Final Deadline for 2015 Wellness Pledges: Dec 31

Northwell Health believes in taking care of you, so you can better care of our patients!

North Shore-LIJ (soon to be Northwell Health) wants you to be aware of your preventive care routine all year long. By providing you with an excellent package of benefits, the Wellness Pledge Program was designed to keep you on track with a regular, annual, preventive care routine.

What You Need to Know 
If you were enrolled in the Value or Buy-Up medical plan in 2015 you still have the opportunity to earn paycheck credits in 2016, by participating in the Annual Wellness Pledge Program. The program is open on a annual calendar basis, giving you 12 months (January through December) to take action on four health-related events. In addition to completing a necessary online Health Assessment* you have the ability to act on three of the following pledges or healthy actions:

1. Annual exam with your primary care physician
2. Dental exam and cleaning
3. Vision exam
4. Breast cancer screening (mammography)
5. Skin cancer check
6. Colorectal cancer screening (colonscopy)
7. Cervical cancer screening (Pap Smear)
8. Health Assessment by your covered spouse (can be found when logged into myuhc.com)
9. Financial wellness video (can be found when logged into nslij.trsretire.com)

Once actions have been completed your date-of-service/completion is transferred from our carriers,United Healthcare, Cigna Dental, Davis Vision and Transamerica Retirement Solutions to your Wellness Summary when logged into Employee Self Service. It takes approximately six to eight weeks for this transfer to be complete.

Deadline

You have through December 31 to comply with the program, but your 2016 paycheck credits (worth $10 per pledge per biweekly paycheck, and $10.83 per semi-monthly) will be delayed by about two to three pay cycles and will not be retroactive. 

Note: throughout 2015, participants were communicated a soft deadline of October 31 to earn maximum amount of 2016 credits. 

*The online Health Assessment is 100% confidential and necessary to earn any paycheck credits in 2016. Login to myuhc.com, click on the blue bar on the right side of the page, answer the questions to the best of your ability and hit submit. 

Wellness Pledge Program Requires a Health Assessment

As the we approach the halfway mark in the calendar year, now might be a good time to complete your online health assessment (HA) on myuhc.com. As the gateway pledge to the Annual Wellness Pledge Program, the health assessment will help to summarize your overall health and wellness in about 15 minutes. Although the assessment should not be a replacement for your visit to doctor, it will assist in improving your next visit.

Health Assessment - Return User
Many of you may be return users. Since you already have an account - your login will take you directly to last year's HA. A portion of your information will be entered - such as your gender, height, weight, and biometrics. At this point you can update this information or leave as is. There are a total of 59 questions, which will cover your lifestyle habits. You are encouraged to answer all of these as honestly as possible. Once you have completed the 59 questions, hit continue. You will have 92 days to go back into your health assessment and change/update any of your responses. At the end of your assessment you will receive notification of your health results, which will also bring you to a printable page. This indicates your pledge as complete.

New User
If you have never registered on the myuhc portal, hit register now and follow the prompts to create your username and password. Once you have logged in to the health assessment you will be required to fill  in all fields to complete the pledge and receive your certificate of completion.

Kindness Comes on myuhc.com
Do you know someone special in your life that is due for a kind word or pat on the back?  Send an eCard, specially designed by our friends at United Healthcare, to show someone you are thinking of them. Login to myuhc.com, click on the link "Mental Health & Substance Abuse" and find eCards on the Quick Links. It's one of the many services United Healthcare shares with its members. Login and take a look around: myuhc.com.

Celebrate Your Benefits

April 2 is National Employee Benefits Day! In honor of this year's theme, which is dedicated to improving employee health and well-being, get out and do something healthy for yourself. When you do something positive to better your physical and mental state, your energy will naturally flow over to your customers, family and friends.

Schedule a Visit
Whether or not you are participating in the Wellness Pledge Program, take the time to make an appointment with one or more of your healthcare providers. Keeping on track with your preventive care routine in 2015 will make it that much more natural in the years to come. Consider your coverage in the North Shore-LIJ Benefits Plan:

• A physician wellness visit with an in-system or in-network healthcare provider is covered at 100%
• A visit with your OB/GYN, which will most likely include a Pap test for cervical cancer, is covered for the low copay of $40 (if in-system)
• A vision exam with a Davis Vision provider* is covered at 100%
• Two trips to your dentist are covered at 100% (in-network)
• A skin cancer screening by your dermatologist is covered for the low copay of $40 (if in-system)

Find In-System Providers and North Shore-LIJ Facilities HERE

Find Financial Fitness

Another great way to treat yourself well is by investing in your financial future. Take the time to celebrate your benefits by increasing your contribution to your 403(b)/401(k) plan by 1%. Maybe even consider using the Auto-Increase tool on the Transamerica website, making your saving automatic!

Get a Discount on Your Fitness

Make exercise a part your lifestyle. As a health system employee you are offered discounts to over 27 exercise facilities in the area. Big names like YMCA/Long Island/Greater NYC, Equinox, CrossFit Sanctuary, NY Health and Racquet Club, Island Fitness, as well as some locals such as Evolution Fitness in Bayville and Oyster Bay are all available to you at reduced rates. Just show your employee ID and start getting healthy - today. For a complete list visit the employee intranet>Discounts.

*As of April 1, two North Shore-LIJ Opthalmology offices are considered Davis Vision providers:

MEETH Ophthalmology, Marta Fabrykowski, OD and Christopher Lee, OD

210 E. 64th St., NYC at 212-702-7300

NSLIJ Department of Ophthalmology, Corina Busuioc, OD, Francesca Kim, OD

600 Northern Blvd., Great Neck at 516-470-2020

Time for Your Annual Exam

Why not start off the new year by scheduling your annual physical with your primary care physician. Each calendar year United Healthcare covers your preventive care visit free of charge, as long as you stay in-system and/or in-network.

Choose In-System and Save
Think carefully when choosing your healthcare providers and the facilities you visit. Your physician may be an in-system doc, but his new office on the South Shore is not! Another fact to keep in mind when choosing in-system providers: larger medical groups may have a mixed group of providers, some may be in-system, some not. Build your own network of in-system providers by searching the North Shore-LIJ In-System Provider Network at ciipa.nslijweb.com. Savings begin with low copays, no deductibles and no coinsurance.

Your Wellness Visit
Now that you have chosen your primary care physician, your annual wellness visit is a terrific opportunity to share any noticeable health changes that may have occurred since your last visit: a change in your sleeping habits, unusually weight gain or loss, erratic highs and lows in your mood, can be just some of the symptoms you may ignore on a day-to-day basis. Develop a relationship with your primary care physician, their guidance in your preventive care routine is an important element of your quality of life.

What Occurs at Your Annual Physical
Besides your confidential conversation with your doctor, you can also expect the doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant to check your:

• Vital signs: blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, temperature
• Heart and lungs
• Head and neck: throat, tonsils, teeth and gums, ears, nose sinuses, eyes, lymph nodes thyroid, and carotid arteries
• Abdominal: liver and bowel 
• Neurological: nerves, muscles, general balance and strength
• Dermatological: skin check for unusual moles or rashes
• Extremities: physical and sensory changes in joints
• Lifestyle

Depending on your physician's findings, as well as your stage in life, your doctor may prescribe a screening for further detection of a condition, or a medication to maintain a condition.

Wellness Pledge 
If you are participating in the Annual Wellness Pledge Program,  a visit to your primary care physician every year, is not only free of charge, it also credits you $260 in 2016 paycheck credits. Read more about the Wellness Pledge Program by searching this Blog.

Wellness Pledge Program - All Year Long

It's back! Well it never really left ...
The Annual Wellness Pledge Program, designed to heighten the level of awareness of your preventive care health routine, now enters its second year. The program offers eligible* employees the opportunity to act on four wellness pledges in 2015 in exchange for four paycheck credits in 2016. The pledges in 2015 are the same as in 2014 with one exception: the Wellness Video Pledge has been eliminated and will be replaced by a brand new pledge in March. More on the new pledge in just a few weeks.

Pledges Available for Action Now
As in 2014, you will once again have to complete an online Health Assessment (HA) on myuhc.com to collect any paycheck credits in 2016. Keep in mind that six months must pass before you are able to submit the HA. This passage of time between your HAs is put in place to accurately gauge your health routine and patterns.

Choose Three More
What better time than now to schedule your annual health appointments. Those appointments may, or may not, lead to additional screenings. Act on three of the below (+ the HA) before October 31 and you will receive the maximum amount of paycheck credits ($1,040) in 2016. If you complete one or two in November or December, those one or two credits will be delayed in 2016.

1. Physician Wellness Pledge: Your annual physical
2. Dental Exam Pledge: Exam and/or cleaning
3. Vision Exam Pledge: Eye exam by a licensed provider
4. Breast Cancer Screening Pledge: Mammogram
5. Skin Cancer Screening Pledge: Full body skin check
6. Colorectal Cancer Screening Pledge: Colonoscopy
7. Cervical Cancer Screening Pledge: Pap Smear
8. Health Assessment for a Covered Spouse Pledge: A covered spouse has the option to submit
9. Financial Wellness Video Pledge: This pledge will be introduced in March

How'd We Do?

Not all the numbers are in yet, but here's some great stats on the pledges in 2014:

• 15,403 completed the HA
• 14,447 visited with their primary care physician in 2014
• 11,922 had a dental exam
• 9,406 completed a vision exam
• 5,056 had a mammogram
• 4,287 visited with a dermatologist
• 1,921 opted to have a colonoscopy under the advice of their doctor
• 8,433 visited with their OB/GYN and had a Pap test for cervical cancer
• 2,115 had a covered spouse fill out the HA
• 18, 851 viewed the Wellness Video

• That's 91,841 preventive care actions in 2014 - Bravo!!!

*You are eligible to participate in this voluntary program if you enrolled in the 2015 benefit plans administered through North Shore-LIJ. Union nurses from Lenox Hill Hospital and MEETH also had the option to choose the North Shore-LIJ plans. To receive paycheck credits in 2016 you must also enroll in the benefit plans in 2016.

Wellness Summary on Employee Self Service

You are now able to view your Pledge compliance on ESS. Notice that the online Health Assessment is listed first and in bold due to the mandatory completion requirements. If you do not complete and submit the online Health Assessment Pledge prior to December 31, you will not receive any paycheck credits for you other pledges.

The summary shows the pledge action choice on the left and the date of service you complied on the right.

As you can see none of the employee's pledges have been loaded into the Wellness Summary yet.

Please note: When you take action on one of your Wellness Pledges it takes at least one month for that information to load into your summary.

Below is the schedule of file uploading into the North Shore-LIJ platform from our carriers:
Health Assessment: 3rd Monday of month
United Healthcare claims: 3rd Monday of month
Cigna Dental claims: 1st Monday of month
Davis Vision claims: 1st day of month

How Your Information Loads
Let's give some examples:
Your annual exam was on February 4, 2015. You should see your visit as complied the following month on the third Monday, March 16. United feeds their files on the 3rd Monday of the month.
Your dental cleaning was sometime in January and again in July. You should see your dental visit as complied on the January date of service. Your second visit will not override your first.
Your eyes were examined on January 26. To view your date of service on our Wellness Summary you will have to check back March 1, first day of the following month.

Still Don't See Date of Service?
Please keep in mind your physician's office may delay filing the claim with the carrier, which will further delay the capturing of your visit. Not to worry - as long as you complete your four wellness pledges/actions before December 31* you will receive the paycheck credits in 2016.

Check on the Status of Your Pledges
If you want to check up on the status of your pledges visit Employee Self Service - Personal Information - Self Service - Benefits - Wellness Summary.

*To receive your credits beginning with the first pay cycle of 2016, finish all pledges before October 31!