While face-to-face has been very successful for many years, this short-term transition to digital-only has a lot of benefits – the most significant being that we’ll know specifically who attends your session, how long they engage, what questions they ask, how they engage in your virtual exhibit room – all with substantial reporting capabilities, which will be shared.  We’ve seen drastically increased attendance at the events and webinars we’ve been running virtually and we anticipate this virtual Annual Forum will attract many more attendees than we’d be able to accommodate on-site.

The event will begin at 1 pm ET, Monday Sept 14 and conclude Friday, Sept 18 at 2.30 pm ET.  We will run sessions 3 times a day:

11 – 11.50 am ET, with a live exhibition from 11.50 am – 12.30 pm ET
1 – 1.50 pm ET, with a live exhibition from 1.50 – 2.30 pm ET
3 – 3.50 pm ET, with a live exhibition from 3.50 – 4.30 pm ET

This format and schedule provides attendees with a significant amount of content, but without an overwhelming daily schedule.  We will run concurrent sessions in most time slots on topics that do not overlap in terms of content.  Sessions will be available on-demand until October to give all attendees the chance to view as many sessions as they choose.  

About the Annual Forum

Employers and their partners have spent decades equating the value of health with the costs of healthcare. We now know, of course, that to both employees and employers alike, the value of health encompasses far more – the ability to attend work, be paid a full wage, perform highly and contribute to the success of the business. The IBI-Conference Board Health & Productivity Forum will address the more holistic value proposition for health and wellbeing, and how all the various program components contribute to it and align the interests of employees and employers in a new framework. Key topics areas to include:

• Engaging Senior Leaders in Health as Business Strategy: How can we better demonstrate the impact of health and wellbeing for our senior leaders so that is integrated into our business strategy? What are they operational measures to which they pay attention and how can they be brought into program evaluation?
• Health and Wellbeing: How well are our health and wellbeing programs working beyond their impact on medical costs? How does poor health influence the ability of employees to attend work and do their jobs?
• Medical and Pharmacy Plan Design and Care: How are health plan working to influence employee incentives to become better health-care consumers? How well are designs connected to our other programs in a holistic way? How can unintended consequences be brought into the analysis of their impact?
• Absence, disability and productivity: Does our health plan strategy effectively address the top drivers of illness-related lost productivity? What are strategies to help employees return to work and be productive?
• Data, metrics and reporting: What are the data and metrics that are critical for employers to understand the total cost of health? What are effective strategies for vendor partnerships?

Get Involved!

Contact Gregg.Mauro@conference-board.org for more on speaking and sponsorship opportunties.
For marketing partnerships and questions, contact Melissa.Mianulli@conference-board.org.

General Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

Resilience at Work: Creating a Psychologically Healthy Workplace

At a time when stress and employee burnout are at an all-time high, employers are hungry for programs and solutions that help build a culture of wellbeing and ensure the health ofemployees and their businesses. In this session, Kaiser Permanente and R3 Continuum will provide a brief overview of the characteristics of a psychologically healthy workplace, elements to assess your workplace, and practical ways to overcome challenges to increase employee well-being, crisis hardiness and business productivity.

Jeff Gorter, MSW, LMSW, Vice President, Crisis Response Clinical Service, R3 Continuum

Nicole Stelter, PhD, LMFT, EAS-C, CCTP, Mental Health Customer Engagement Leader, Kaiser Permanente

Concurrent Session: 3:00 – 3:50 pm ET

Impacts of COVID-19 on Patient-Facing Employers

COVID-19 has had an impact on all employers, but those in patient-facing facilities face unique challenges to their workplace. In addition to testing supply, PPE and hospital capacity threats, employers are faced with the challenge of supporting their staff personally and professionally during the pandemic while maintaining adequate staffing levels on-site. Forum participants will hear how the employer is leveraging job-sharing and cross-training to support demand, technology and telemedicine to help mitigate exposure to the virus and limit absence, and how the employer is maintaining productivity and supporting the well-being of its employees during the pandemic.

Frank Alvarez, Principal, Jackson Lew

Kimberly Mashburn, National Accounts Practice Lead

Dr. Adam Seidner, Medical Director, The Hartford

Concurrent Session: 3:00 – 3:50 pm ET

Fitness for Duty: Harley Davidson’s Successful Process and How You Can Adopt a Program that Works

Employers are often faced with the challenge of determining whether an employee returning from a leave of absence under FMLA or who requests accommodation(s) under the Americans with Disabilities Act is fit for duty. This session includes a summary of the legal framework of fitness for duty exams under FMLA and the ADA, including some engaging case examples to illustrate employers who got it right and lessons learned from those that did not. You will also learn best practices to consider adopting to ensure you are in compliance with the law when conducting fitness for duty exams in your workplace.

Gail I. Cohen, JD, Director, Employment Law & Compliance, Matrix Absence Management, Inc.

Beth Mzronsky, Director of Workplace Environment, Harley Davidson

Jeff Nowak, Esq., Shareholder, Littler Mendelson P.C.

Concurrent Session: 3:00 – 3:50 pm ET

Go Where the Money Is: Can We Make Health Care Costs Sustainable for Employers?

This panel will debate different perspectives of what is contributing to the rising costs of health care and how the US can make health care costs sustainable for employers. The panelists will discuss broader indirect costs of health – particularly as they pertain to employers – such as the impact of lost worktime and reduced performance at work among members.

Ge Bai, PhD, Associate Professor of Practice, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Beth Beaudin-Seiler, PhD, Senior Analyst, Manager, Altarum’s Center for Value in Health Care, Research Consortium for Health Care Value Assessment

Paul Fronstin, PhD, Director, Health Research and Education Programs, Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Bruce C. Stuart, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Concurrent Session: 11:00 – 11:50 am ET

How to Put the Affordability Puzzle Together

The unprecedented experience due to COVID-19 has generated a heightened focus on the true meaning of affordability. Affordability concerns exist across all employees and their families, not just with hourly workforces, and can adversely impact physical, emotional, social and financial aspects of wellbeing. Willis Towers Watson experts will facilitate a discussion with benefits leaders of 3 jumbo employers around strategies and approaches to improving affordability for their employees.

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

The Impact of Health Activation on Business Performance

This session will highlight the advantages of using employers’ existing key performance indicators (KPIs) when making a business case for health and productivity. This session will focus on the impact of employee health engagement on operational outcomes identified as important to businesses. You will learn that health engagement has a robust, positive association with business performance, gain insights from firsthand, practical efforts to identify and measure senior business leaders’ KPIs and how to use your own leaders’ KPIs to demonstrate how their health benefit strategy impacts the achievement of your business goals.

Craig Kurtzweil, National Vice President, Data Analytics and Innovation, UnitedHealthcare

Erin Peterson, Researcher, IBI

Lauren Piacentini, Advanced Analytics Scientist, UnitedHealthcare

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

Early and Persistent Engagement Drives Higher Employee Satisfaction and Lower Plan Cost for Huntington National Bank

Without guidance, health care is complex and unnecessarily costly for employees and their employer-sponsored plans.  Join us for an engaging presentation about how early and persistent engagement has simplified the health care experience for Huntington National Bank employees resulting in industry-leading satisfaction rates and more cost-effective care.

Martin Phillips, Health & Welfare Plan Manager, The Huntington National Bank

Dr. Michael Sokol, Senior Vice President of Clinical Strategy, Quantum Health

Concurrent Session: 3:00 – 3:50 pm ET

How Mental Health and Substance Use Issues Harm Workplace Health

During this session, you will learn mental health and substance use issues effect productivity. This discussion will include the state of mental health and substance use in America and provide background on why substance use is rising, background on opioid crisis and what has been done to date. An employer will provide insight on some key issues impacting behavioral health.

Ryan Bruce, Director, Vocational Programs, Cigna

Concurrent Session: 3:00 – 3:50 pm ET

Making the Case for Eliminating Low-value Care while Incentivizing High-Value Care

Self-insured employers are increasingly challenged with providing competitive, yet cost-effective benefits to maximize the health and productivity of their workforce. This includes balancing the costs to the organization with the costs to the member. However, recent studies have demonstrated that cost neutral designs are feasible; in fact, coverage may be enhanced for high-value drugs and services, without raising premiums and deductibles. This cost neutrality is particularly attainable by identifying and decreasing use of low-value care and using the savings to increase spending on high-value care. By furthering these efforts, we may achieve a healthier and more productive workforce.

Beth Bortz, President/CEO, VA Center for Health Innovation

A. Mark Fendrick, MD, Director, University of MI Center for Value-Based Insurance Design

Carole Mendoza, Director, Global Health Benefits and Well-being, IBM

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

How Boeing Uses Technology and Human Connection to Individualize Employee Care

Forum attendees will learn how, after 12 weeks, Boeing employees and their dependents in a cognitive behavioral therapy program show an average reduction of 44.5% in depression scores and a 45.5% average reduction in anxiety scores. Overweight and obese groups are on track for -2.5% and -3.2% weight loss respectively. After 8 weeks, users show reduction of 4.04 mmHg in average weekly systolic blood pressure, and a significant reduction of 4.03 mmHg in average diastolic blood pressure. Finally, the panel will discuss the improved productivity seen through these improved outcomes in lifestyle, chronic, and mental health programs.

Chris Mosunic, Chief Clinical Officer, Vida Health

Jason Parrott, Global Healthcare & Well Being Strategy, Boeing

Concurrent Session: 11:00 – 11:50 am ET

Paid Family Leave’s (PFL’s) version of the Cannon Ball Run

Just like Cannon Ball Run, there’s a race going on and the rules are being written as the race progresses. States seem to be one-upping one another in the paid leave space and employers and carriers are scrambling to keep up, meanwhile does anyone know what the ultimate destination is? Partnering with Facebook to present both the employer and carrier perspective, we will explore the trends we’re seeing in statutory disability and paid family leave, with an emphasis on how the evolving state programs are impacting company absences and paid leaves.  We will discuss challenges that employees, employers and carriers are facing in light of the increasing complexity and benefit availability, and we’ll share insights and best practices we’re learning from the company leaves and data we manage.

Amber Pilgrim, SHRM-SCP, Manager Life @ Time Away, Facebook

Kim Rudeen, AVP, Absence & Statutory Products, Lincoln Financial Group 

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

Resilience at Work: Creating a Psychologically Healthy Workplace

At a time when stress and employee burnout are at an all-time high, employers are hungry for programs and solutions that help build a culture of wellbeing and ensure the health ofemployees and their businesses. In this session, Kaiser Permanente and R3 Continuum will provide a brief overview of the characteristics of a psychologically healthy workplace, elements to assess your workplace, and practical ways to overcome challenges to increase employee well-being, crisis hardiness and business productivity.

Jeff Gorter, MSW, LMSW, Vice President, Crisis Response Clinical Service, R3 Continuum

Nicole Stelter, PhD, LMFT, EAS-C, CCTP, Mental Health Customer Engagement Leader, Kaiser Permanente

Concurrent Session: 11:00 – 11:50 am ET

Cost Effectiveness of Biosimilars and Site of Care Issues

The objective of the session is to address how our health plans are working for and some instances against enrollees' efforts to become better health care consumers. How can plan designs accomplish better co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance in the biosimilar arena? How do unit costs, prescription drugs, and other factors focus on the total cost of care and resulting outcomes? How do biosimilars fit into the equation? Mike Jansen, Walmart will summarize measures, implementation and outcomes from the Employers view 

Annette Guarisco, CEO, ERIC

Eileen Pincay, Senior Vice President and Senior Pharmacy Consultant, Segal Group

Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, PRI, Principal, Capitol Economic Advisors

Concurrent Session: 11:00 – 11:50 am ET

Embracing Accommodations to Drive Productivity and Compliance

This case study will examine how Woodward Inc, an independent designer, manufacturer, and service provider of energy control and optimization solutions for aerospace and industrial markets with over 9600 employees, improved productivity and compliance through a formal accommodations program. Presenters will share learnings and outcomes from the 18-month pilot, including initial results from the implementation of the program across the organization, adjustments made for COVID-19 impacts and future program considerations. Outcomes that will be discussed include: improvements in creating a culture of accommodations support, decreases in leave durations, reductions in intermittent leaves, improvements in consistent oversight of accommodations and increases in accommodations options beyond leave as an accommodation.

Annie Eynard, Disability and Productivity Consultant, The Standard

Kristin Williams, Director, Human Resources, Woodward Inc.

Concurrent Session: 11:00 – 11:50 am ET

Addressing Mental Health to Reduce Disability Leave and Improve Productivity

This session will feature HR representatives from large employers in conversation with Sun Life’s behavioral health expert and associate director of clinical and health services, Tina Tirabassi. An HR benefits director from Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino will share why addressing behavioral health concerns in the workplace is a valuable approach for employers, and how they realized that supporting employees during behavioral health issues is just as important as support for a physical injury or illness.

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 pm ET

Communicating with People and its Impact on Absenteeism

This session describes how a supportive people-focused process with a foundation in open and regular communication can make a significant difference in the lives of our people and the performance of the organization. A people-focused experience supportive and progressive process for informing, educating and offering support to workers regarding their use of sick time was developed by a large employer with approximately 30,000 health care employees, many of them unionized, working in one of the largest regional health systems in Canada.

Dr. Tyler Amell, CMO/CRO, CoreHealth Technologies / Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences

Dave Keen, Executive Director, Fraser Health

Waqar Mughal, Director, Mughal & Associates Management Consulting Ltd., Sessional Faculty, Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences

Concurrent Session: 1:00 – 1:50 PM

Connecting the Dots: How Is Value Assessment Serving Employer Needs?

Like any other business investment, employers rightly expect employer-sponsored health care benefits to deliver value. Discerning the most valuable benefit package is not a simple profit-loss analysis and employers often have little insight into value when making these investments. With health care costs continuing to rise, more attention is being paid to the actual value of health care. Existing methods for estimating value are lacking, though. Learn insights on how coverage policies will impact your employees and their families and, as a result, how they will impact the performance of your business.

Jennifer Bright, Executive Director, Innovation and Value Initiative

Mohannad Kusti, MD, Regional Medical Director, Pivot Onsite-Innovations, President & Chief Medical Officer, Optimal Workplace & Environmental Wellness Corporation

Margaret Rehayem, Director of Initiatives and Programs, National Alliance for Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions