, Cathy was the vice president of Integrated Consumer Solutions for Ingenix.

Some of Cathy’s clients for whom she has worked with on consumer design strategies include Baker Hughes, British Petroleum, Microsoft, Procter and Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Ameriprise and many other Fortune 1000 clients.

Cathy holds a B.S. degree in business administration from the University of Montana, Missoula, and an M.B.A. degree from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Cathy is a frequent author and speaker on a variety of health care topics. Most recently she was the research architect behind the Watson Wyatt 2007 Survey: Employee Perspectives on Health Care.

Alice Villanueva
Senior Vice President of Human Resources, John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System

Ms. Villanueva has extensive experience in the Human Resources profession in both the public and private sector, the majority of which has been within the healthcare industry. Ms. Villanueva is currently the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System, located in Northern California. John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System, with its 6,100 employees, consists of 2 acute care medical centers, a free standing Behavioral Health facility, a physician practice network and several affiliated entities and joint ventures. In her role with the Health System, Ms. Villanueva is responsible for recruitment, compensation, benefits, employee health and wellness, education, organizational development, employee and labor relations in both a union and non-union environment, volunteer services, and employee communications.

Ms. Villanueva has been active with various Human Resources professional associations, serving as President of the California Healthcare Human Resources Association; President of the Healthcare Human Resources Association of Southern California; Board of Director for the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration; as well as serving on several state and national Human Resources committees. Ms. Villanueva is also active in her community having served as a Board of Trustee for an independent school, a local non-profit agency as well as being involved with several local charitable organizations.