National business group on health honors Geisinger with Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles award
Geisinger received a top-tier Platinum Award for its wellness initiatives. This marks the fourth year Geisinger has received the award and the second year in a row it received the Platinum Award. The National Business Group on Health is a non-profit association of 425 large U.S. employers.
“This award is in recognition of the efforts of every one of our employees who continue to reinforce and support our culture of health and wellness,” said Diane Harlow, Geisinger’s director of Wellness. “The Wellness Department has the honor to work alongside all who wish to maintain and enhance their personal wellbeing and we are so proud to be able to share this success with all of our Geisinger family.”
The Geisinger Wellness Department offers an exceptional and well-rounded program. Initiatives incorporating quality, innovation and market leadership help to create a healthy and happy work environment for Geisinger employees.
Geisinger began cultivating a culture of wellness among employees in 2006 with the implementation of the Employee Wellness program, aimed to motivate Geisinger family members to be active partners in achieving healthy lifestyles. This year marks year five of the organization’s collaboration with Geisinger Health Plan to expand the focus on employee population health management, including the incentive-based myHealth Rewards program, which moves employees toward healthy lifestyles through education, awareness and health/wellness coaching to achieve and maintain personal wellness goals. Geisinger Health Plan’s outcomes based incentive program (Smart Steps), now in its 6th year, has been adopted by multiple employers in the region and various out-of-state partners.
The program rewards member-insured employees for healthy behaviors and bettering themselves through improved body mass index, cholesterol and not using tobacco. It has enjoyed heightened success based on increased clinical outcomes showing employees are willing to meet these goals. The organization is also enjoying an expanded, third year for the Get Fresh Market program bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to employees, patients and guests at numerous food service locations throughout the system during summer and fall months.
Brian Marcotte, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health, said, “We congratulate Geisinger for their dedication to improving the well-being of their employees. Employers are transitioning their focus from offering traditional wellness programs focused primarily on improving their employees' physical health to holistic well-being strategies aimed at enhancing the various facets of employees and their families' lives. We commend Geisinger and its leaders for their innovation.”
Winners of the 2016 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles® awards are being honored in one of three categories: Platinum, for implementing a workforce well-being strategy with demonstrated results across the dimensions of well-being; Gold, for organizations with a strong commitment to holistic well-being and related metrics; Silver, for organizations with emerging well-being strategies and metrics; often with a focus on physical health.
About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 126 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,700 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $15 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
About the National Business Group on Health®
The National Business Group on Health is the nation’s only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers’ perspective on national health policy issues and helping companies optimize business performance through health improvement, innovation and health care management. The Business Group leads initiatives to address the most relevant health care issues facing employers today and enables human resource and benefit leaders to learn, share and leverage best practices from the most progressive companies. Business Group members, which include 72 Fortune 100 companies, provide health coverage for more than 50 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information, visit businessgrouphealth.org.