July 10, 2012
Platinum status and the next steps on our health journey
We are pleased to announce that once again Cerner has been
selected as a Platinum
level winner of the National Business Group on Health 2012 Best Employers
for Healthy Lifestyles Award. This is the third year in a row that Cerner has
been honored to receive the distinction because of our investment and
innovative strategies to promote our members’ heath. We are a leader among other
Fortune 100 companies that apply for the award, and as a result, the National
Business Group on Health has requested our participation on several of their committees.
Cerner’s health journey began in 2006 and since then, Cerner
has been dedicated to providing leading edge health and wellness opportunities
for associates and their dependents through coordinated programs and services
that encourage associates to get well, manage well, stay well and ultimately
live well.
The 2010 announcement of the Slimdown Throwdown Challenge at
Cerner’s Town Hall was a pivotal moment in Cerner’s health and wellness
journey. This challenge helped foster a culture of health at Cerner and
definite changes are evident with our associates’ mentality worldwide. Associates
are engaged and invested and want to improve health care. Together we are
building the proof-points for Cerner’s future and living out Cerner’s mission
statement each and every day with our own population. We are contributing to the systemic
improvement of health care delivery and the health of communities – in this
case, with our own Cerner community.
As Cerner continued its health journey in 2011 we made many
enhancements to the health offerings available to our associates and their dependents). A few of the programs included:
- Device integration (Fitbits, Withings devices,
on-campus scales) with member’s Cerner Health record (personal health record).
- Completion of the Innovations Campus Clinic.
- Fields to Forks and Fresh Food Fridays which
allows access to fresh, locally-sourced foods.
- Redefined condition management coaching program
to have greater participation in the coordination of health and care services
with integration of approach with member’s primary care providers.
- Expansion of Healthe Living with Rewards to
include spouses/same-gender domestic partners.
- Complementary membership to the Healthe Fitness
Centers.
- Planning and development of a permanent fitness
center at the Innovation Campus. Project
kickoff has begun and construction to start soon.
These
examples are just a sample of the many programs that aided in 75 percent of
associates maintaining or improving their health status from 2007 to 2011.
We anticipate much more success on the 2012 leg of the
health journey, especially for our associates outside of the United States. Our
offices in India will soon have access to enhanced preventive health services
focusing on education and lifestyle modification. We’re also launching a new
price transparency tool for our U.S. associates. This tool is designed to help
our associates make informed decisions on where to consume clinical services
and purchase prescription drugs, based on price, quality and convenience. The
tool capitalizes on the idea of joint accountability and that it is in each associate’s
best interest to make the most informed decisions. We will also further enhance offerings to
promote brain health by launching both on-site and virtual services for all
members of our population.
I’m proud of our associates for walking the talk in
improving both health and care, and I’m looking forward to taking the next
steps in our collective health journey.
Dr. Nill is responsible for innovation of clinical
aspects of health and care services for Healthe at Cerner. He participates in
health benefits design and integration of other Cerner benefits into the
overall approach to health which includes fitness and nutrition. Dr. Nill
functions as the global corporate medical director for Cerner Corporation,
working closely with Cerner’s benefits team regarding health and well-being for
Cerner associates. He is board-certified in family medicine and is a member of
the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine.