12 suburban firms among ‘Healthiest Companies in America’

Arlington Heights-based Interactive Health Solutions announced the 2011 “Healthiest Companies in America,” the company’s fifth annual list citing clinical and medical claim data from companies’ performance-based employee health programs.

The 70 honorees — 12 from the suburbs — are corporations and organizations nationwide that have created a “culture of wellness,” significantly reducing their healthcare costs through widespread employee participation in proactive health and wellness initiatives. The selection process involved evaluating healthcare data for the companies with clinical information demonstrating improved employee health across an index of key indicators.

IHS uses comprehensive data-driven analysis to customize care based on the employee’s unique personal risk factors. Beginning with an initial health evaluation, IHS identifies individuals with health risks. Upon review of the employee’s personal risk factors, a team of qualified health professionals creates an outreach program designed to ensure each individual is on a pathway to health.

“We engage an employer’s entire employee population throughout the year to help individuals get and stay healthy. Our approach is highly personal in that we customize goals and a course of action, providing tools and support in a proactive way. This is about staying healthy and possibly even saving lives, as well as containing costs,” said Joseph A. O’Brien, president and CEO of IHS.

On average, employers offering the IHS performance-based program reduced their health care costs by 8.4 percent year over year, while 81 percent of enrolled employees achieved or exceeded wellness goals. Market leaders in data-driven health and wellness programs for employee populations, IHS works with more than 1,400 employers with over one million employees.

“We’ve tracked over 36 million data points to deliver analysis and benchmarks against national norms and peer groups,” said O’Brien. “‘Healthiest Companies in America’ recognizes those companies that do an outstanding job encouraging employees to engage with these programs. It’s just one way to showcase this crucial component of containing healthcare costs nationally.

“Our goal is to bring down healthcare costs. We offer employers a performance-based program that is designed to measure, monitor and reward individuals who are improving their health and meeting or exceeding their goals. Performance-based programs are having a positive impact on the employer’s bottom line as well as employee health,” he added.

The suburban-based employers named to the list are:

Ÿ Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago

Ÿ Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe

Ÿ Cummins-Allison Corporation, Mount Prospect

Ÿ Flexible Steel Lacing Company, Downers Grove

Ÿ Forsythe Technology Inc., Skokie

Ÿ Lake County, Waukegan

Ÿ Old Second National Bank, Aurora

Ÿ Phoenix International Freight Services, Ltd., Wood Dale

Ÿ Schawk, Inc., Des Plaines

Ÿ Schneider Electric, Palatine

Ÿ Takeda Pharmaseutical, Deerfield

Ÿ Winston Brands, Inc., Elk Grove Village

For more information on “Healthiest Companies in America,” visit http://www.healthiestcompanies.com/.