Everside Health operates a nearsite health center for the School District of Elmbrook that serves the communities of Brookfield and Elm Grove, Wisconsin. The health center provides services to employees, spouses, dependents, and retirees covered by the Elmbrook Health Plan, totaling roughly 2,300 eligibles. After initially experiencing low participation rates, we worked together to determine strategies that would increase utilization. Since those strategies were put in place, the Family Health and Wellness Center has achieved increased participation rates in all participating groups. The results have led to increased savings and decreased health risks, contributing to the school district’s goal of being the “happiest, healthiest workforce in the world.”
The Challenge
- Healthcare costs spiraling out of control.
- Low participation numbers in non-employee participants.
The Elmbrook Schools Family Health and Wellness Center was previously managed by another vendor before the school district decided to transition to Everside Health (then Healthstat) in August 2017. It was evident no work had been done by the previous vendor to increase utilization by participants, as low participation numbers for non-employee participants were just 11.8% of spouses and 8.9% of dependents. These groups were not included in the incentive program put in place by the school district. Everside Health’s goal was to create a strategy to maximize the impacts of the health center for these groups include physical therapy, health coaching, and robust occupational health.
Our Solution
The School District of Elmbrook implemented a strategy to add an incentive for spouses to participate in the annual health risk assessment. Our clients find that placing incentives to utilize the health center greatly increases participation. Additionally, Everside Health sponsored a “School Leaders on the Move” workshop with Motion Infusion’s Laura Putnam that equipped the school district leaders with the most effective tools to help engage their teams in improving health and wellness.
Through the Family Health and Wellness Center, “Total Employee Rewards” communications, and workplace wellness initiatives, the school district leaders highlighted the services available to support their needs. These included Districtwide HRA and flu events, Benefit Open Enrollment fairs, retirement planning meetings, EAP support, financial wellness fairs, and several other wellness programs. As a result of all these combined strategies, participation rates in Elmbrook Schools’ wellness offerings skyrocketed.
Interested to learn how much Everside helped increase member participation and decrease healthcare spend?