HERO Best Practice Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer

Scorecard Benchmark Report is Now Available

The HERO Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer is pleased to announce the availability of the HERO Scorecard Benchmark Report.  This report provides a comprehensive view of the employee health management (EHM) programs and policies in use by employers of all sizes today.  This comprehensive report provides the aggregated responses to over 75 questions asked in the Scorecard, covering program strategy, design and outcomes.  Further, results have been sorted into 12 employer benchmark groups based on industry, size, and geographic location. 
 
You’ll learn the average scores for respondents in each of the 12 benchmark groups, but the level of detail in the Benchmark Report goes well beyond the brief report provided to all Scorecard respondents at the time they submit. While your score provides a useful indication of how your program generally compares to those of other employers, the Benchmark Report reveals how common each of the Scorecard’s EHM best practices is among all respondents -- and among those you consider your peers. 
 
Here is a small sample of what you’ll learn from the Benchmark Report:

• The average dollar value of incentives to participate in a targeted behavior modification program.
  
• The percentage of respondents in the wholesale/retail trade industry that require employees to complete a health risk assessment to be eligible for health coverage.
  
• The percentage of respondents with more than 5,000 employees whose mission statement identifies employee health and wellbeing as a corporate value.

This Excel-based data report comes with a template that allows you to easily create a printer-friendly report that displays just the three benchmark groups most relevant to your organization (along with the results for all respondents).  The report includes an introduction and brief commentary on the findings by industry experts.
 
The price is $500. For more details and to order the Benchmark Report from HERO, click the Benchmark Report Link.

 Scorecard Purpose

To complete the Scorecard, click here: Best Practice Scorecard Version 3 - Online 

For more information on the Scorecard we have provided a sample of the automated e-mail reply with an organization’s scores. Additionally you can download a PDF of the Scorecard questions and more information about the Scorecard.
 
Topics covered by the HERO Best Practice Scorecard:

Section 1: Strategic planning

Section 2: Leadership engagement

Section 3: Program level management

Section 4: Programs

Section 5: Engagement methods

Section 6: Measurement and evaluation

Background

The HERO Employee Health Management (EHM) Best Practice Scorecard is designed to help employers, providers, and other stakeholders learn about and determine EHM best practice. Earlier versions of the Scorecard have been available since 2006. It was developed in consultation with authoritative sources on EHM best practices, including The Health Project’s C. Everett Koop National Health Awards criteria, the WELCOA Well Workplace Awards criteria (Platinum level), Partnership for Prevention’s Health Management Initiative Assessment, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Partnership for Healthy Workforce 2010 (PHW2010) criteria. Selected elements from these sources were considered in the original construction of the Scorecard; however, most Scorecard content originated with the HERO Think Tank Task Force for Metrics. This rigorous development process was continued with the design of the current Scorecard (Version 3.0), which included input and peer review from HERO Think Tank members, Mercer Total Health Management Practice leaders and other national authorities on EHM best practice programs.

Uses for the Scorecard

Level 1 – As an Inventory
At its most basic level, the Scorecard can be used as a simple program inventory to guide strategic planning.  In each of the six sections, representing six foundational elements of an EHM program, the questions serve as a checklist of best practice in that area. In addition, the metrics included in the Program Outcomes section of the Scorecard may be used as a starting point for development of a “dashboard” approach for measurement of program success.

Level 2 – As an Indicator of Program Success
Exemplary EHM programs are those that are successful in attracting and retaining eligible program participants; providing programs that are satisfying for participants; improving the health status of the population; and achieving a positive return on investment after several years of programming. The free report you receive upon submitting a completed Scorecard, comparing your organization’s scores to the aggregate scores of all employers in the Scorecard database, will help you to identify opportunities to incorporate best practice approaches into your program.

Level 3 – As a Comparative/Benchmarking Tool
The Scorecard asks detailed questions about employers’ EHM program design, administration, and experience.  It also includes a number of demographic questions that, as the database of Scorecard responses grows, will permit increasingly precise benchmarking. The Scorecard database will be used to produce benchmark reports that will allow employers to compare their programs to those of similar employers, based on industry, size, geographic location, employee demographics or other criteria. These benchmark reports will be available for purchase after the database reaches the minimal threshold size required for valid comparisons. We anticipate that this powerful normative database will also be used to support research on best practices in EHM. 

Data Confidentiality

Your individual responses to the Scorecard will be kept strictly confidential. The online Scorecard data collection tool and automated scoring system are maintained by a third-party vendor and hosted on its servers, under the supervision of Mercer. Aggregated data with no individual company identifiers will be used for normative and research purposes, and aggregate results of research studies may be published.  Any use of your individually identifiable data for research or other purposes will require your prior written consent.   

Understanding Your Score

After you submit your data to the online Scorecard, you will receive a score for each of the six sections and an overall score. While the scoring system is based on a maximum number of 200 points, the highest score attained when the system was tested on a number of programs was 160 for a very advanced and widely acclaimed program.  We don’t anticipate that any program will ever receive the maximum score of 200; a program that includes every possible element of an EHM program is neither likely nor probably even desirable, since not all scored elements are appropriate for all organizations!  We recommend that your organization’s score be considered relative to those of peer organizations or to emulator organizations.

How the scoring system was developed.  A panel of EHM authorities from a variety of organizations assisted in developing the scores using a consensus-building exercise.  We began with a proposed maximum score of 200.  Each panel member was asked to distribute these 200 points across the six sections of the Scorecard, based on their judgment about the relative importance of each foundational component to a successful EHM program (“successful” was defined as able or likely to improve total health care spend). The maximum section scores were then distributed across the items within each section using the same criteria.  Finally, the maximum item scores were distributed across the individual responses in each item.  The panel members’ scores were aggregated and either the mode or average (mean) score, as appropriate, was used as the final score.

As with previous versions of the Scorecard, the contributors to the V3.0 scoring system engaged in robust debate and discussion. Given the lack of solid research evidence to support or refute the presumed impact of the individual programmatic elements on health care cost trend, the contributors offered their proposed scores based on the best research and anecdotal evidence available, recognizing that more definitive research will lead to ongoing refinement the relative weighting of the scores. For now, the elements with higher weighted scores can be considered promising practices that the contributors believe achieve their greatest impact only as part of a comprehensive EHM strategy.

Click to see the maximum scores assigned to each section, item and response in the Scorecard.

Invitation to Contribute Feedback

If you would like to communicate with the HERO Think Tank about this version of the Scorecard, please do so by emailing info@the-hero.org, with ‘Scorecard’ in the subject box. We welcome your reactions, comments, and suggestions for improving the Scorecard, as well as ideas for applications for the Scorecard. All replies will be acknowledged and considered confidential. Thank you!

HERO Scorecard Contributors

Sample E-mail Reply With Score

From:  
Sent:
To:
Subject: HERO Scorecard Results
Thank you again for submitting the HERO Best Practice Scorecard. Here are your organization's scores.

Understanding Your Score

Please note that while a score of 200 is theoretically possible, it is not likely nor even desirable for an employer to have every possible EHM program and strategy in place. The greatest value of the Scorecard is in providing an inventory of EHM best practices for consideration; your scores simply provide an indication of where you might find opportunities to enhance your program. As more employers complete the Scorecard and the database grows, you will be able to compare your scores to those of various benchmark groups. For now, to allow for a very general comparison, in the National Average column we have provided the aggregated scores of the employers that completed the Scorecard during the pre-launch testing period (they should in no way be considered representative of all employers). The aggregated scores will be updated on a monthly basis and posted below.

FAQ

More information and commonly asked questions have been addressed in the FAQ document.

For More Information

If you would like to communicate directly with the HERO Think Tank about this version of the Scorecard, please send an e-mail to info@the-hero.org, with 'Scorecard' in the subject box. We welcome your reactions, comments, and suggestions for improving the Scorecard, as well as ideas for applications for the Scorecard.  

You are receiving this e-mail because you recently completed the HERO scorecard and provided an e-mail address for this response. If you have questions or concerns about this e-mail, please contact www.the-hero.org.