Chamber and member companies featured in UK report about healthy organizations

As health care costs continue to rise for Kentucky organizations and their employees, stakeholders are looking for innovative approaches to creating a healthy workforce. The Kentucky Chamber and several of its members are featured in the newly released University of Kentucky’s Institute for Workplace Innovation’s (iwin) research report that highlights new ways for organizations to approach employee health and well-being while improving the bottom line. Creating Healthy Organizations: Promising Practices in Kentucky showcases the practices of 23 Kentucky organizations that contribute to a healthy workforce.

The Chamber launched the My Healthy Bonus wellness program in 2008 to its 30 employees. Through the wellness program, employees can participate in health seminars, have free access to wellness content and participate in an annual health risk assessment. Participation is incentivized by allowing employees to earn up to $500 in “wellness dollars” per year.  Click here to read the Chamber’s case study.

The following member organizations are also featured as case studies in the report: Eastern Kentucky University, the University of Louisville, Central Bank and Trust, Community Trust Bank, Georgetown College, the University of Kentucky, Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance, Norton Healthcare, Papa John’s International, SHPS Inc., Wellpoint (Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield), Central Baptist Hospital, EQT Corporation, Frankfort Regional Medical Center, General Electric, Logan Aluminum and LG&E and KU Energy. Click here to view the highlights of these organization’s wellness plans.

The report also presents a new, evidence-based HealthIntegrated Model, developed by iwin and informed by a literature review and in-depth interviews with employers featured in the report. “Health and wellness programs cannot be isolated from the overall strategic business plan,” said Dr. Jennifer Swanberg, executive director of iwin. “They must be integrated into the operations of the business to truly make an impact, and our new HealthIntegrated Model will provide employers with an approach of how to do this.”

Click here to download Creating Healthy Organizations: Promising Practices in Kentucky.