Nationwide Better Health Enhances Productivity Services

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nationwide Better Health^SM, a leading provider of health and productivity management solutions, released an enhanced version of its Time Off Planning Service^SM (TOPS), an integral component to the company’s absence management program.

Absences cost employers upwards of $74 billion annually, according to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.¹ Indirect expenses associated with employees’ absences are typically four times higher than the actual medical costs.

By monitoring employee attendance and addressing reasons why employees call off from work, employers can minimize the impact unplanned absences have on both productivity and profit. In a recent national survey of American workers, Nationwide Better Health found that unplanned absences increase employees’ workload and stress, negatively impact companies’ bottom lines and more than three-fourths of the time are due to a health condition.²

Nationwide Better Health’s absence management program helps employers instantly identify absence patterns by providing real-time information, tracking and reporting of workplace population data. The program also identifies employees in need of health, disease and medical management, allowing Nationwide Better Health to enroll employees into the right program that fits their health situation. When paired with a Nationwide Better Health personal health coach, employees receive the necessary support and education to improve and manage their health and well-being.

Employees can use Nationwide Better Health’s Time Off Planning Service 24-hours a day to automatically report illnesses, personal days, leaves of absences, family emergencies (including family and medical leaves), vacations and more, either online or via telephone customer service. Employers see this information instantly – so they know who’s off and why – and can use this information to evaluate the policies they have in place and identify absence patterns.

Key online enhancements recently introduced to the Nationwide Better Health Time Off Planning Service include:

• Easy to navigate menus, making recording absences easier for the user
• Friendlier design, look and feel
• Better overall user experience – improving ease of use and saving employees time

“Monitoring and addressing absenteeism is key to maintaining both employee satisfaction and company performance,” said Holly Snyder, president of Nationwide Better Health. “Getting to the core of why employees call off from work not only helps employers plan day-to-day staffing but also enhances earnings and delivers higher productivity levels.”

Nationwide Better Health’s absence management offering tracks intermittent and concurrent leaves and easily integrates with the company’s disability administration services, resulting in a streamlined employee experience.

In addition to its robust absence management program, Nationwide Better Health offers its own Nationwide Better Health Check™ - health risk assessment, on-site health screenings, incentive management and a comprehensive health and wellness program focused on weight management, nutrition, stress management, tobacco cessation and physical activity. Additionally, Nationwide Better Health offers more than 20 different disease management programs that address specific chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, along with maternity, medical and disability management. These programs are delivered by dedicated health coaches using a variety of telephonic, mail-based and online tools and resources.

About Nationwide Better Health

Nationwide Better Health^SM, a subsidiary of Nationwide^®, is a leading provider of health and productivity management solutions, aimed at improving the health and productivity of America’s workforce. Nationwide Better Health is the only health and productivity management company to deliver the benefits of true integration when it comes to focusing on the employee experience and creating better connections for better results. Nationwide Better Health is the first company to truly integrate the best collection of health and productivity services available today, including health and wellness, and disease, disability, absence, medical and maternity management. The company’s offerings work together and independently to address both sides of the cost equation: increased efficiency of health and productivity programs and better employee health and well-being to reduce health care-related costs. For more information, call 866.404.6924 or visit: www.nwbetterhealth.com.

Nationwide, the Nationwide framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Nationwide Better Health is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

¹ Baase, Catherine M., Marc L. Berger, Gary M. Billotti, Sean Nicholson, Ronald J. Ozminkowski, Mark V. Pauly, Daniel Polsky, and Claire E. Sharda, November 2005, “How to Present the Business Case for Healthcare Quality to Employers,” University of Pennsylvania

² Nationwide Better Health survey results are based upon telephone interviews conducted among a national probability sample of 862 adults, comprised of 512 men and 350 women, 18 years of age and older, and employed full-time. Interviews were conducted by Opinion Research Corporation between March 8-12, 2007. The margin of error is approximately plus or minus 3 percent.