Frequently Asked Questions About Health Assessments

What is a health assessment?

It’s a proactive tool that can help generate measurable business benefits by helping
your employees identify and act on their potential health risks. It consists of a confidential
questionnaire that employees fill out either online or on paper. The questionnaire is
accessed through My Health Manager from Medica.

Why should our company offer health assessments to employees?

You need productive, healthy employees in order to achieve your business goals. Encouraging your employees to complete a health assessment is a logical first step toward creating a healthier workforce.
The sooner you help your employees identify potential health risks, the sooner they can take action to eliminate or reduce those risks. When employees have fewer health risks, they are healthier, more productive and less costly to insure.
Your employees can use the personalized results they receive to make healthy lifestyle changes; you can use summary results to better target your company’s health and wellness efforts.
Medica makes it easy to offer and promote health assessments at your company, with training, work plan and schedule, turnkey promotional materials and incentives.

How can we increase health assessment participation?

Sponsor a Worksite Health Awareness Campaign! It’s an organized effort to get participants to take the health assessment within a defined period of time – usually over a 4-week period. Experience shows that a higher percentage of employees participate because there are set dates – and a deadline – for completing the assessment.

The use of giveaways is also critical to ensure strong participation. In 2008, Medica will provide each employee with a drawstring backpack for completing the health assessment if your company registers on the Wellness Resource Center for the Worksite Health Assessment Campaign. You can also increase participation by offering your own rewards to employees who complete a health assessment.

Who is eligible to complete the assessment?

All Medica members, aged 18 and older, who have access to My Health Manager from
Medica, can take the health assessment. This includes spouses and other dependents,
as long as they are enrolled in the member’s eligible plan.

How does the health assessment process work for employees?

Step 1: Information gathering. Participants complete a questionnaire online or on paper that includes questions about their lifestyle and medical history. All information is kept strictly confidential.

Step 2: Feedback. Participants receive a personal Wellness Score, along with recommendations for how to improve their health; a risk factor assessment, a personalized report and an invitation to enroll in an online Healthy Living Program selected just for them.

Step 3: Personalized support. Participants who complete a health assessment get their own home page on My Health Manager from Medica that identifies wellness priorities, provides preventive care reminders, and links to helpful Medica health management programs that encourage participants to take action.

Step 4: Access to Medica resources. Participants are introduced to Medica online resources specific to their health concerns.

Step 5: Rewards for healthy choices. Eligible participants earn rewards from Medica for making healthy lifestyle choices, including a $25 gift card per quarter (up to $100 a year). Employers are also encouraged to provide their own rewards.

What does Medica provide?

Medica Provides:

Coordinator training before your campaign starts
Worksite Health Assessment Campaign Tool Kit
Site coordinator gift
Health assessments – online and paper
Incentives for participants
Summary reports

What does the employer provide?

You Provide

Site coordinator
Commitment to achieve at least 50% participation
Additional rewards for employees (optional)

What’s in a summary report?

This report summarizes your employee group’s health behavior strengths and risks. The report also recommends action steps targeted to your employees’ priority risk areas and their readiness to change.

Note: Individual employees’ health information is kept strictly confidential and is stored on secure servers of our third party vendor. No one at your company or at Medica will have access to individuals' protected health information.

What are the advantages of taking the health assessment online versus on paper?

With the online version, participants receive:

Instant feedback and direct links to online Medica resources
An immediate invitation to enroll in an online Healthy Living Program specific to their health concerns
12 Wellness credits on My Health Manager from Medica for completing the survey
A personal home page on My Health Manager from Medica that includes personal health topics, preventive care reminders, wellness priorities, a healthy living program

With the paper version, participants receive:

Feedback mailed to their home about 4 weeks after they complete the survey
An opportunity to participate in an online Healthy Living Program
12 Wellness credits on My Health Manager from Medica for completing the survey
A personal home page on My Health Manager from Medica that includes personal

What if our company offers My Health Manager from Medica but not all of our employees have computer access?

Here are some options to consider:

Set up a computer in a location for employees to use (break room, designated location, empty cubicle if available, etc.).
Have employees complete the survey on their home computer.
Promote resources in the community that provide computer access (library, coffee shop with computer, etc.).

Is the information confidential?

Yes. All personal health information is stored on secure servers of our third party vendor. No one at your company or at Medica will have access to individuals' protected health information.

What promotional materials are available?

Medica provides turnkey promotional materials to help you offer and promote health assessments at your company. With the click of a mouse, you’ll find:

An informational flyer for employees
A poster that you can customize with your company name, logo and health assessment campaign dates
Sample e-mail messages
An employee newsletter about the benefits of completing a health assessment

To find these and other materials, go to www.medica.com, then follow these links: Employers>Wellness Resource Center, use the password “wellness.”

What about rewards?

Encouraging employees to make healthy choices is a good idea, and here’s why. Research shows that many people don’t make behavior changes unless they have an external motivation to do so. When rewards are used effectively, they can increase participation and improve employee morale. Research also shows that small changes, when practiced by enough people, produce sizable savings in health care costs.

Medica provides rewards to each participant who completes a survey. We also encourage you to consider allotting money from your budget for an additional reward. Be creative and try to match them to your employees’ interests. Rewards can range from prize drawings for participants to gift cards, casual day stickers, and vouchers for a water bottle or a t-shirt.