Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) released a new guide for employers on cancer survivorship Wednesday morning.
The free guide was created in collaboration with CancerCare to offer employers' HR departments "practical guidance on creating a workplace that supports people living with cancer and is productive for all."
The guide covers challenges that cancer survivors may face and how employers can support them. It also includes information on support organizations, employment laws and agencies, and recommendation checklists for employers.
payment reform. Research by the Northeast Business Group on Health found that in 2015, employers spent $125 million on cancer care, and since then, cancer therapy costs have increased substantially with greater use of immunotherapy and the introduction of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies that can easily cost half a million dollars for treatment.
The federal government is taking the lead with the Oncology Care Model, which will transition into Oncology Care First in 2022 after a 1-year extension due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but commercial payers are also testing payment reform models.
Did you know that nearly 17% of your employees may be caregivers? According to an AARP and the Northeast Business Group on Health, in the U.S. today, one in six employees is a caregiver for a relative or friend and spends, on average, 20 hours a week caring for a loved one. And it's safe to say (given demographic trends) that the number of employees acting as caregivers will only grow.
About 20% of companies offered paid caregiver leave last year, according to data from WorldatWork, a nonprofit HR resource organization. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, employers were increasingly recognizing that they need to provide caregiver benefits. A Northeast Business Group on Health survey of employers found that 79% of respondents said caregiving will be an increasingly important issue over the next five years.
Leading-edge employers are using best practices to support employees with cancer. By doing so, these organizations are serving as role models that others may want to follow.
Many of these best practices are described in a guide from Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH), an employer-led coalition. Delivering Value in Cancer Care: The Employer Perspective features case studies and examples of employer initiatives to support employees and family members with cancer. It also gives advice on how HR leaders can engage with vendors and health plans to make employees aware of the cancer-related benefits and services available to them, such as:
The guide comes as Covid-19 disrupts many traditional on-site workplace weight-management and wellness programs. Obesity increasingly affects U.S. adults and is also costly to employers, the group noted. Nearly half of all U.S. adults are projected to be classified as obese by 2030, according to some estimates. And, taking into account medical costs as well as lost productivity, disability and workers' compensation, and absenteeism, obesity costs U.S. employers more than $73 billion annually.
Technology provides unique opportunities to support the mental health of your workplace in a scalable, cost-effective way. If you’re interested in learning more about how digital mental health tools can support your employees, see our Employer’s Guide to Digital Tools and Solutions for Mental Health, jointly developed by One Mind PsyberGuide and the Northeast Business Group on Health. The guide contains in-depth reviews of 27 different platforms for workplace mental health to allow employers to compare platforms and start to decide the best fit to meet employee needs.
The Northeast Business Group on Health has issued a new guide designed to help human resources and benefits leaders address the weight and obesity issues facing millions of employees.
The guide comes as Covid-19 disrupts many traditional on-site workplace weight-management and wellness programs. Obesity increasingly affects U.S. adults and is also costly to employers, the group noted. Nearly half of all U.S. adults are projected to be classified as obese by 2030, according to some estimates. And, taking into account medical costs as well as lost productivity, absenteeism and disability and workers' compensation, obesity costs U.S. employers more than $73 billion annually.
Because millions of employees are now working from home, an important part of the plan is remote intervention focused on healthy eating and physical activity, according to the group. That can include offering virtual healthy cooking demonstrations, promoting access to healthy meal and delivery services, offering virtual fitness classes and digital tools to promote physical activity, and offering mobile apps for managing stress.
The guide includes a list of digital weight-management tools available to employers as well as weight-management resources for employees. It also details case studies of four major employers' successful weight-management programs that relied on incentives, digital tools and virtual and on-site meetings to promote healthy weight behaviors among their employees.
"When we talk to employers, weight issues in general, including obesity, are always in the top five concerns around their workforce," said Candice Sherman, CEO of the business group.
The pandemic has only intensified that concern, Sherman said. New stressors, gym shutdowns and working from home have made managing weight more difficult for some people. And obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor for severe complications from Covid-19. —J.H.
And despite the trend toward remote work brought on by the pandemic, transportation benefits may be particularly valuable to certain segments of the workforce. A February report by the Northeast Business Group on Health found that employers can aid low-income workers with diabetes, for example, by providing transportation services or reimbursement for public transit or rideshares used to travel to appointments.
Fever screening and self-assessments are effective only when accompanied by social distancing, mask wearing and adequate workplace ventilation, said Dr. Saul Helman, a partner at consulting firm Guidehouse, which has been advising employers.
“Temperature checks and risk-assessment-type surveys have become very helpful in the first levels of screening of people before they come into an office building,” Helman said. “It’s not an ultimate layer. It’s not going to prevent every infected person from walking in.”
Dr. Mark Cunningham-Hill, medical director at the Northeast Business Group on Health, agreed.
Temperature screening is “probably more reassuring than effective,” Cunningham-Hill said.