Awards Presented for Strategies and Programs that Improve Employee Health and Performance as a Business Objective

EMPLOYERS HONORED Four Corporate Health and Productivity Management (CHPM) Awards Presented for Strategies and Programs that Improve Employee Health and Performance as a Business Objective

ORLANDO, Fla., April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by the Institute For Health And Productivity Management:

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At its 13th Annual International Health & Productivity Conference March 25-27, the Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) recognized four winners of its 13th Annual Corporate Health and Productivity Management (CHPM) Awards. 

IHPM was pleased to present a CHPM Level I Award to a leading regional health system located in the Upper Midwest of the United States.  Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin also serves parts of Iowa and Minnesota and offers prevention and health promotion programs to 5500 employees.  They were cited for good program integration across human capital departments as well as good variety with high participation and compliance.  The company has a major focus on EAP services, and a commitment to incentives – which have evolved over the years of the program.

This year's Awards had a strong international flavor, in keeping with the growing global nature of IHPM's Conference and its Mission.  Three of the winners – from diverse industries – are headquartered outside the United States with two having a presence globally.

Saudi Aramco, "Powering Possibilities" - the world's largest oil and gas exploration and production company, is headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and won the Award for its Wellcare, Carepartners program, which has certified hundreds of internal Champions who are key to the program's widespread acceptance and success.  The company has a unique health and productivity model, with innovative health-related productivity measures and outcomes.  Also noteworthy are the program's numerous business partnerships and research outlets, and impressive risk migration by participants.

Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) is Russia's largest coal company, headquartered in Moscow.  The company's Behavioral Safety Care Program incorporates numerous health protection activities, and has helped produce impressive reductions in health-related absence from work.  SUEK also has an innovative Health School for its employees.  And it has made the major workplace issue of back health a main focus, with unique interventions for back pain which have produced impressive results.

Unilever, the London-based global consumer goods giant, has implemented its longstanding Lamplighter Program with good results in numerous countries around the world.  The program has great leadership support, takes innovative approaches to service delivery and has a comprehensive evaluation plan.  And Unilever also continues to experiment with productivity metrics.  (The Company previously has won both the Level I and Level II CHPM Awards, and an International Award for its occupational health programs in Mexico).

The Corporate Health & Productivity Management Awards are sponsored by Aetna, and were presented by Karen Weinseiss, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Management & Product Innovation, Aetna International.

Joseph Leutzinger, PhD, Principal of Health Improvement Solutions and President of IHPM's Academy for Health and Productivity Management is Chair of the Panel of Judges for the Awards.

IHPM's Corporate Health and Productivity Management Awards were created 14 years ago to recognize leadership and strategic vision in making employee health an investment in work force productivity and business performance.  The roster of more than 50 winners represent all major industries as well as the public sector, and six of the Awards have been International – half of them this year. 

"Health and productivity management has become the new business strategy for increasing the value of a company's human capital to gain competitive advantage in a global economy," says Leutzinger, who consults with companies worldwide on their HPM strategies and programs.  "Companies that invest in their employees' health now can show the return from that investment in improved functionality and productivity."

Sean Sullivan, President and CEO of IHPM, added that "CHPM Award winners comprise a distinguished roster of employer leaders who validate the business proposition that health is an asset – and not just a cost.  These leaders are gaining real value from investing in the health of their people, and IHPM's now more-than-decade-old Awards program continues to recognize and promote them as examples for others to emulate – around the world."

About Aetna - "Helping to manage health care, one of the most important things in life"

"We believe we can help create a better health care system. This belief drives our daily decisions as one of the nation's leading health care benefits companies. We work hard to provide our members with information and resources to help them make informed decisions about their health."   

Aetna's mission is to help people achieve health and financial security by providing easy access to cost-effective, high-quality health care. And they continue to be a leader in building a stronger, more effective health care system by working with doctors, hospitals, employers, patients, public officials and others. Learn more about Aetna's mission.  www.aetna.com.

About IHPM – "Advancing Health and Performance Globally"

IHPM is a non-profit enterprise devoted to establishing the value of employee health as a global business asset.  The core principle at the center of all of the Institute's work is that health, wellbeing, and productivity are global issues impacting the success of companies and nations.  IHPM provides data analyses, measurement tools, and HPM services and consultation to its members and clients in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The Institute helps employers to identify the cost impact of employee health on business performance, choose the best opportunities to reduce this impact by improving health and productivity, and measure the success of their efforts. The institute is a unique driving force for changing health from a medical cost to a business asset for employers and nations. This unique status was recently acknowledged by the World Economic Forum when it chose IHPM as a partner for its global Workplace Wellness Alliance.

CONTACT:
Deborah Love
480-305-2100
[email protected]

SOURCE Institute for Health and Productivity Management