How can organisations get the most out of staff health assessments

We’ve had lots of enquiries this year for our employee and executive staff health assessments, so it’s a good time to look at what gets assessed, and why?

Where do executive health checks come from?

The concept of the ‘executive health check’ was developed in the 1970’s by the Mayo clinic in the USA. It became attractive to organisations who couldn’t afford their most senior and knowledgeable people dropping dead from a previously unknown heart condition. These individuals typically had multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and a range of other causes of premature death. It was thought that an annual health check would lead to better disease management and improved health.

Why are executive health assessments useful?

Simply parachuting in a doctor to measure the presence or absence of disease on an annual basis does not measurably reduce the risk of illness or death, for the following reasons;

• An absence of disease does not imply good health, or a low risk of future health problems. Through the 1970’s and 80’s, plenty of heavy smokers and drinkers were told they had ‘no health issues identified’. Guess how that turned out…
• Health status is a relative construct, and practitioners seeing patients for a one-off consultation will never be able to appreciate the full context of their health history. What represents poor health for you might signify a huge improvement for someone else.
• A traditional executive health check fails to measure health risk, even though your current health risks are a window (or crystal ball) to your future health status and longevity.

Ethos Health do executive health assessments differently.

• We insist that good health is important for everyone, not just the high flyers.
• The assessment needs to be interesting and engaging. If we can’t capture your attention, how can we possibly expect to help you improve your health?
• The assessment needs to be part of a bigger movement – we work with organisations to help them create an environment where the healthy choice is the easy and valued choice.
• We focus on modifiable health risks – simply put, the things that you can change that will impact your future health.
• We link with your GP, to ensure there is a consistent message and that your actions to improve your health are supported from all sides
• We de-identify and aggregate the data from your organisations health assessments, to illustrate common patterns in health status and health risk across the workforce. This allows your organisation to spend their health budgets more strategically, targeting priority areas to achieve maximum benefit.
• We offer a bespoke range of service inclusions, according to your organisations needs and budget, with everything from a body composition check to ongoing care coordination, health coaching and a personal health concierge.

If you are interested in learning more about our executive health assessments please call out office and speak to a consultant on 02 4962 8700.