For most employees, vending machines represent eating based on necessity or impulse. Employees may turn to vending machines when they skip breakfast, miss lunch, have afternoon hunger pains or have to stay late at work – or just have a craving for something sweet. The snacks offered in vending machines are generally unhealthy, but in many situations these snacks are the only food available.

The Problem

Snacking on soft drinks, candy bars and chips several times a week can detract from an overall healthy diet and lead to weight gain. Plus, many of the typical vending machine choices offer little nutritional value or substance, and could leave the employee hungry again soon after – leading to more unhealthy eating. This can drastically affect your health care costs, as obesity is a catalyst for many other illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Even employees who are health-conscious often forget to bring healthy snacks to work, leaving the vending machine as the only option.

A company’s success or failure is often determined by the quality of its employees. Offering an attractive benefits package can be a key to attracting and retaining the highest quality employees. Long-term care insurance is a growing trend in the employee benefits arena. According to research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 22 percent* of companies now offer long-term care insurance to their employees as a voluntary benefit.

What Is Long-Term Care?

The key to an effective wellness program is communication. Your employees must know about the programs and understand how they can benefit. Here are five strategies to help you achieve your goals:

In light of the increased HIPAA enforcement activity, covered entities and business associates should review their existing HIPAA Privacy and Security safeguards to determine if you sufficiently protect Protected Health Information (PHI). If applicable, the safeguards should address how to protect PHI taken off your premises either on paper or electronically (for example, on a laptop computer). Also, covered entities and business associates should confirm that any employees with access to PHI have received the necessary HIPAA training. In addition, to avoid HIPAA’s breach notification requirements, PHI should be secured (that is, encrypted or destroyed), to the extent possible.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), is responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Although OCR has been enforcing HIPAA’s rules since 2003, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, significantly enhanced OCR’s enforcement authority.

It seems as if every week there is a new commercial for the “Next Best Thing” in mobile devices.

Lightest Phone in the Universe!

America has a financial crisis that extends far beyond Washington D.C. According to a recent white paper issued by Purchasing Power, 44% of full-time employees worry about their personal finances during work hours. In addition, 29% of full-time workers said they spend time dealing with their personal finances during work hours, and of those, 46% spend an average of 2-3 hours per week at work dealing with their financial issues. While this is certainly a costly productivity and engagement issue for employers, it is also a health issue.

Workers’ Compensation Reform achieved a huge victory earlier this summer with the signing into law of HB 1320, an act that the American Insurance Association feels ‘addresses problems which have been steadily mounting in Indiana for years.’

Indiana Governor Mike Pence penned the legislation which, effective of July 1, ensures a fee schedule with a maximum reimbursement rate of 200% of the Medicare rate for treatments and procedures to workers’ compensation claimants by medical service providers. While those are the provisions of the new legislation in a nutshell, there are plenty of other considerations Businesses need to be aware of, particularly considering the imminent arrival of Health Care Reform.

What Exactly Is Workers Compensation?

The IOM (Institute of Medicine) defines patient centered care as: "Providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions."

In today’s world there is so much emphasis on doing more with less. This obviously has its perks, but it also has a significant negative impact that cannot be overlooked. Employees who are pushed to the max are at risk of being overstressed and ultimately burning out. Burnout reduces productivity and takes a toll on individual’s health.

Employers should believe that healthier employees are more productive employees. Studies prove this! Emphasizing health AND changing the culture within the workplace to support healthier lifestyles is worth the effort. Any ROI is icing on the cake.