Desk Dining
How to eat right even when you’re stuck in the office all day
From cubicle to corner office, everyone has to eat. And if you’re chained to your desk when your stomach starts to growl, it’s easy to turn to the vending machine, a freezer-burned meal or that dusty can of emergency soup in your bottom drawer. It doesn’t have to be that way. Take some guidance from Connie Beutel, a registered and licensed dietician and a health and wellness supervisor at Medical Mutual of Ohio:
Breakfast: Yes, this is actually before you come to work, but what you do here can tame your hunger and get your day started right. No time for breakfast? Bah. Stock up on low-fat or fat-free yogurt or cottage cheese and instant oatmeal made with skim milk. Then carve out 10 minutes for breakfast.
Lunch: You must plan ahead so you don’t end up going out for a burger (again), but it’s worth the bit of preparation. Here are some ideas for a healthful main course.
• Turkey on whole-grain bread (dress with romaine, lettuce or
cucumber slices to your liking)
• Natural peanut butter with fruit spread or banana slices on whole-grain bread
• Whole-grain tortilla roll-ups packed with low-fat cream cheese or shredded low-fat cheese, turkey or chicken, salsa and veggies
Of course, you’ll want to bring some sides, so go with hummus, string cheese, whole-grain crackers, roasted almonds or peanuts, pretzels, baked snacks or dried fruit to help you fight off that run to the vending machine.
Mid-afternoon: OK, so you’re going to have to make a run to the dreaded vending machine to push through the workday. We’ve been there. Don’t worry. Here’s Beutel’s list of your best options:
• Baked chips and snack products such as Sun Chips
• Pretzels
• Fig Newtons
• Trail mix or sunflower seeds
• Reduced-fat microwave popcorn
• Low-fat granola bars
Getting Better
According to a report released in November by Buck Consultants, a worldwide human resources and benefits consultancy:
Wellness programs are most prevalent in North America, where 77 percent of responding employers reported they offer one.
Among employers with workers in multiple countries, 41 percent said their wellness strategy was global. That’s up from 34 percent in 2008.
Technology is the fastest-growing wellness program component. It allows for online healthy lifestyle programs and the option to provide employees with an electronic summary of their health information.
The majority (37 percent) of employers reported that incentives are moderately successful in motivating employees to participate in wellness programs and to make lifestyle changes.
Employees at InfoCision can come to work, drop their kids off at the on-site day care, put in a quick workout at the company gym, pop by the doctor’s office and have a prescription refilled before they ever sit down at their desks.
After decades of double-digit increases in his company’s insurance premiums, InfoCision president and CEO Carl Albright decided to move to a self-insured model four years ago. Part of that change included an extensive employee health and wellness program to lower the front-end costs of health care. The extremely wellness-focused InfoCision of today was the result.
What’s happening at the Akron-based call-center company is the exception, but most workplaces have implemented some sort of wellness program to help keep a handle on insurance premiums. These include programs that provide incentives for nonsmokers and encourage health screenings and weight loss.
According to a November report by Buck Consultants, a worldwide human resources and benefits consultancy, 77 percent of North American employers offer wellness programs. It’s too expensive for most not to. Even with such high participation, the American Institute for Preventive Medicine reported that companies paid an average of $9,552 per employee for health care in 2009.
Pat Perry, the president of Cleveland-based ERC, says businesses don’t have a lot of control over their health care costs. But if a firm can encourage its employees to be healthier — get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly, exercise more, stop smoking — it can reduce the same employees’ use of emergency rooms, prescription drugs
and other ballooning health care costs as they age.
Historically, Perry says, the majority of companies purchased their insurance based on price.
“They played a game. They would sign on to an insurance provider for a few years because the provider would give them a low introductory rate. Then, when the rate rose, companies would jump ship. Very little attention or, in some cases, no attention was paid to how [health care was] utilized by employees. Companies that do that today are getting what they deserve.”
ERC offers a health insurance program to its member companies through Anthem or UnitedHealthcare. Through the Anthem program, companies can see annual premiums cut by up to 10 percent if they meet certain benchmarks, such as hosting an annual health assessment day, encouraging healthy eating and weight loss, and offering flu shots. Anthem has seen enrollment in its programs — what it calls consumer-directed health plans — increase 75 percent in Ohio during the last year.
But just throwing together an office health day isn’t going to do it. To ensure your provider will actually consider you for a cost reduction, Perry says, you must work with your insurance agent to lay out a range of programs. He adds that your company’s plan must be communicated clearly. You can have a great wellness plan, but if none of your employees buy into it, it won’t save you money.
Many insurance plans offer discounts to companies for meeting goals similar to those at ERC. Medical Mutual of Ohio has two levels of programs. The first focuses on personal behavior and subsidizes enrollment in Weight Watchers and smoking cessation programs. The second provides on-site wellness coordinators and revamps things like what’s served in the cafeteria and company vending machines.
Paula Sauer, vice president of care management at Medical Mutual of Ohio, says the company spends $350 per employee as part of its wellness program, which includes covering the costs of a gym membership and joining Weight Watchers. Medical Mutual awards points for hitting certain health goals, and employees who earn enough points throughout the year can choose a gift card, a reduction to their premiums or a deposit into their health savings account for the following year.
“We are seeing a significant difference in health care costs,” Sauer says. “We’re all getting older. Costs are going up.”
InfoCision offers the traditional smoking cessation and weight-loss programs, but it also hired a doctor who is available to employees a few hours each day at an on-site office. Albright says the physician has identified serious health problems about which employees may not have otherwise known.
“We wanted to create a better working environment for our staff,” Albright says. “This program is born out of that.”
With nearly 4,000 employees in 30 call centers, Albright says the company’s savings thanks to the self-insurance and wellness programs are “closing in annually on seven figures.”
Bowden Manufacturing in Willoughby and Ahola Corp. in Brecksville have found savings by implementing ERC’s employee health and wellness programs in their workplaces.
When Bowden started its program in 2006, the hardest part was convincing the team of 83 shop workers that the program would actually cut costs.
“They needed to see it to believe it and needed to see it was going to happen again the next year,” says Taryn Stephan, who works in customer service and helps coordinate the program with Sandi Pandy, the company’s head of human resources.
To increase participation, the company offers $25 gift cards to Giant Eagle for each employee (and spouse) who filled out a health survey. Throughout the year, employees can also win movie tickets, gift cards to restaurants and extra vacation days by winning weight-loss challenges and other events.
The program has cut down on smoking and high blood pressure among Bowden employees, and the company earned a 3 percent reduction on its $35,000 monthly premiums, which it passes along directly to its employees.
Debra Schultz-Potter, human resources manager at Ahola Corp., uses similar programs to target problems such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes and to ensure employees get flu shots.
Since implementing the program a few years ago, the numbers have been getting better. The physical activity level for employees (20 to 30 minutes of exercise three times a week) has increased from 15 percent in 2008 to 53 percent in 2009. And optimal blood pressure (less than 120/80) has increased from 23 percent in 2008 to 39 percent last year.
“It appears to us the employees are being more conscious of their health,” she says.
As for InfoCision, Albright admits the up-front costs of a fitness center and paying a doctor to maintain office hours on-site aren’t cheap — a few hundred thousand dollars annually. But he says the company’s wellness program has made for happier employees and lower health care costs.
“If you can get people to enjoy their job more, you’re going to win, your clients are going to win, and your employees are going to win,” he says. “At the end of the day, I’m spending less on my insurance and getting more.”
Resource Guide
Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield
8333 Rockside Road, Suite 2000
Cleveland, Ohio 44125
800-442-1832
anthem.com
Anthem offers a variety of health care options tailored to the needs and budget of each member, offering preventive care services, dental coverage, life insurance and pharmacy benefits management.
Kaiser Permanente
1001 Lakeside Ave. East
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
216-621-5600
kaiserpermanente.org
With more than 1,650 network-affiliated physicians in Ohio, Kaiser Permanente operates 10 medical centers in Northeast Ohio and serves more than 100,000 members in the Greater Cleveland and Akron areas.
Medical Mutual
2060 E. Ninth St.
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
216-687-7000
medmutual.com
A trusted insurer for more than 75 years, Medical Mutual serves more than 1.6 million health care customers. Medical Mutual has sales, service and information technology offices in 12 locations throughout Ohio and 2,700 Ohio-based employees.
Oswald Companies
1360 E. Ninth St., Suite 600
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
216-367-8787
oswaldcompanies.com
Founded in 1893, Oswald Companies is among the nation’s largest independent, employee-owned insurance brokerage firms. Oswald’s risk management professionals partner with nearly 500 offices on six continents.
SummaCare Health Plan
10 N. Main St.
Akron, Ohio 44308
800-996-8411
summacare.com
Based in Akron, SummaCare is one of the only provider-owned health care companies in Northeast Ohio. It offers members a regional network of more than 6,000 physicians and 50 hospitals.