How do you handle employees who do not want to share this type of information with you?
This is a concern a lot of employers have, because you can’t force someone to take the assessment. Employees are concerned about who will get the information and in what way it will be used. Health plans will install multiple firewalls and password protections if you are completing the assessment online, so the information is secure. It will then be put into the health plan’s database, which is confidential.
Protections are also in place through privacy acts if the assessment is filled out over the phone or through a hard copy. But these means are certainly more risky. Employees just want to know what will be done with this information, but there’s no other intent than just to discover their current health status.
How can recognition and rewards play a role in getting employees to complete health risk assessments?
Recognition is very important to employees. You should provide some sort of incentive or reward for employees who fill out the health risk assessment. You may want to provide incentives in the form of premium reductions or additional funding of health savings accounts.
There’s no real silver bullet of recognition or else there would be 100 percent participation across the board. In general, if there’s a perceived value by the member or patient of at least $200, employees will be more motivated in completing the assessment. Some employers are reluctant to make that investment, but some are beginning to change. They realize that if you can find employees with health issues sooner, and can get them actively engaged in their issues, you can mitigate a hospital admission or an emergency room visit. The information provided in a health risk assessment is important to a company.
What are the benefits of completing a health risk assessment?
It provides safety, early identification and prevention. Many assessments have a pharmacy piece, where you can determine if an employee’s medications might have competing side effects or adverse effects.
Health risk assessments also develop a baseline for what employees’ health statuses are and provide earlier identification of those employees who need additional help. They also provide earlier identification of employees who have not received the necessary preventive studies or tests.
Kirk Cianciolo, D.O. MBA, is a senior vice president and chief medical officer at AvMed Health Plans. Reach him at (352) 337-8709 or [email protected].