Wayne County named No. 1 in the nation for wellness program

  • By Sharon Haught
  • February 8, 2010
  • 531
                        
Not unlike their counterparts in the private sector, rising health care costs have had an enormous impact on the budgets of government entities like Wayne County. After working closely with insurance carriers to obtain the best possible rates, Patrick Herron, county administrator, and his team decided to take a very different approach- fight the rising costs of health care by encouraging its employees to make healthier choices. That was the idea behind the county’s innovative Health First. Since its inception three years ago the program has grown into a multifaceted program that includes everything from an annual wellness fair to employee health risk assessments. Wayne County’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last week the county’s health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, presented the county with its Well Deserved award for 2009 during the Jan. 27 meeting of the Wayne County commissioners. According to Rob Falkenberg, UnitedHealthcare of Ohio CEO, the award is presented to clients who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to improving the health and well-being of their employees. In all, 85 UnitedHealthcare clients from across the nation submitted applications for the award. Applicants were judged and scored by an external broker review panel on pre-defined criteria established by UnitedHealthcare’s health and wellness directors. When the judging was complete, 11 applicants from across the country were chosen to receive the honor. Of the 11, Wayne County ranked first in the nation for its innovative approach to employee wellness. United HealthCare’s Patricia Horvath was one of the judges tasked with selecting the winners. “Nationally, I was involved in the rigorous judging that was done with all the clients that submitted their accounts, and it was impressive to see how Wayne County percolated to the top of the judging process,” said Horvath. “Because the wellness program has been designated as a strategic business initiative (Wayne County) dedicated a resource to driving the engagement process, which is seen in the results,” said Horvath, noting that “the program is based on analytics and not just ideas of what should be done.” Horvath congratulated the county on providing “a very strong national model for wellness,” noting that “the prestigious companies that you beat out are Fortune 500’s.” According to Falkenberg, one of the keys to the success of Wayne County’s wellness incentive program is the incredibly high participation rate amongst its employees. “I have nearly one million members across the state of Ohio that I’m responsible for and I can tell you there is no organization in Ohio today that has 95 percent of their associates currently aware of their risk factors,” observed Falkenberg. The dividends employees see by participating in the program include not only the ability to make healthy lifestyle choices but also reduced co-pay and deductible costs. The county itself is seeing a substantial financial benefit as well. “The program actually saves money for the plan just by being in existence,” said Herron. Because Misty White, county wellness nurse, does the blood draws for the program herself, Wooster Hospital charges a reduced rate for processing the tests, which, according to Herron, means on blood draws alone “we’re actually saving more money than we’re spending” on the program. Commissioners Ann Obrecht and Scott Wiggam recognized the contributions of the county’s health and wellness committee, which is comprised of representatives of not only the commissioners’ office but also the offices of other elected officials. “I’m overwhelmed that we are number one in the nation,” said Obrecht, adding that the county’s competition came from major corporations across the country. “It’s a real testament to these folks.”


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