Beaumont Hospital Continues Wellness Push Despite Poor Economy

Beaumont Hospitals is a nationally ranked regional healthcare provider in Michigan. Despite the state’s serious economic woes, Beaumont continues to emphasize health and wellness programs for its nearly 40,000 employees and dependents.

“Beaumont is self-insured,” explains Dan Zembrzuski, director of benefits, “so we have a close-to-home interest in curbing healthcare costs.” In addition, “the people we insure also serve the public. We need them to be healthy to provide services to our patients.”

Beaumont’s leadership team is highly supportive of its wellness efforts, but economic realities mean that Zembrzuski and his team must work within a tight budget. His staff of three supports the wellness activities of 17,000 employees at three hospitals in four locations. Zembrzuski depends heavily on 240 volunteer wellness champions who represent a diverse set of functions and responsibilities, from nurses to clerical staff. These champions are Zembrzuski’s eyes and ears on the ground, listening for concerns and opportunities to address employees’ wellness needs. They provide needed support, including helping to disseminate information to fellow employees on wellness programs through word-of-mouth, e-mail, on-site signage and events, and other activities.

Communication is key to participation

Beaumont leans hard on the resources it offers employees and dependents, so communication is critical to let people know what programs are available and to encourage participation. “We need to hit people with information from as many angles as possible,” says Zembrzuski. He uses the company’s weekly internal newsletter and his department’s myOptimalHealth newsletter, as well as extensive e-mail campaigns. He uses printed material strategically, such as during open enrollment and for new employees, and also depends on third-party partners such as Beaumont’s disease management vendor, which sends information directly to those individuals who qualify. Zembrzuski also regularly updates the weblets on the WebMD health portal to keep messages fresh and to highlight specific programs. (See related article.)

We need to hit people with information
from as many angles as possible

Package programs to groups of “like” employees

Working within a strict budget means Beaumont needs to make the most of its existing resources. Nurses are the largest population of “like” employees at Beaumont, and Zembrzuski has been successful in tailoring communications directly to nurses and packaging wellness programs specifically for their needs. A set of “Fit in 15” videos created in-house by one of the chief nursing officers is a prime example. The videos show yoga, breathing, aerobics, and in-chair exercises that nurses can do during the workday to squeeze in fitness opportunities, and the response has been very positive. Zembrzuski now actively works with all four chief nursing officers to offer wellness programs to participating nurses. These leaders explicitly state their support for wellness activities, send messages to nurses, and provide staff support for wellness programs.

Wellness programs need to meet the unique needs
of the organization’s culture and of the individuals
in order to engage more people

Address unique cultural needs to create effective programs

“Wellness programs need to meet the unique needs of the organization’s culture and of the individuals in order to engage more people,” Zembrzuski states. Beaumont provides a menu of programs and resources that include the WebMD portal as well as smoking cessation, Weight Watchers, fitness classes, and health coaching programs.

Beaumont has had great success with its annual health challenges. These creative campaigns are designed to engage a large proportion of Beaumont employees in specific wellness activities that match the organization’s culture and wellness objectives. The first campaign was a 20-5 challenge, in which employees were encouraged to participate in 20 minutes of physical activity a day and eat five or more fruits and vegetables. The following year was a “My Journey to Fit” challenge. This eight-week program began with a popular local community walking event, encouraged employees to track their progress, and ended with individuals participating in a 5K run or marathon. About 3,500 Beaumont employees participated in this successful event.

This year, Beaumont is building on past programs with “Living my Balanced Life.” This is an eight-month program that is focused on occupational wellness, including physical, financial, spiritual, and intellectual wellness. Zembrzuski’s team provides monthly “reflection forms” to guide participants in analyzing their wellness in specific areas, setting goals, and tracking progress, and offers classes, books, and activities related to each month’s wellness topic.

Beaumont also uses the WebMD Rewards module to engage people in their health. Zembrzuski and his team continue to analyze the program to make sure they’re incenting the right activities to meet their objectives. “Rewards are great to get folks to try the program,” says Zembrzuski. “Now we need to help them realize that good health is its own reward.”

Even during tough economic times, that extends
to the patients its hospitals serve, the employees and dependents
it insures, and even outside municipal groups for which Beaumont
provides WebMD health management programs as a distributor.

Award-winning results

Beaumont recently received the Outstanding Employer Program Award from DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance. The award recognizes the organization’s leadership in population health improvement programs for its employees. Beaumont “achieved impressive results in employee engagement, cost savings, and improved health status, reporting decreases across the population in weight, stress, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, and excess alcohol use,” according to the September 2009 press release. “For members with chronic conditions, average costs have decreased 4.8 percent since Beaumont launched the program and Beaumont estimates total program cost savings of more than $4 million.”

As an organization, taking care of people is where Beaumont excels. Even during tough economic times, that extends to the patients its hospitals serve, the employees and dependents it insures, and even outside municipal groups for which Beaumont provides WebMD health management programs as a distributor.