In 2019 we took a closer look at the faculty & staff wellness program, including biometric screenings, to determine best practices as it relates to the well-being of our staff. Aggregate reports indicated that wellness program biometric screenings did not significantly improved health measures for organizations’ participants. While screenings identify basic health risks, employees may or may not follow up with a physician for treatment of any conditions or issue detected in the screening. Biometric screenings are also limited in scope while annual physicals cover a wider array of physical and mental health conditions, including a review of health history, medications, vaccinations, mental health symptoms, and scheduling of recommended preventative screenings.
Articles were placed in OnCampus and HR Monthly explaining potential changes to the wellness premium incentive program. After carefully reviewing the comments,the decision has been made to move forward with a physician only option in 2020.
Those employees wishing to participate in the wellness program and receive the reduced premium for the 2021 plan year will need to complete an annual physical with a primary care doctor between Dec. 1, 2019, and Nov. 30, 2020, and submit the attached Physician Exam Completion Form by Dec. 2, 2020.
We extended our timeline for receiving a physical back to Dec. 1, 2019, to include those employees with December physicals. Any employee who completed their physical last December should have their physician fill out the attached Physician Completion Form and return it to the Drake Human Resources Office, attention Linda Feiden.
The on-campus UnityPoint screening and Hy-Vee screening option will no longer be available. Also, we will continue to offer voluntary on campus screenings with the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, but they will not take the place of the annual physical with a primary care provider.
Should you have questions, please contact Linda Feiden in Human Resources at linda.feiden@drake.edu.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources