Why Invest in Health Risk Assessments (HRAs)?   Two reasons: First, to identify health risk factors that don’t show up in claims data, such as weight problems, smoking and family history. Second, to demonstrate that you as an employer; care about your employees’ health and are willing to invest in nurturing a culture of health.

Health risk assessments (HRA) are a proven way to help identify employees and eligible dependents for participation in health improvement programs such as disease management or primary prevention. As a complement to chronic disease management programs, an HRA provides a way to identify members who could potentially benefit from available programs but who otherwise would not have been seen through medical, pharmacy, or disability claims data. Likewise, for primary prevention programs like tobacco cessation or weight management, HRAs often serve as the primary information source to identify eligible candidates since claims data is not generally applicable.

HRAs can be more than just a vehicle for candidate identification. As a best-in-class company, Cardium Health recognizes that the real value of HRAs is in promoting wellness and encouraging participation in appropriate employer sponsored programs. Because the HRA is typically the first component of a wellness initiative that is rolled out to employees, the HRA can be more than just an online or paper health questionnaire. It can be used to set the stage for a culture of health that encourages positive, long-term healthy behaviors through education. Ultimately, this is how HRAs provide meaningful results that reduce total healthcare costs.

• Lifestyle behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol use, eating habits, regular exercise,
  sleeping, and stress management.
• Family history
• Disease-specific information for those with a diagnosed chronic disease such as
  CAD, CHF, diabetes, asthma, COPD, or cancer.