Of the 180 individuals who registered for the program, 80 took advantage of the CTIpharmacist consultations and, as a result, received benefits coverage for all nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products. Gum, patches and inhaler NRTs are not covered under GM’s prescription drug plan outside of the smoking cessation program. “We found there was enough in the literature to support [the idea that] not just pharmacists, but certainly any healthcare provider who touches a person who’s trying to quit [smoking] adds to their success,” said Sal Cimino, manager, pharmacy and professional services, Green Shield Canada, which organized more than 250 pharmacists for the program. GM’s results can now be added to that literature: of the 80 participants, 30 were deemed smoke-free on completion of the program—a 37.5% success rate.
This success has led to a second launch. “Health Canada has approved funding to support our 2008 program, which will, once again, be with the Durham Region Health Department and Green Shield Canada,” said Chris Monteith, HR manager specialist, divisional benefits, GM. “It will be promoted throughout this summer for a fall quit date. Our goal is for a larger participation and, again, a significant success rate.”
Culture of Health
While both Pitney Bowes and GM are meeting healthcare challenges relating to patient adherence—via lower co-payments, incentives and health programs—adherence is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Employers need to create a “culture of health,” said Hom. This includes promoting and implementing a healthy organization (through benefits plans, management practices and employee resources) as well as a healthy work environment (through strategies such as offering healthy cafeteria food choices, stretch breaks, ergonomic workspaces and non-smoking worksites). “Talk about health as a culture with your employees,” said Hom. “It gives you a brand distinction and creates a competitive advantage in a tight labour market. And we will have tight labour markets going forward.”
In creating its health culture, Pitney Bowes implemented a number of smaller initiatives, one of which was cafeteria messaging. In the majority of its worldwide operations, the company reduced the prices of healthy foods sold in the cafeteria by 50% and increased the price of french fries, onion rings and burgers. “[Unfortunately,] the demands for those foods are everlasting,” said Hom.
The company also restructured the vending machines in some of its locations. Healthy options are now placed at the top, at eye level, and junk foods have been relegated to the bottom. “We also moved the machines to the furthest part of the building to make people walk to them,” said Hom. “It’s the small things you can do to drive the culture of health.”
Other companies, too, are joining the health culture club. Another example, said Hom, is Wegmans, a grocery chain in New York State. Wegmans stopped selling cigarettes at 70 of its U.S. stores in January of this year. “[The CEO] wanted to create a community of health,” said Hom, adding that Wegmans is probably going to take a loss because of it.
Target Practice
But while employers might want to solve all of their employees’ health issues, Hom stressed that they need to zero in on a specific employee population. “You want to target a disease, target a population, target the intervention and target the metric. The simpler you can do it, the easier it’ll be to measure and the better success you’ll have.” He added that to create a business case for investing, companies need to develop shortand long-term goals and determine how to measure return on investment.
As GM, Pitney Bowes and other companies have shown, patient adherence and creating a culture of health leads to positive outcomes. While getting more healthy snacks into the vending machines “was more symbolic to create a culture of health,” said Hom, “we did see an increase [in the] use of the salads. They were placed in front of the cafeteria and really made to look good.”
Smaller initiatives can have a significant impact. “Build one record of success,” said Hom. “It gives you credibility, and you can have a seat at the table with your CEO.” That first success may just lead to a healthier, more productive organization.
Brooke Smith is associate editor of Benefits Canada. brooke.smith@rci.rogers.com
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© Copyright 2008 Rogers Publishing Ltd. This article first appeared in the August 2008 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine.