ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse
FROM ASHHRA
Dear Health Care Executives:
In this edition of the ASHHRA Benefits and Wellness Bulletin (BWB) we hope that the stories inspire you and provide ideas that just might work in your organizations, improving the life and the wellbeing of you and your employees.
All organizations struggle with health plan design and continue to seek ways to provide employees with great benefits, though costs continue to increase. Articles in the BWB will address trends in plan design and benefit offerings. I know in our own organization it is a balance that we need to adjust for every year. Also, as the wellness curve is just gaining momentum, hopefully it will provide some relief in health care costs as all of us start to invest in our own health and wellbeing. The BWB will provide new ways to inspire and invigorate your thought process and possibly save you dollars in all of your organizations.
ASHHRA promises that it will continue to focus on being your trusted and dependable resource, offering quality services that help you develop in your health care HR role. We want each of you to feel that by joining ASHHRA you have made a wise investment in your dollars. ASHHRA is about networking, expanding your breadth of knowledge, and most of all, aiding you in better serving your employees.
ASHHRA appreciates your dedication to the health care human resource profession, and we will continue to improve in assisting you in the way you do your work. Please feel free to email me at sdrake@aha.org for any reason—we are here to serve you, our valued members.
Sincerely,
Stephanie H. Drake
ASHHRA Executive Director
BENEFITS
By Ed Bray, J.D.
If someone had asked me 15 years ago about my biggest fears, one of them would have been communicating. Not the type of communicating with family and friends (they will tell you I was talking at birth!). More of the speaking-in-front-of-a-group communication. I was never more nervous in school than those days when I would have to stand in front of the class and present something. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS
Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/blog/ebviews/ed-bray-hawaii-met-life-employee-benefits-trends-survey-2726802-1.html to view the full article online.
By Ann Bares
Year-end creeps up earlier these days, it seems. At one time, I considered year-end to be approaching when the leaves turned color and the air turned cooler. These days, in the middle of a warm green August, I know year-end is on its way because people are reviewing their incentive plans and trying to nail down any changes to be made for next year. And I know this because of the calls and the questions I am getting. SOURCE: TLNT
Visit http://www.tlnt.com/2012/08/13/as-year-end-approaches-are-you-asking-any-of-these-questions/ to view the full article online.
By Jessica Stoller-Conrad
The Affordable Care Act encourages more employers to offer health insurance plans to their employees. But poor health habits and preventable illnesses are adding to the expense of these plans for employers. A recent survey suggests that, increasingly, employers are seeking to cut health care costs from the bottom up—by directly addressing the health habits of their employees. SOURCE: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
Visit http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/10/158506049/yoga-on-commission-more-employers-pay-for-good-health-habits to view the full article online.
By Patricia Anstett
April Shipp is laced up and ready for her daily 45-minute trek around Chrysler's spacious Auburn Hills headquarters. The 50-year-old UAW benefits coordinator attends occasional Zumba, yoga and weight-loss classes at work and has access to a free personal trainer in the company's state-of-the-art fitness center. The company even has a pharmacy and Henry Ford Health System clinic on site. SOURCE: INSURANCENEWS.NET / DETROIT FREE PRESS
Visit http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=353964&type=lifehealth to view the full article online.
WELLNESS
Hospital employees spend 10 percent more on health care, consume more medical services, and are generally sicker than the rest of the U.S. workforce, according to a recent Thomson Reuters study. Assessing these results, Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht stated, "These results suggest that the pressure and stress of care-giving is taking a toll. However the healthiest hospitals are seeing a different trend—healthier employees and lower health care costs." SOURCE: LIMEADE
Visit http://www.equities.com/news/headline-story?dt=2012-07-19&val=288155&cat=hcare to view the full article online.
By Carolyne Krupa
Resident physicians who come to work sick risk passing their illness to colleagues and patients, yet many doctors-in-training take the gamble. A survey of 150 Illinois medical residents found that 51 percent reported coming to work with flu-like symptoms in the past year, and 16 percent said they had done so at least three times, says an article published online June 18 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. SOURCE: AMERICAN MEDICAL NEWS
Visit http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/02/prsq0703.htm to view the full article online.
By Karen M. Cheung
Recent findings about the ill effects of shift work and lack of sleep might be worrisome for hospital workers based on that lifestyle. For instance, residents now work regulated hours under duty-hour limits to improve patient safety. But few may have considered what shift work, particularly at night, can do to hospital workers. SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE
Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/how-shifts-night-work-affect-hospital-workers/2012-07-27 to view the full article online.
By Christian Schappel
Upper management is rarely willing to sink money into wellness ideas that are based on conclusions drawn from a single survey or two, and for good reason. But it’s hard to ignore this data that shows a whopping return on investment (ROI) for wellness initiatives. SOURCE: HR MORNING
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/massive-study-shows-true-wellness-roi/ to view the full article online.
By Lynda Lampert
If you’re feeling burned out or worn out, or just don’t have your head in the game anymore, you may be suffering from what is now recognized as compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is a condition experienced by many health care providers across the spectrum of care. It can manifest with physical symptoms, such as migraines, muscle pain, or abdominal pain. It can also have an emotional component and produce depression, anxiety and stress. SOURCE: SCRUBS MAGAZINE
Visit http://scrubsmag.com/unconventional-ways-to-relieve-compassion-fatigue/ to view the full article online.
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