Understanding the value of health screening helps your organisation and your employees’ well-being.
2009 has been an eventful year for companies due to financial, as well as, health challenges. In fact, the global health situation – as a result of the H1N1 influenza – has highlighted the importance of health for the individual, as well as, for the company and the world. We are responsible not just to ourselves, but also to the rest of the world, for taking good care of our bodies.
Early detection of diseases via health screening allows earlier intervention, thereby reducing absenteeism and high costs due to serious ailments. From the company’s viewpoint, this is economically friendly as productivity increases and medical expenditure decreases. Time off work due to sickness can be a substantial amount.
Medical benefits, including health screening for staff, also have the added advantages of improving employer/employee relationships, enhancing corporate image, boosting staff morale and aiding talent retention. Hence, providing medical benefits is a cost effective and winning strategy to ensure and promote a healthy workforce, in order to stay competitive in the gloomy economic climate.
Health screening as a part of remuneration package will offer as a popular perk for employees. As for the company, it helps the organisation identify the general state of health of its workforce, the prevalent risk factors and health issues among their employees so corrective action can be instituted and workplace health programmes can be better structured. Now the responsibility of looking for healthcare provider and health screening programmes falls into the hands of the HR practitioner.
There are a variety of programmes are available in the market. Some are one size fits all and some are customised. As the person in charge of staff welfare, it is of importance for HR to understand the background, job nature, common risk factors (such as smoking, occupational hazards), and demographic profile and health concerns of the employees. Based on these data, the selected healthcare provider will have a good overall picture and be better equipped to customise health screening packages based on your employees’ health needs and company requirements.
Next point to note is the availability of resources. From the business point of view, dollars and cents must make sense. Hence, the HR practitioner should be equipped with a budget to work with and knowledge of the staff strength. With this information, he or she can be better empowered to select a healthcare provider which can best cater to the needs of the company.
Of course, a healthcare provider which can provide tip-top professional customer service, medical expertise, cutting edge technology at the lowest cost will rank top on the list. Other factors to consider will be the accessibility, the ambience, the reputation and the ‘X’ factor also known as “finesse” of the healthcare provider. Healthcare is like any other service industry. I liken it to going to a restaurant. The taste and selection of the cuisine, the service of the staff and the ambience all contribute towards the dining experience. Of course, having a dining promotion is a plus point for the pocket.
A more technical point is the medical aspect of the health screening selection, which healthcare providers should gladly extend a helping hand. A basic health competency is a useful skill to master. Do consider screening for common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart diseases, cancers, osteoporosis, sexually transmitted diseases, hearing and vision problems. More comprehensive and thorough screening packages are advised for people above 40 years of age.
Health screening packages may include the following – consultation with physical examination, body mass index, body composition analysis, vision test, audiogram, blood test, urine test, stool test, PAP smear, electrocardiogram, treadmill stress test, spirometry, x-rays, ultrasounds and other forms of imaging tests. Customised screening packages with the flexibility to cater to each and every one’s needs and concerns are the way to go due to different health statuses, life stages and family medical histories. Health promotion and education via health talks, workshops by the healthcare provider will also help instill awareness of common medical illnesses amongst your staff.
Remember, every worker is an important cog in the machinery. Just a malfunction of one cog will lead to loss of efficiency and productivity of the whole system.
Dr Chong Yeang Chern
Wellness physician
Asia Healthpartners
www.asiahealthpartners.com
