Incentives are an important part of any employee health management strategy. But managing multiple programs and incentives structures while driving employee engagement is no easy task.  According to a recent Virgin HealthMiles survey of HR professionals, 43 percent say managing multiple incentives is their biggest challenge in creating health programs.

Join us on Wednesday, March 14^th at the free Workforce™ Benefits 2012 Online Conference.  From 12:00-1:00pm ET, Virgin HealthMiles will co-present the live webinar “Effective Incentive Practices:  How Integration Maximizes Your Employee Health Strategy.”

During the webinar, Barrett Coakley, senior product marketing manager, Virgin HealthMiles and Beverly Davis, CPA, RSBO, director of finance, Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) will share best practices and a real-world incentive strategy case study. Participants will discover how centralized management of incentives helps in reviewing results, adding programs and changing rewards structures as health and wellness strategies evolve.

This webcast will cover:

• how incentives help improve the impact of employee health and wellness strategies
• how integrating incentives helps to maximize budget, improve reporting, and drive program participation
• a real-world example demonstrating how to successfully align rewards with program participation and healthy behavior change

That’s not all. From 3:30-4:15pm ET, Tom Abshire, SVP of products, marketing, and member engagement, Virgin HealthMiles, will participate on an executive panel, which will provide strategic guidance, expert observations and proven best practices for creating a workplace culture of health that supports employee health and business performance.

Register for the free Workforce™ Benefits 2012 online conference.

Can’t make the event?  A free recording of the webinar will be available after the event on the Virgin HealthMiles website.

Many employers are looking to boost participation in employee health programs by incorporating emerging game mechanics and strategies. Game techniques — like challenges, rewards, competition and leadership — appeal to the players’ emotions and provide a sense of achievement and pride. If designed properly, game mechanics can be successfully added into workplace wellness programs to amplify results and build engagement and excitement.

Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15^th at 2:00pm ET to hear from experts in both game mechanics and corporate health programs. You’ll see how game techniques can help you reach the ‘end-game’ — lower healthcare costs, along with happier, healthier and more productive employees. Tom Abshire (Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Engagement at Virgin HealthMiles) and Justin Beck (Chairman and CEO at PerBlue, Inc.) will review:

• The role of game techniques in corporate health programs.
• How game strategies including challenges, incentives and social interaction can boost employee participation in your wellness programs.
• Tips to consider when adding gaming components at your organization.
• How metrics and testing can help you achieve success in your game mechanics strategy.

The event will be hosted by Human Resource Executive and is sponsored by Virgin HealthMiles. Register for the event and join us tomorrow.

Poor health is contagious. And for decades it’s adversely impacted businesses and employees. Yet, good health is also contagious. It’s time to turn the tides and start spreading some good health.  And an individual’s social connections play a key role in creating healthy communities.

Join us on Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 2:00 – 2:00pm ET for a free webinar – “Spread the Health: How Social Connections Create Healthy Communities.”  Here, you’ll learn strategies you can use to leverage your employees’ social connections to drive higher engagement and better health across your multitude of workplace wellness offerings.

Your employees are using social media. And not just personally; they’re using it to stay connected and informed professionally, too. Why not leverage your employees’ social influences to create healthy communities and improve health and productivity across your organization?

During this 1-hour event, Virgin HealthMiles’ senior vice president of marketing and member engagement, Tom Abshire, will discuss how you can leverage peer-to-peer motivation and support to drive greater impact from all your employee health offerings.

Join us and discover:
• How social influences can help you create a culture of health
• How you can help your employees build support networks as they strive for healthier lifestyles
• How social networks can drive engagement and better results from all your employee health programs
• How Virgin HealthMiles Connections is the one social platform for all of your employee health and wellness programs

Register for the live webinar.  Can’t make it on 12/1?  No problem.  A free recording of the webinar will be available on the Virgin HealthMiles website following the event.

Last week, Andy Pfeifer, director of total rewards for Timberland, a global leader in premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories, joined Ed Dougherty, vice president of client and member services at Virgin HealthMiles, to present “How Timberland Leverages Social Connections and Technology to Create a Culture of Health,” a webinar featuring best practices for creating a culture of health and engaging your employees in long-term healthy behaviors.

During the webinar, Pfeifer shared how Timberland, a 1.4 billion dollar global brand leader, moved from a passive to active wellness program with a 67 percent enrollment rate and medical claims trending 10 percent lower in 2011 than 2010.

The webinar also covered:

• Issues businesses face as a result of unhealthy workforce
• How shifting your wellness program focus to prevention will improve the health of your workforce and provide other measureable results
• How to replicate Timberland’s success using social networks, technology and other best practices
• Challenges HR managers must address when determining the right wellness solution, including how to drive awareness/engagement, what incentives to offer, and how to measure program impact
• How to work around tight budgets using  incentives to drive engagement and options to fund them
• How effective program design, motivation, measurement, management will help you plan a successful initiative and create a culture of health in your organization.

Missed this webinar?  Download a complete recording and learn more about how to use social connections and technology to create a culture of health in your organization. If we didn’t get to your questions during the webinar, post a comment and we’ll answer them here on The Uprising.

Webinar | September 28th, 2:00PM ET | 11:00AM PT

Thomson Reuters recently issued a report indicating healthcare spending is 10 percent higher for hospital employees than for the general employee population. Like many healthcare facilities across the country, you’re likely facing the challenge to decrease soaring employee health and productivity costs.  Because most of the cost impact of healthcare stems from preventable chronic diseases, innovative hospitals and health organizations across the country are turning to prevention-based employee health programs as the best strategy to counter this trend.

Join us on Thursday, September 28th at 2:00pm ET for a free 1-hour webinar. In this event, you’ll see the business impact of employee health in an assessment presented by Virgin HealthMiles and a real-world case study with measurable results from OhioHealth Corporation. You’ll discover how creating a culture of prevention at your organization will deliver healthy shifts in employee behavior, as well as:

• The importance of physical activity and its impact on the healthcare industry’s bottom line
• How you can make your prevention-based programs personal, measurable, and easy to use
• How incentives and social networking can optimize employee engagement

Register for the event.

We hope you can make it and please bring your questions. There will be time for Q&A after the presentations.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
2pm ET / 11am PT

Communities are a key factor in building a culture of health and engaging employees over time. Leveraging the power of social networks in technology-based employee wellness programs helps your employees create accountability, build enthusiasm, camaraderie and healthy competition with their peers – taking the phrase ‘team-building exercise’ to a whole new level.

Join Andy Pfeifer, director of total rewards for Timberland, a global leader in premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories and Ed Dougherty, vice president of client and member services at Virgin HealthMiles, a leading provider of technology-based employee health programs, to discuss best practices for creating a culture of health and engaging your employees in long-term healthy behaviors.

You’ll discover:

• How social networks and technology motivate employees to stay active in employee health initiatives
• How Timberland improved employee health and lowered healthcare costs with Total Balanced Life
• The benefits of an incentives-based approach to employee health

Register for the event.

Last week, Jennifer Turgiss, Vice President, Health Management at Virgin HealthMiles, hosted the fourth and final webinar in our 4-part Hot Days, Cool Info Summer Webinar Series — Why Physical Activity is the Heart of Disease Prevention. During the webinar, Jennifer discussed:

• the link between physical inactivity and the rise in chronic conditions like heart disease

• how much physical activity is enough to gain health benefits while reducing the risk of today’s most prevalent and costly chronic diseases

• the prevalence and cost of physical inactivity, plus reasons employers should focus on prevention; and

• how a population-based approach to health drives more significant workforce health improvements and greater impact for your business.

Missed this webinar or any of the others in our Hot Days, Cool Info Summer Webinar Series?  Check out a short overview of each one below and download the complete recordings. If we didn’t get to your questions during any of the webinars, post a comment and we’ll answer them here on The Uprising.

August 4th
How to Finance Your Employee Health and Wellness Program
Presented by: Tom Abshire, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Engagement
Discover the funding options available, including those that are budget neutral and help employers manage the costs associated with wellness plan redesigns.
Download the recording.

August 11th
Maximizing Your Employee Health Incentive Strategy
Presented by: Ed Dougherty, Vice President, Client and Member Services
Discover effective incentive practices and how to maximize results through Integrated Incentives.
Download the recording.

August 18th
Engagement Tips to Improve Program Participation
Presented by: Ed Dougherty, Vice President, Client and Member Services
Learn successful strategies for impacting participation, including financial incentives, social networking, challenges, goal setting and more.
Download the recording.

August 25th
Why Physical Activity is the Heart of Disease Prevention
Presented by: Jennifer Turgiss, Vice President, Health Management
Join us to see the latest evidence of physical activity’s impact on health and the resulting individual and company cost savings.
Download the recording.

Last week, Virgin HealthMiles hosted the third of our 4-part Hot Days, Cool Info Summer Webinar Series. Ed Dougherty, Vice President of Client and Member Services at Virgin HealthMiles, shared Engagement Tips to Improve Program Participation. During the webinar, Ed discussed:

• why employers are using an incentives-based approach to engage employees in their programs
• what employees want when it comes to workplace wellness programs, based on a survey of nearly 2,000 employees  
• keys to designing engaging and impactful employee health initiatives
• best practices and real life examples of several effective strategies to motivate employees to participate in the programs you offer

Missed the webinar?  Download a complete recording and learn more about effective engagement tips that will help improve participation in your employee wellness programs. If we didn’t get to your questions during the webinar, post a comment and we’ll answer them here on The Uprising.

And be sure to mark your calendar and register for the final event in our Summer Webinar Series:

August 25^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Why Physical Activity is the Heart of Disease Prevention
Presented by Jennifer Turgiss, Vice President, Health Management, Virgin HealthMiles

Last week, Ed Dougherty, Vice President of Client and Member Services at Virgin HealthMiles, hosted the second of Virgin HealthMiles’ 4-part Hot Days, Cool Info Summer Webinar Series: How to Maximize the Impact of Your Employee Health Incentive Strategy.

In this webinar, Ed shared critical factors you should consider when developing an employee health incentive strategy so you can maximize its impact for your organization.  He also shared best practices and real life examples from employers of how to develop and execute a successful incentives-based strategy.

Missed the webinar?  Download a complete recordingand learn more about how to maximize the impact of your employee health incentive strategy.  If we didn’t get to your questions during the webinar, post a comment and we’ll answer them here on The Uprising.

And be sure to mark your calendars and registerfor the last two events in our Summer Webinar Series.   

August 18^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Engagement Tips to Improve Program Participation
Presented by Ed Dougherty, Vice President, Client and Member Services, Virgin HealthMiles

August 25^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Why Physical Activity is the Heart of Disease Prevention
Presented by Jennifer Turgiss, Vice President, Health Management, Virgin HealthMiles

If you missed it, check out a recap and download the recording of the series’ first webinar: How to Finance Your Employee Health and Wellness Programs, presented by Tom Abshire, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Engagement, Virgin HealthMiles.

Last week, Tom Abshire, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Engagement, hosted the first of Virgin HealthMiles’ 4-part Hot Days, Cool Info Summer Webinar Series. Tom presented a timely topic – How to Finance Your Employee Health and Wellness Programs. 

Using best practice examples from leading organizations, Tom shared how companies are seeing significant results from their employee wellness investments, including engagement rates of up to 85 percent and multi-vendor collaboration. During the webinar, Tom discussed some of the funding options employers can consider with their employee health programs.  Here are a few of the key items Tom shared:

• insights on how rising health care costs are challenging U.S. organizations and why doing nothing isn’t a viable option
• why employers must act and how forward-thinking companies are turning to prevention as a key strategy to improve workforce health and reduce healthcare costs
• the range of funding strategies organizations are using, including absorbing costs by increasing budget or optimizing spend and cost-sharing through employee co-pays or benefit plan designs
• tips for driving higher engagement and results from your wellness strategy
• how to identify an effective funding strategy that helps you deliver more compelling, greater value programs to your workforce that drive greater higher impact for your organization 

Missed the webinar?  Download a complete recording and learn more about strategies to finance your employee health and wellness programs.  And if we didn’t get to your questions during the webinar, post a comment and we’ll answer them here on The Uprising. 

And remember to check out these upcoming events:

August 11^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Maximizing Your Employee Health Incentive Strategy
Presented by Ed Dougherty, Vice President, Client and Member Services, Virgin HealthMiles 

August 18^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Engagement Tips to Improve Program Participation
Presented by Ed Dougherty, Vice President, Client and Member Services, Virgin HealthMiles 

August 25^th, 2PM ET / 11AM PT
Why Physical Activity is the Heart of Disease Prevention
Presented by Jennifer Turgiss, Vice President, Health Management, Virgin HealthMiles