Clinical interoperability and FHIR

FHIR Developer Days came to a close the Friday before Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. FHIR mastermind Grahame Grieve capped off the proceedings with a keynote address:

International FHIR DevDays Keynote (Grahame Grieve) from Rene Spronk on Vimeo.

Graham discusses FHIR's evolution beyond "draft" status and some of the philosophical and practical considerations as the standard grows up:

• FHIR will now be a "working standard," reflecting the fact that it is being used in production settings, but not yet etched in stone
• Levels of maturity for advancing the standard - which are largely community-driven - toward becoming "normative" 
• Packaging FHIR resources and making them more accessible and easily-interpreted, with a process that can be better understood by non-programmers
• The importance of considering who is served by data interoperability, not simply the flow and efficiency of information exchange; 

To this last point, for those trying to place FHIR within national interoperability efforts, Grahame attempts to lay out the ultimate goal of the standard development:

Data interoperability is all well and good but it's not the outcome that we need. The outcome that we need is clinical interoperability... My (definition) of clinical interoperability is the ability to transfer patients between care teams and provide seamless provision of clinical care. That is the interoperability that matters and will make a difference to people's lives.

What is considered data continuity for healthcare practitioners may not serve the needs of patients; yet the goal of a truly patient-centered, portable record will have to prioritize the healthcare user above all else.

***

There's still a lot to unpack from Amsterdam, In case you missed it, Developer Days also featured:

• Presentations from FHIR principals Lloyd McKenzie and Ewout Kramer
• API development in Java and .NET
• A "cheat sheet" with tons of useful FHIR info (compiled by Developer Days host Furore)
• An announcement that IHE is updating FHIR Profiles to align with DSTU2
• An announcement of a Notepad++ plugin for FHIR
• Trophies!

See you around the FHIR place.

FHIR Developer Days in Amsterdam

Amsterdam (CREDIT: Massimo Catarinella)

International FHIR Developer Days takes place this week (November 18-20) in Amsterdam. The event is hosted by Furore, a Dutch health IT company that has been active in FHIR development. Furore maintains an open-source FHIR test server called "Spark."

The three FHIR project leads ("FHIR Chiefs," as we like to call them), Lloyd McKenzie, Grahame Grieve and Ewout Kramer will all be in attendance. The event promises to be another great opportunity for cross-industry training and collaboration.

And, as with all FHIR Connectathons, there are tracks. Via the FHIRplace, developers will be encouraged to work in the following lanes this time around:

• Patient: Create, update and search patients 
• Terminology Services Track: expand valuesets, validate codes and retrieve human readable labels codes.
• Profile & Validation: Create a profile and an instance; ask a FHIR server to validate the instance 
• "SMART on FHIR" track: Extend FHIR servers or build a client to add OAuth2 to the FHIR REST interface
• Imaging: Imaging results using Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard
• API Beginners Track: For those just starting out with FHIR client applications
• Community Track: Presentations of real life experiences with FHIR (schedule for those is found here)

The full program of events for Amsterdam is here.

We are looking forward to following the action and international perspective this week. As always, interoperability benefits greatly from frequent, iterative collaboration and a broad range of players from across the globe.

And stay tuned to this blog for new content on our current FHIR development.

The CQMsolution Story

Dynamic Health IT first began assisting EMR clients with HITECH certification in the summer of 2010.

Known originally in the 2011 Edition (Stage 1) as 170.304 (j) – and now 170.314 (c)(1), (2), and (3) - the requirements for supporting Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) proved to be a sticking point for many vendors looking to certify.

Some of our clients who had certified under 2011 edition had done so successfully with the application popHealth for CQMs, a product targeted to Ambulatory (EP) providers, under Stage 1. But users had grown frustrated with the implementation process, one that included difficulty importing data, delayed updates for known issues and virtual machines for various Windows versions that were cumbersome to use.

This frustration was compounded by the 2013 government shutdown that lasted two and a half weeks and affected support and continuity for a host of Health IT-related programs. This put another layer of pressure on vendors facing certification deadlines.

When the 2014 edition of certification standards rolled around, popHealth was not yet certified and ultimately would transition to open source. While DHIT has been involved in open source projects at various, the time-sensitive nature of certification pressed the limits of using open source to build and maintain a certified software package.

PopHealth was built with Ruby on Rails and our development team felt we could harness technology more familiar to our clients (C#, MSSQL) to tackle CQMs. In CQMs, we saw an opportunity to challenge ourselves and embark on some cutting-edge development. We decided to jump in head first and build an what would come to be named CQMsolution.

Our goal from the outset was to create a browser based C# application to support the 93 CQMs (both Inpatient and Ambulatory). We would have to do it from scratch, but we had the development experience and potential clients looking for a new approach.

CQMs don’t allow for a “set it and forget it” approach, so our work did not end with initial development and launch of CQMsolution.

In contrast to the pitfalls of version stagnation that can sometimes occur in open source projects, CQMsolution is subject to an actively managed development cycle. Our team seeks to stay current on updates to Federal policy and quality measure updates across programs (MU, PQRS, IQR). We attend biweekly Tech Talks with Cypress to ensure our software validates with the very latest version of eCQMs and we engage in frequent testing, assisted by an ONC-sponsored tool called BONNIE (a web-based tool primarily for measure developers that allows users to load in quality measures and create test patients).

Where there have been challenges configuring and deploying homebrew CQM aggregators in multi-entity settings, we have worked to ensure that CQMsolution sits atop a stable back-end that runs with minimal client intervention and can be centrally-configured for multiple practices.

Our latest version of the application, which works with Cypress CQM validation software (v2.6.1), includes enhanced drill-down screens and the fruits of a testing process that has increased our coverage of many "border" cases. With BONNIE, Dynamic Health IT has now generated or shared in over a thousand patients to stress-test our application.

These efforts keep CQMsolution current for our clients and on pace with EHR certification and standards.

All of this is not to say that open source does not have its virtues. It most certainly does and often leads to breakthroughs in our industry. Many of us use or even contribute to open source applications on a daily basis. But there can be important differences, especially when dealing in subject matter that is time sensitive (CQMs, check) and frequently changing (double check).

Quality measure software must be updated regularly to accommodate both Cypress validation and CMS measure releases. Meaningful support also should be responsive to client submission deadlines and other potential needs related to reporting and displaying quality measures.

As always, let form follow function.

Stay tuned for a full breakdown of 2015 Certification Updates.

Why Fall Is a Great Time to Start a New Fitness Program

Have you been promising yourself you’ll start exercising more any day now? Planning on getting in better shape, but just can’t seem to find the time? We’ve got some good news for you: Fall is here, and it’s the perfect time to start a new fitness routine! Whether you’re making plans with your coworkers to improve worksite wellness or going it alone, here’s a list of reasons why there’s no better time to start exercising than right now.

• The weather is mild – In most places in the world, the weather in fall is some of the mildest and most agreeable of the whole year. That means it’s the perfect time to go outside and start running, walking, or jogging before winter arrives and the cold adds one more reason to your list of reasons to put off exercising.
• Get in shape for the holidays – The arrival of fall also means that the winter holidays are just around the corner. For most people, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is a time for indulging in rich foods and taking a break from normal routines. In other words, it’s not a time of year when most people are thinking about exercise. By starting a new fitness routine in the fall, you’ll be able to shed some extra pounds ahead of the winter holidays.
• You’ll already have your New Year’s resolution – For all the people who swear every New Year’s Eve that next year will be the year they get in shape, not many people actually follow through on their commitment. If you start getting in shape now, however, you’ll already have a head start on next year’s weight-loss goal.

For more great health tips for fall and the rest of the year, contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

5 Employee Health Tips for Fall

Fall is here, which means it’s out with the heat, and in with the turning leaves and cool breezes. In honor of the passing of the seasons, we thought we’d pass along some staff wellness tips to help keep you and your coworkers healthy and happy this fall.

• Get a flu shot – Worried you might end up having to take time off work when you inevitably come down with the flu? There’s an easy solution to this problem – get a flu shot! Going to your doctor for an annual flu shot is the best possible way to avoid falling sick this flu season. You’ll be doing yourself and your coworkers a favor.
• Drink lots of water – “But what about the common cold?” you might be asking. It’s true that the flu shot doesn’t protect against the cold, but there are ways that you can guard yourself against it. Drinking water boosts the immune system, helping the body fight off invading germs.
• Have some pumpkin  – As everyone who loves Halloween will tell you, fall is pumpkin season, and, since pumpkins are full of vitamins A and C, enjoying everyone’s favorite squash can also boost your immune system and help you get the right amount of nutrients into your body.
• Enjoy the weather – If the summer heat kept you indoors for the last few months, then autumn is the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time outdoors. Take advantage of the moderate weather to get in some running or walking before the winter cold arrives.

Interested in learning more about worksite wellness? Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355 for more information on our corporate health programs.

Why Keeping Your Work Area Clean Is So Important

Look around your work station right now. How clean is it? Are there a couple of crumbs from your most recent snack on your desk? Is the floor a little dirtier than it should be? When was the last time you wiped down your work station with clean wipes? We may not think of cleaning up our work stations as a high priority task when we have so much else to do, but cleanliness in the workplace isn’t just about appearances; it’s an important part of maintaining overall staff wellness.

Part Work Desk, Part Dining Table

According to the American Dietetic Association, a huge number of Americans eat at their desks at some point during the day. As determined by their research:

• 62% of American workers eat lunch at their desks
• 50% eat one or more snacks at their desks
• 27% eat breakfast at their desks1

While there’s nothing wrong with eating at your desk, in theory, the unfortunate fact is that many work stations are secret breeding grounds for many kinds of bacteria. In fact, past research has shown that your keyboard and mouse are likely to be home to unpleasant microbes, such as e coli and staph, and likely have more germs on them than a toilet seat!2

If the thought of eating on a surface dirtier than your toilet doesn’t sound very appetizing to you, then you understand the importance of keeping your work station clean. Even if you don’t eat at your desk, unclean work stations lead to more germs circulating around the office, increasing your likelihood of getting sick at work. In other words: Keeping your desk clean is good for your health.

Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355 for more information on improving workplace health.

Sources

1. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ways-stay-healthy-work/story?id=14363408#7
2. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/story?id=4774746&page=1

FHIR Connectathon 10: Atlanta

The DHIT team made the trip to Atlanta last weekend for FHIR Connectathon 10. As the Connectathon series moves into double digits, there is a sense of building momentum in the project. The knowledge base for this diverse group of participants continues to grow with each event.

A quick review: FHIR is a set of clinical interoperability resources based on common web standards, including XML and JSON, with a RESTful protocol in which each FHIR resource has knowable URL. FHIR aims to provide the tools necessary for interoperability with enough flexibility to adapt to a wide variety of use cases.

Connectathon 10 took place October 3-4 and featured 6 themes (or tracks) around which real-world scenarios were built for participants to implement against a FHIR server:

1. Basic patient management
2. Terminology Services
3.  Financial Resources
4.  EHR record lifecycle architecture
5. Structured Data Capture
6. Scheduling

The tracking allowed participants to collaborate more easily by identifying finding complementary skills and experience. DHIT’s involvement centered on themes 1, 2, 4 and 6.

Theme 1, which deals with basic patient search and management, is designed for those new to FHIR. Theme 2involves terminology services and is slightly more advanced, consisting of searching value sets, validating codes against a value set such as LOINC, SNOMED CT, or a FHIR value set. Theme 4 is EHR record lifecycle architecture. This theme is dedicated to auditing lifecycle events such as Patient Create or Update, Appointment Create, etc. Theme 6 concerns the scheduling of appointments using the FHIR protocol: available “slots” can be created for appointments to fill.

The DHIT team’s overarching goal during the Connectathon was to make Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) work with FHIR. We laid the groundwork for CQM calculation by matching the HL7 Health Quality Measures Format (HQMF) templates to FHIR resources. The FHIR server was then used to populate patient demographics data, encounters and procedures.

In our CQMsolution software, we created a quality measure report using a patient search against the FHIR server to grab the necessary patient data. To retrieve the necessary codes used by the measures, we performed a validation before measure calculation for sections retrieved on each patient. After code validation passed, the calculation was completed and the results were displayed on screen. 

The FHIR mantra: button spotted at Connectathon 10
in Atlanta, GA

One of the primary benefits – and most enjoyable aspects – of a FHIR Connectathon is the opportunity for vendors to meet and test out connections among themselves. Each new touchpoint is an opportunity to break new ground in interoperability. The Connectathon environment creates a multiplier effect as these connections take place, through the testing of code and sharing of ideas.

DHIT has the chance to team up with several groups, including collaboration on patient search with Cerner and appointments with Mirth. We also had the chance to meet and discuss future development goals with leading ‘FHIR Chiefs’ Graham Grieve, David Haye and Ewout Kramer. Our discussion focused on the evolution of FHIR servers to facilitate efficient CQM calculation.

By providing this chance to share ideas with FHIR leadership and solve problems collaboratively with other implementers, FHIR Connectathons capture the spirit of interoperability as well as any event today.

We look forward to expanding the role of FHIR in our product development.  

Why Work Breaks Are Important to Employee Health

How seriously do you and your coworkers take their 10 minute breaks? For most people, their breaks are just a formality, a chance to waste time and run down the clock until it’s time to punch back in and go back to work. What many people don’t realize, however, is that how employees spend those 10 minutes can have a profound effect on work performance and overall worksite wellness.

Directed vs. Involuntary Attention

According to researchers, people’s attention spans can be separated into two different classifications: directed attention and involuntary attention. Directed attention is when we consciously focus on a task and choose to spend mental energy on it; involuntary attention is when our brains subconsciously become engaged by something we’ve observed.

When we’re at work, we use most of our mental capacity on paying directed attention to the tasks at hand. Unlike involuntary attention, directed attention is a finite resource that can be depleted; when that happens, mental fatigue sets in, leading to a dramatic drop in memory, energy, and an ability to get work done.

How Breaks Recharge Directed Attention

You’ve probably noticed that after relaxing for even a short period of time, your brain feels recharged immediately afterward. Activities like relaxing, going for a nature walk, or even just looking at pictures of nature all stimulate our involuntary attention, rather than using up directed attention. According to Dr. Marc Berman of the Rotman Research Institute of Toronto, stimulating indirect attention has been shown to also recharge directed attention, increasing working memory by up to 20%.

With this in mind, Berman suggests that workers spend even their 10 minute breaks taking a “true” break – not browsing the internet or chatting with coworkers, but instead taking the time to relax, go for a walk, or perform other activities that stimulate indirect attention, and thus recharge directed attention as well.

For more helpful tips on improving the health of your workplace, contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

Sources

1. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ways-stay-healthy-work/story?id=14363408#1

The Psychological Benefits of Corporate Wellness Programs

What is a corporate wellness program and why should you consider adding one??

Wellness programs provide employees and employers with a variety of helpful resources necessary for improving the overall health and lifestyle of the company as a whole. Companies can customize programs as needed, choosing from a variety of tools, health assessments, reports, educational materials, and more.

The importance of mental health in particular is illustrated here in the potentially negative impact it can have on many areas of performance at work. Problems often result that affect every measure of a company’s success, from high turnover to low productivity.

The benefits of focusing on wellness are immediate, and they will build over time. A supportive work environment helps in reducing symptoms and risks of depression, at the same time increasing productivity and saving company dollars. Employees gain a greater sense of well-being and experience better health outcomes in a long list of areas, as shown in this infographic. Investing in a wellness program ultimately contributes long-term benefits to the bottom line, and to the well-being of everyone involved in the total enterprise.

Click below to embed this infographic into your website:

<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWO8nVFNJwSgAX4H0j2pekGbvR60EGJXIARtKY49Y-etVZhqGCZxNY2xkrmmGXBMhZtc3ZJ61GXs4Qx-H2uEcAxKzbFBN5HBO_CkOjyfev6dNv4xhz-KjLG-TSXMH3EVysyDMiLFpashT/s1600/the-psychological-benefits-of-corporate-wellness-programs-lrg.jpg" alt="The Benefits of Having A Wellness Program" title="The Benefits of Having A Wellness Program" /><br /><a href="http://wellsourceinc.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-psychological-benefits-of-corporate.html" title="The Psychological Benefits of Corporate Wellness Programs" >The Psychological Benefits of Corporate Wellness Programs</a>

Workplace Health Programs Lead to Fewer Obese Employees

There are plenty of reasons why employers should be concerned about the health of their employees. Workers who eat well, get exercise, and lead overall healthy lives are more productive, get sick less frequently, and cost their employers less in health expenses. Company wellness programs like those offered by Wellsource are designed with this in mind – by investing in the health of the people who work for them, businesses end up saving money in the long run and being more profitable. According to a recent study, the companies that invest in these programs are seeing results.

A recently completed study revealed that 17% of young “millennial” employees at workplaces that encouraged employees to follow multiple healthy lifestyle practices, were clinically obese. At companies that only promoted one kind of healthy lifestyle choice, or did not promote healthy living to employees at all, that number jumped to 24%. The study was conducted over a 10-year period, with participants answering an initial set of questions about their health choices in middle school and high school, and then answering another round of questions after they had entered the workforce.

The study also found that many employees reported eating fast food, drinking sugary drinks, and making other poor diet choices because they were conveniently available. In other words, unhealthy lifestyle choices are often the result of our environment – when unhealthy food is the most convenient option at work, many employees will choose eating poorly over spending the extra time and energy that it would take to eat something healthier.

Does your workplace need to improve its lifestyle advocacy efforts? Wellsource can help! Call us today at 800-533-9355.

Sources

1. http://ewn.co.za/2015/08/31/Healthy-workplace-tied-to-fewer-obese-young-workers

Keeping Your IIS Site Online

If you are hosting a site with Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, you should be aware of a potential bug that could take your site offline.

IIS may not always get along with your antivirus updates. DHIT recently encountered an issue in which a McAfee antivirus update causes a key DLL to stop loading and IIS Application Pool to stop, which consequently disables website hosting. When attempting to load an IIS-administered site, you will see a  503 error (Service Unavailable):

Error caused by IIS issue

The particular issue may arise if a component of your antivirus software is removed or expired. For example, your McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention client could be inadvertently updated without all necessary components, uninstalled or otherwise corrupted.

The fix for this issue is quick (and relatively painless), involving a few edits to the applicationHost configuration file.

There are other, related IIS issues detailed in Microsoft support documentation here.

While the fix for this bug straightforward, catching these issues in a timely manner may not be. DHIT uses Microsoft Internet Information Services in a variety of implementations for our applications and has experience ensuring hosting stability.

We recommend not only staying current on Windows and antivirus software updates, but also maintaining a level of support to ensure that potential issues are monitored and remedied quickly to minimize downtime and vulnerability.

DHIT offers tiers of support to accommodate not only ongoing software customization but server continuity. Please contact us with any questions about this issue and keep your health data environment running smoothly.  

How Snacking at Work Really Affects Employee Health

Everyone has eaten a midday snack at their work desk before, and most of us think little about how that extra food is impacting our health. It turns out it’s probably doing more damage to our bodies than we think. According to the USDA, most Americans are adding 400 calories to their daily intake just with the snacks they eat between meals. That might not seem like much on its own, but when all those extra calories are added up over a week, a month, or a year, it starts to look like a more serious problem.

So what can be done, aside from removing snack time from our daily schedules? Here are a few suggestions for how to snack a little smarter:

• Stay hydrated – There are lots of good reasons to drink the recommended 8 cups of water a day, and one of them is that drinking water makes us feel full. If you find yourself feeling hungry between meals or eating more than one snack during the day, try drinking more water.
• Less chips, more fruit – Many people look at their daily snack as a time to indulge in a bit of junk food like chips or candy bars. Instead of choosing something full of sugar, fat, or salt, use snack time to make sure that you’re eating your recommended daily helping of fruit and vegetables. Apples and grapes, in particular, are healthy options that are easy to eat at your desk.
• Stay off of social media – If you’re like most Americans, you have at least one friend who loves to fill their Facebook and Twitter feeds with all the delicious recipes they want to try. If you’re finding yourself hungry between meals, it might be because your social media feed is tempting you.

Want more great worksite wellness tips? Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

Sources

• http://www.9and10news.com/story/29925609/healthy-living-good-snacks-between-meals

Unclogging Data in Health IT

There has been much controversy in the Health IT world over the issue of “data blocking” – to what extent it truly exists and, if so, what to do about it.

It’s worth noting first that the magnitude of this problem may be exaggerated. As recently reported by ONC, an analysis of a nationwide survey of hospitals showed some heartening results:

(N)ear universal adoption of EHRs by hospitals and significant increases in hospitals’ electronically exchanging health information with outside providers compared to past years.In addition, there are a number of technologies available – including DIRECT protocol – that are widely available, easy to implement, but simply underused.

However, even if the extent to which systems are actively obstructing the flow is overblown, there is much work to be done. In testimony before the Senate’s HELP Committee on the subject of health IT “data blocking,” Dr. David C Kendrick – who leads MyHealth Access Network (a non‐profit health information exchange organization in Oklahoma) – provided some helpful guideposts.

Dr. Kendrick first gave a succinct and workable definition of interoperability, in which patients “have their complete, longitudinal medical record available wherever and whenever decisions are made about their health.”

Dr. David C. Kendrick offers testimony before
Senate HELP Committee on Thursday, July 23, 2015.

Kendrick went on to list drivers of data obstruction culled from his experience. Some specific examples include:

• Excessive interface and maintenance costs 
• “Hotel California” problem: vendors do not offer data portability as intended by ONC, so customers “can check out other EHR products any time they like, but their data can never leave” 
• "Garbage in Garbage Out”: Poor data quality and standardization
• EHR-centered development that extends interoperability only to EHR+its partners
• Vendors achieving certification with one feature set, but features are not fully delivered post-certification

In one of the most striking moments in the testimony, Kendrick declared that MyHealth has “never seen a completely correct Patient Care Summary despite processing millions of them.” 

Where data blocking persists, incentives are lacking for collaboration. In Kendrick’s experience, provider-based blocking was a challenge early in the existence of MyHealth, but the problem has “quickly receded as value‐based payment models take hold.” “Data blocking,” on the whole, may simply be a more loaded term for the obstacles that exist in pursuit of the Holy Grail of interoperability.

It’s not easy developing a universal secondary language for health care. But it is up to health IT developers not to settle for “just good enough to pass." As an industry, we now know the ideal to which we are striving and the major barriers.

And while software developers are not policymakers, we can offer our own set of incentives for interoperability through ease of use, affordability and functionality that goes beyond mere compliance.  A good place to start is putting data-sharing front-and-center in our applications.

How “Toxic” Work Environments Hurt Employee Health

The relationship between employees and the company they work for can be a delicate one, with both parties needing to balance their own needs with what the other expects from them. When the right balance is met between the demands of an employer and the emotional wellbeing of their workers, the relationship is fulfilling and profitable for everyone. But when employees feel like they are in a “toxic” work environment, it can have a negative impact not just on their mental health, but their physical health as well.

It’s no secret that stress, anger, and other negative emotions can have physical effects on the body, including increased blood pressure and depression. This extends to the workplace as well. In a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was found that employees who feel like they have little control over their work environment, or who feel they are not supported by coworkers or employers, are four times more likely to die from heart disease, and twice as likely to suffer from depression.

More than that, though, it was found that employees who feel they work in a toxic environment feel little connection to their employer: 72% of highly stressed employees report having a low connection to work. On the other hand, employees who feel a high level of connection between themselves and their employer report feeling committed to achieving company goals, and are 70% less likely to feel stressed out by their jobs.

In other words, workplace wellness doesn’t stop at exercise incentives and lessons in nutrition. Creating a space where employees feel valued by their employer and supported by their coworkers improves not only the health of the people who work for your company, but the health of the company itself.

Sign up with Wellsource today by calling 800-533-9355.

Sources

1. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=381339
2. http://fortune.com/2015/08/25/toxic-workplace-could-destroy-health/

Work Safety Tips for Summer

Summer is in full swing, and that means it’s time for summer health tips for the workplace! As part of your corporate wellness program, integrate these great summer health tips into your company’s daily work routine:

• Make sure everyone drinks plenty of fluids – Think that people won’t get dehydrated sitting at a desk all day? Think again. Many people don’t drink the recommended 8 cups of water per day to begin with. Combine that with the summer heat, and you have a situation where people can easily become dehydrated, even indoors. Employees should have easy access to water and other fluids to keep themselves hydrated and healthy for work.
• Avoid caffeine and sugar – As a supplementary note to making sure employees are drinking enough fluids, it should also be remembered that caffeine and sugary drinks should be avoided or kept to a minimum. Sugar and caffeine make people more dehydrated. Encourage people to stick to water or juice instead.
• Check the ventilation – A proper workplace should have plenty of ventilation to allow air to circulate. Good air circulation keeps the temperature down, even if the building doesn’t have an air conditioner unit. If the building needs better circulation, open the windows and use fans to keep the air moving as much as possible (as long as it doesn’t distract people from their work).
• Remember the sunscreen – Depending on where you live, even a little bit of exposure to the summer sun can result in sunburn and other negative health effects. Encourage employees to wear sunscreen before they leave for work and before they go home.

Learn more about improving your workplace health practices by calling Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

Bad Workplace Habits That Affect Mental Health

Most of the time, worksite wellness initiatives focus on physical health and the benefits of encouraging people to take better care of their bodies. Mental health, however, is just as important to living a full, happy life, and to maintaining a productive, efficient workplace. Many employees are engaged in bad habits in the workplace that are harming them mentally, leading to anxiety, depression, and other stressful conditions that can hurt people at home and at work.

Lack of Exercise

Everyone knows that not getting enough exercise is bad for your body, but it can be just as bad for your mind. According to a study in JAMA Psychiatry, depression and physical activity were found to be linked: those who exercised were less likely to be depressed, and those who were depressed were much less likely to be physically active. In fact, physical activity at least three times a week was found to decrease the risk of suffering from depression by 19%.

Doing Too Much at Once

Multitasking is usually seen as a good skill to have at work, but appearances can be deceiving. When people perform multiple kinds of activities at once – even something as simple as continuing to work on your lunch break – they are most likely hurting their productivity rather than helping it. Doing too much at once increases stress level, harms a person’s ability to focus on what they’re doing, and drastically reduces their ability to communicate with others. In other words, too much multitasking is as likely to slow things down (and burn people out) as it is to get things done faster.

Want more great health tips for the workplace? Contact a Wellsource corporate health specialist today by calling 800-533-9355.

Sources

1. http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20866947_5,00.html

Is Sedentary Behavior America’s Biggest Health Risk?

Most people know that sitting for long periods of time probably isn’t good for their health, but few people really understand just what a widespread health risk, long-term sedentary behavior really is. According to University of South Carolina research scientist Steven Blair, physical inactivity is almost certainly “the biggest health problem we have in [this] country.”

Just how big a problem is sedentary behavior? According to some research, four hours of sedentary behavior in a row is enough to undo all the benefits of one hour of exercise. Considering that many working Americans sit at their desk all day long only to go home and watch TV on the couch, the long-term effects of sedentary behavior are a pressing issue that is having a big impact on the U.S. workforce.

So, what can be done? While care for an individual’s health ultimately rests with that individual, workplaces can help encourage healthy behavior, and modify their policies so that employees aren’t sitting for long periods without a short break. Some of the steps businesses can take to discourage sedentary behavior include:

• Holding stand-up meetings and allowing employees to use stand-up desks
• Providing exercise machines or creating space for employees to get physical activity
• Allowing employees to take short “walking breaks” once every one or two hours to stretch their legs
• Instituting a workplace health program.

Company wellness programs like those offered by Wellsource help businesses and their employees improve their lives and save money on health costs. For more information, contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

Sources

1. http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/14049773/tips-for-better-workplace-health-get-off-your-butt-more

The Benefits of Having A Wellness Program At Your Company

There are many ways for a company to make their employees healthy and happy. One cost-effective way to do this is to make a wellness program available for all employees. By implementing a wellness program, an employer is more likely to retain employees, as well as to increase productivity. This saves employers time and money. If you’re interested in implementing a wellness program in your company, the following infographic shows you how beneficial it can be. Continue reading to discover why you should have a wellness program at your company.

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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iELL00LO_qmJS2x8G81vR_cS46QjkdFwLwUn7Z5RcCrncz5XVBU345l9uelW-spAzCCJutAG7H6dSq2-1LBuBuZdir1V8gBjZ3LNeFXod1Aekh_IP82QOncZQHC_oNmCD-EySbjEie0H/s1600/infographic_wellsource_june2015_lrg.jpg" alt="ALT TEXT" title="IMAGE TITLE" /><br /><a href="http://wellsourceinc.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-benefits-of-having-wellness-program.html" title="The Benefits of Having A Wellness Plan" >Benefits of A Wellness Plan at Work</a>

Workplace Wellness Programs Pay Off for Businesses in the Long Term

Businesses often struggle to balance the needs of their employees with keeping costs low enough to maintain profitability. As such, some organizations forgo implementing workplace wellness programs out of fear that the cost will outweigh the benefit. If you’re one of those businesses that wants to help improve its employees’ overall health and performance, but are afraid that a workplace health program is too expensive, it’s time to stop worrying: research shows that workplace wellness programs save their businesses money within two to three years, by a margin of three dollars saved for every one dollar spent.

According to a report in the American Journal of Health Promotion, which studied the expenditures and savings of a large financial services company’s workplace health program, businesses can expect to start seeing a three to one return on investment in an employee wellness program within two to three years. By comparing the medical costs associated with employees who took part in one or more of the health initiative programs offered by their employer, with those employees who did not, the study found that those employees who took advantage of the health programs cost their employer significantly less than those who did not. Even without every employee taking part in the program, the savings generated by those that did more than justified the initial expenditure.

In other words, employee health programs don’t just improve people’s lives – they help businesses make money, too. If your business is ready to start seeing savings by improving employee health, contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.


Sources

1. http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2012/employee-wellness-programs-provide-significant-savings-over-time

Workplace Wellness Prevents Chronic Diseases

The cost of healthcare is rising every year, for both employers and individuals. There are a lot of factors that lead to this situation, not all of which are within the control of employers or their workers. But there are still some ways that companies and their employees can combat the rising cost of healthcare: implementing corporate wellness programs.

According to the CDC, 75% of healthcare costs are generated by chronic diseases, which include heart disease, stroke, and obesity. In addition to being the biggest burden on the healthcare system, many of these conditions are also largely preventable. Stroke, heart attack, and other chronic health problems are often caused by lifestyle choices, meaning that programs that help people reverse harmful lifestyle choices can largely lead to these kinds of health problems being prevented.

Workplace health programs don’t just improve the overall health of the people who work at a company; they reduce that company’s healthcare costs as well. People who live healthy lifestyles tend to have lower health claims, resulting in savings for them and the companies that pay a portion of their employees’ premiums. And, when employees live healthier lives, they are less likely to miss work due to illness. Corporate health initiatives help reduce costs both by reducing sick days and by bringing down the cost of health care.

Learn more by contacting Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

How Corporate Wellness Improves Company Loyalty

If you’re not convinced that corporate wellness programs make a difference, here are a couple of statistics that might change your mind. According to Dr. Roger Sahoury, author of Gladiator’s Guide to Corporate Health & Wealth, 55% of workers said that workplace wellness programs were at least partially

responsible for improvements in their overall health. More than that, company health programs accounted for $250 million dollars in healthcare savings, and led to a 50% reduction in cases of employees suffering from high blood pressure at workplaces where they were implemented.

In addition to making employees healthier (and happier) in their daily lives, corporate wellness programs also have the added benefit of making workers happier with the companies they work for. When their employer provides them with resources that allow them to improve their lives, it demonstrates to them that their company cares about them and their wellbeing. And when employees believe that the company they work for cares about them and their happiness, and not just the work it can get out of them, they feel a deeper connection with the company than just the provider of their paychecks.

It’s no secret that happier employees are more loyal employees, and that overall health has an impact on productivity. In other words, corporate wellness programs are a benefit to both employees and the people who work for them. They improve employee morale and health, which improves performance and productivity in return.

Want to learn more about implementing a workplace health program at your company? Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

 

Sources

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinharrington/2015/05/13/corporate-wellness-health-wellness-and-an-improved-bottom-line/

 

How to Prevent Tension Neck Syndrome in the Workplace

For many people, doing their job requires sitting at a desk for several hours straight every day, something that the human body was not meant to do. When it is stuck in a relatively fixed position for long periods of time, the body can develop some painful, debilitating conditions that interfere with a person’s ability to work and enjoy their life outside the office.

One of these conditions, tension neck syndrome (TNS), is common in workplaces where employees spend long periods of time on the phone. TNS is most often caused when a person spends long hours with their neck twisted in an unnatural position, like the one people use to hold a phone between their shoulder and ear. It can also appear when people sit for long periods of time at a computer desk typing. Symptoms of TNS include:

• Pain or tenderness in the neck and shoulders
• Muscle tightness

If employees in your workplace spend long periods of time talking on the phone or sitting at a desk, there is a possibility that they could begin to suffer from TNS. There are several steps that can be taken to prevent TNS in the workplace:

• Provide employees with headsets, phone cradles, and other phone accessories that take away the need for them to bend their necks to the side for long hours every day.
• Allow employees with shoulder or back problems to use ergonomic chairs/desks and other back/shoulder health products throughout the day.
• Encourage employees to take breaks from sitting and walk around and stretch.
  

Want to learn more about improving staff wellness? Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355.

3 Strange (but True) Health Tips

We've all heard the usual lifestyle assessment health tips – stay active, eat your vegetables, avoid fatty foods, etc. But there are some health tips that seem to run counter to accepted wisdom, yet still have a positive effect on body and mind.

1. Don't brush your teeth immediately after eating acidic food – If you've ever had a strongly flavored meal or gotten food stuck in your teeth, you understand the urge to go to the bathroom and give your teeth a nice post-meal brushing. You'd think this would be a good thing to do for your teeth, but you may be hurting your teeth instead of helping them – brushing your teeth after eating acidic food (like lemons) speeds up the corrosive effect, possibly damaging enamel and the layers beneath. Instead, wait 30 minutes to an hour before giving your teeth a brush.
2. Make your small snack bigger – You may think that eating small amounts of food for a snack is better for your health and weight, but it may be making you hungrier. When you eat small amounts of carbohydrates, your blood sugar spikes and your body starts craving more carbs, which often leads to eating more to get rid of the hunger pangs. Instead of a small snack pack, try something protein-heavy, like low-fat cheese or peanut butter, combined with fruit or veggies for a snack.
3. Feeling bloated? Drink more water – When your body feels bloated and puffy, putting more liquid in your stomach often seems like the last thing you want to do. But water relieves the causes of most bloating, which include high-fiber diets and dehydration. Water helps dissolve fiber and relieve related bloating. The puffiness that comes from dehydration is caused by your body clinging to the water that is available to it; drinking more brings the bloating and puffiness down.

For more info, contact Wellsource at 800-533-9355.

Health Tips for Employees Who Spend Their Day at a Desk

Do you spend all day sitting at a desk? If you do, your posture and sitting habits may be having a negative impact on your health. Next time you're at your desk, try these worksite wellness habits to make sure you're not causing your body harm when you're at work.

• Check your eye line – One of the best ways to make sure you're sitting with good posture is to check your eye line. If you use a computer, the top of your monitor should be level with your eyes when you are looking straight ahead. If your computer is too low, you need to raise your computer so that your neck and back aren't bent in an unhealthy position.
• Use a supportive chair – The chair you use can have a big impact on your posture. A good chair should have armrests so that the weight of your arms doesn't compress your spine, and should be the right height to make your legs sit at a 45-degree angle when your feet are flat on the ground.
• Make sure your desk is the right height – Another important factor in sitting properly is using a desk that is the right height. Your desk should be high enough that your hands sit in a neutral position (not bent up or down).
• Try alternative work stations –Trying out different types of workstations can be a great way to improve posture and overall health for people who have trouble sitting at a desk. Desks tall enough for standing, switching out chairs for exercise balls or ergonomic office equipment, and other similar alternative workstation ideas are all worth trying.

Contact Wellsource today at 800-533-9355 for more great health tips and wellness ideas.

More Tips for Getting the Most from Your Corporate Wellness Program

A worksite wellness program takes a big investment of time and manpower to get off the ground, which means that companies should want as many of their employees to get involved as possible. In order to make sure all the work that goes into putting your company's wellness program into place pays off, keep these helpful tips in mind:

1. Make it easy to get involved – Corporate wellness programs are a good thing for employees and their health, but making it challenging for them to take part in one is a barrier that will stop many of them from getting involved. If employees have to jump through a lot of hoops just to register for a program or be eligible for its incentives and rewards, many won't take the time to do so. Getting involved with your corporate wellness program should be as painless and easy as possible.
2. Use employees as ambassadors – One of the best ways to inspire people to take part in something is to get their peers to encourage them. If your company has employees who are active and enthusiastic about your company's health initiatives, they should be encouraged to tell other employees about the benefits. Whether that means having them speak in meetings, or just encouraging them to talk about the program with others, bringing in employees to be the program's boosters can be one of the most powerful recruitment tools your company has.
3. Don't be afraid to change things – Sometimes companies are afraid to change things that aren't working about their corporate wellness program, or to introduce new ideas once the program is already in place. But fixing problems and introducing new ideas is a great way to perfect a health program, and to keep employees engaged.

Want more tips and info? Contact us today at 800-533-9355.

Tips for Getting the Most from Your Corporate Wellness Program

Company wellness programs are a proven way to improve productivity, happiness, and the overall health of a company. But in order to get the best results from your company's health initiatives, the program needs to be one that employees can get excited about and want to participate in. In this post, we'll talk about some of the ways you can tailor your company's wellness program to get the best results.

• Get leadership involved – The point of a corporate wellness program is to inspire employees to improve their health and lifestyle practices. In order for that to happen, employees need to get excited about the idea. One of the best ways to do this is to get company leadership involved. When the heads of the company are noticeably excited about wellness, employees are more likely to be inspired to get involved themselves.
• Tailor the incentives – Offering employees incentives and rewards for taking part in a wellness program is a tried and true method of improving participation in company health initiatives, but only if the incentives are ones that employees want. In order to provide employees with incentives that inspire them, find out what rewards they want and consider worth working toward. Whether it's bonuses, tickets to local events, or even just an office party, offering employees incentives that they actually want is a key part of organizing an effective corporate wellness program.
• Celebrate the successes – "Improving wellness" can be a vague concept that is hard for people to get all that excited about. It's much easier to grasp concrete examples and individual success stories. By highlighting the success and life changes of employees who take part in the program, your company can give other employees an inspirational goal to work toward.

Want more info on corporate wellness? Contact us today at 800-533-9355.