Employer Strategies

With the movement from traditional paid leave plans to paid time-off banks, many employers may wonder if the switch is effective in managing employee absences. Nearly one in five employees in the United States receive leave in the form of a PTO bank, but the contours of such policies are often little understood - especially outside of the human resources community, according to a new study out by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and CLASP, a nonprofit that works to improve the economic security of low-income families.

In April, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations on collecting fees from health insurance issuers and self-insured group health plan sponsors for establishing the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, as required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The fund provides funding for a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. PPACA requires the Institute to conduct research to evaluate and compare health outcomes and the clinical effectiveness, risks, and benefits of medical treatments, services, procedures, drugs and other strategies or items that treat, manage, diagnose or prevent illness or injury.

Although premenstrual syndrome is a well-known - if not well-understood - women's health condition, premenstrual dysphoric disorder is an even lesser-known related illness. PMDD is marked by many of the same symptoms as PMS - bloating, trouble sleeping and concentrating, irritability, headaches, backaches and food cravings - but to a more intense degree.

Patients who don't take their medication as prescribed is a billion-dollar problem, reports pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts in its 2011 Drug Trend Report. Nonadherence to prescription medication cost the U.S. health care system $317.4 billion in 2011. And that's just for treating medical complications - not the cost of lost productivity - that could have been avoided if patients had taken their medication as prescribed. The report shows that for many therapy classes, less than 50% of patients take their medication as prescribed.

Executive leadership must relate to employees and communicate clearly how each person contributes to company success

Think about the simple act of driving to work in the morning. It involves perhaps 500 separate decisions, yet when we arrive we are hardly aware that we made a single one.

Leading U.S. organizations are turning to prevention-based employee health benefits to improve workforce health and reduce health care costs. Yet, according to a survey released by Virgin HealthMiles, there's a critical awareness gap threatening that strategy's success.

Employers have experienced dramatic increases in engagement by tapping into employees' innate competitive and social drives. By using social challenges to entice employee interest in wellness initiatives, employers not only build participation, they are more likely to inspire long-term behavior changes.

Ellen M. is a 47-year-old single mom whose 4-year-old son is diagnosed with pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified, a disorder on the autism spectrum.

When asked about their experience with selling workplace voluntary benefits, most brokers often give one of two replies: