LaForce

The journey for LaForce to improve its health is a direct result of the Total Health partnership with Bellin Health.

Making Healthcare Easy and Accessible: Bellin Health and LaForce: In Their Own Words

How did Bellin and LaForce team up?

We were looking to integrate our wellness program with our health plan strategy as the two are so closely connected. Our medical claims dollars were climbing and wellness participation seemed to be plateauing. Bellin Health’s philosophy of controlling costs while increasing care, coupled with their expertise in the health care industry, was just what we needed.

LaForce is dedicated to helping our employees and their families live healthy lives and provide opportunities for our employees to be their best selves at home and at work. Our partnership with Bellin Health started when we incorporated Health Risk Assessments into our overall well-being strategy for health and wellness. Bellin Health was able to provide their expertise to deliver quality health results to our employees, with the access to follow up and take action on the results. As LaForce’s wellness programming evolved, the needs of our employees continued to grow. Bellin Health was right there with their knowledge, offering the care and support to our health and wellness program, and more importantly, our employees, needed at each step along the journey.

LaForce provides personalized solutions to our customers, and we apply those same business principles when building our employee benefits package. What matters to LaForce is that our employees are set up for success, whatever that success might look like for that particular individual; that our employees have the resources they need make the right decisions and be the best version of themselves. What we think matters to our employee population is that they know where to go for care, that they have someone in their corner cheering them on when they are ready to make a change, and that they know where to turn when it comes to their individual health journey.  Bellin Health has been vital in supporting LaForce in providing our employees with the tools and resources that matter to them. 

What programs have you implemented to improve the health and wellbeing of your people?

We started with Health Risk Assessments with on-site personalized follow up and added On-site Nurse Coaching shortly thereafter. As our wellness participation grew and healthy habits became permanent, we’ve utilized the Bellin Health team to help us educate employees. Our on-site nurse, along with numerous others from the Bellin Fitness Center, Bellin Health’s Heart team, and a Bellin Health nutritionist have led lunch and learns for our employees, we became a Bellin Run sponsor, and we partnered with Bellin Health for safety testing and programs.

We then added a full on-site Clinic, followed shortly thereafter by offering near-site physical therapy to all employees as well as dependents on our health plan. Most recently we added a near-site Primary Care offering so employees and their families can use any Bellin Health clinic that’s convenient for them.

Any particular success stories you’d like to share?

There are so many! Plenty of big ones that you’d expect to hear, but really it’s all those small wins, that over time, have made our program so successful. We’ve been very fortunate at LaForce to have the same on-site nurse, Sabrina, with us for over 10 years so the small wins she’s made really add up.

Some examples of those wins are: finally getting that diabetic to eat better, getting those people with co-morbid diseases ready to see a specialist or start taking a particular medication to help control the issue, working with our shop employees to teach them the importance of self-care and how the right stretches, choosing healthy snacks and exercise can help them stay safe and healthy, or even having employees ask for a certain wellness program that the onsite nurse leads!

It’s so valuable when we open the doors to our employees’ families as well. Spouses and children can receive health care services and coaching so everyone in the family can be the best version of themselves. Our Bellin Health care team works closely with our Employee Assistance Program and wellness providers to get the appropriate care for the issue at hand. They are really in the employee’s corner advocating for them.  In addition to all those wins, we’ve been fortunate to partner with Bellin Health to take a deeper dive into our claims data as well. We’ve been able to save health care dollars and implement cost-saving strategies in real-time that have been win/wins for our health plan all while increasing the quality of care for our employees. It’s been a fun adventure, as together, we strive to make our employees the healthiest they can be! 

One specific success story: LaForce recently hired a 2nd shift fabricator and because we tie our wellness and health care strategies together, he scheduled an appointment at our on-site clinic to get his annual physical and a discount on his health insurance premium. The employee’s last physical was a well-child visit! Results from care received: He is diabetic and didn’t even know! The on-site care team hops into action, our NP immediately scheduled a follow up with the on-site nurse for nutrition counseling and to get the employee on a regular cadence with her to stay on track. Our NP also schedules a follow up with the employee.  All these events started in September 2022, fast forward to today, he has lost 12 pounds, started eating better and even moved forward with an unrelated surgery that had been holding him back.  

He recently met with the on-site nurse just to show her his lunch because he is carb counting and has been working hard on it. His goal is to be off medicine, and start feeling more like himself. He never misses an appointment with the NP or on-site nurse. We can’t tell who’s prouder, the employee or the care team for his success!