Preventive care is getting a lot of attention in both the medical world and the business world today, and it’s all for good reasons.

First and foremost, preventive care such as regular check-ups and routine health screenings help to catch potential warning signs of health issues before they become major problems. When these potential issues are identified early on, there are interventions doctors can suggest that can help to reverse these effects.

From a business standpoint, preventive care also saves a lot of money — both for patients and for their employers who provide medical benefits. This is not to be overlooked, as health spending is projected to increase at an average rate of 5.4% per year through 2028, according to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services study.

This makes taking advantage of preventive care options crucial. While the benefits of preventive care may seem obvious, not everyone is up-to-date on these appointments.

So, how can employers encourage preventive care for employees? Here are some ways.

Create a Wellness Plan

Today, companies can play a more involved role in their employees’ health than just providing them with medical benefits. By approaching wellness from a holistic standpoint that incorporates physical, mental and emotional health, employers can help their employees become more engaged with their health.

There are many ways you can incentivize employees to take part in the many programs you offer. Examples include offering gift cards or vouchers, or even offering discounted insurance plans for those who are prioritizing their preventive care.

You can also ensure that preventive care stays top-of-mind for your employees through regular wellness emails and newsletters, and by holding seminars. In this way, you’ll be establishing a culture of wellness at your company.

Host Screening Events

A common obstacle of preventive care is convenience. People live busy lives today, and it can be difficult to fit routine wellness check-ups into their schedule — especially if they find it hard to take off work to attend.

Companies can remove that obstacle by hosting screening events right at their location. Healthcare professionals can be brought into the workplace to perform a variety of checks, including heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol.

You can set up rooms where people can have their blood drawn for routine lab work that can check for sugar levels and other generic concerns. By brining all of these services to your employees — and by allowing them to attend without using one of their breaks or lunch times — you can help them prioritize their wellness.

Make Benefits Easy to Understand

Another common obstacle is employees may not understand all the benefits that are offered to them. Some benefits packages can be quite complex and complicated to understand, and that in itself can be a turnoff for some employees.

By creating one-sheets that describe the basics of the benefits offered, you can remove some of this confusion. Your company can also create FAQs about the main benefits that are offered, as well as additional resources should employees have more questions.

The simpler you can make the information, the better.

Make Access Easier

Along the same lines, it’s important to make access to these benefits as easy as possible, which will again remove some of the barriers of preventive care. In addition to having HR staff available to answer questions, employees should be able to find information they need on an online portal, and also be able to sign-up for benefits that way.

It’s also important to launch awareness campaigns so that employees know what’s available to them and how they can use those benefits. Things such as walkthroughs of how to find an in-network doctor can increase participation in preventive care.

Educate Them on the Benefits

Companies can also encourage preventive care by educating their employees on the importance of it. This can be done in a number of ways.

You can send out regular emails, newsletters and reminders about why preventive care is important, citing different statistics and studies that show the immense benefits of it. Another good idea would be to provide testimonials, which could be success stories from real people about how preventive care benefited them by, for example, identifying cancer before it developed into latter stages.

Any way that you can personalize and visualize this information is better, too. Infographics are a great way to do this because they jump of the page and are easily digestible.

And make sure to speak to all employee demographics at your company, as certain age groups, for instance, qualify for certain preventive care screenings as they get older.

Create a Wellness Program with Beckham Ellis Insurance Group’s Help

There’s no denying the immense benefits of preventive care, both from a wellness and monetary standpoint. That being said, many people simply don’t keep up on these routine suggested appointments.

Companies can play a big role in encouraging preventive care, which shows their employees that they value them. A great way to do so is by creating a comprehensive wellness program with the help of Beckham Ellis Insurance Group.

Our experienced professionals can help you craft a program that works for you and your employees, and encourages them to take advantage of the many preventive care options available.

For more information, please contact us today.