Wednesday November 15, 2023
Benefits Symposium
ASHHRA is excited to announce the inaugural ASHHRA Benefits Symposium: Embracing the Contradiction, an exclusive two-day experience designed specifically for hospital and health system benefits leaders to engage in interactive sessions and peer-sharing aimed at advancing benefits and employee well-being programs.
Embracing the Contradiction
How Cost-Cutting and Investing in Employee Wellbeing Can Coexist in Your Health System
The healthcare industry faces unique pressures, with economic challenges, labor shortages, and the everyday stress of caregiving taking a toll on the physical and psychological wellbeing of our most valuable asset: our employees. As benefits decision-makers for health systems, we can’t afford to swing and miss when creating an exceptional benefits experience and caring for our employees.
ASHHRA is pleased to provide an exclusive two-day experience in collaboration with Aon, Brightside Financial, Hinge Health, Lyra, and Quantum Health. This professional development opportunity designed specifically for hospital benefits leaders is facilitated by industry leaders and features interactive sessions and peer-sharing aimed at advancing your organization’s benefits and employee wellbeing programs.
This event will cover:
- How organizations can reconcile the seemingly contradictory priorities of reining in healthcare spend while investing in their employees through value-led strategies.
- Trends shaping the future of benefits offerings backed by benchmarked data from 160 health systems representing more than 1,400 hospitals with over three million U.S. employees.
- Case studies demonstrating transformation in physical, emotional and financial well-being for a diverse healthcare workforce.
- Tested strategies that demonstrate ROI of your health and benefits programs to ensure you get it right the first time.
Benefits Symposium Details
The ASHHRA Benefits Symposium will be held on January 29 – 31, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. Invited attendees who will be provided with:
- Complimentary registration
- Travel reimbursement (up to $500)
- Accommodations at The Alida Savannah
- All meals and entertainment
- Opportunities to strategize and network with healthcare HR peers from across the country.
Schedule-at-a-Glance
Monday, Jan. 29
- Arrival: By 3:00 p.m.
- 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.: Happy Hour Welcome | Introductions/Ice Breaker | Program Overview
- 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: Dinner
Tuesday, Jan. 30
- 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.: Breakfast
- 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.: Trends from Aon 2023 Benefits Survey of Hospitals – Aon
- 9:45 – 10:30 a.m.: Moving Beyond Pain: A New Approach to Caring for Caregivers – Hinge Health
- 10:30 – 10:45 a.m.: Break
- 10:45 – 11:30 a.m.: Combating Burnout and Compassion Fatigue for Healthcare Workers – Lyra
- 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Break
- 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.: Lunch
- 1:00 – 1:45 p.m.: Frontline Financial Support – Brightside Financial
- 1:45 – 2:30 p.m.: Break
- 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.: Networking
- 4:15 – 5:00 p.m.: Care Navigation Paradox: Improved Benefit Experience and Lower Costs – Quantum Health
- 5:00 – 5:45 p.m.: Debrief topics/learnings, open forum for groups to share
- 5:45 – 6:15 p.m.: Break
- 6:15 – 8:00 p.m.: Dinner (Off-site)
Wednesday, Jan. 31
- 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.: Breakfast
- 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.: Roundtable Discussion
- 10:00 – 10:30 a.m.: Final comments/Adjournment
Program
Monday, Jan. 29
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Breakfast
Trends from Benefits Survey of Hospitals
This session will review key themes and findings from Aon’s 2023 Benefits Survey of Hospitals. We will provide market trends and insights that health system human resource executives need to know as they design and manage their future benefits offering. We will highlight strategies for addressing benefits and wellbeing priorities and tactics in response to balancing financial pressures and shifting workforce expectations. The 2023 survey covers the entire United States and provides key findings for over 1,400+ hospitals and 3.3+ million employees.
Objectives:
- Understand benefits and well-being priorities health systems are focused on.
- Gain market insight into strategies and tactics to address these priorities.
- Learn how health systems are shaping and designing their future benefits offering to add value for employees while managing costs.
Presenters:
- Frank Lonardo
Senior Vice President, Health and Benefits Healthcare Industry Practice Leader
Aon
- Sheena Singh
Senior Vice President, Health and Benefits Healthcare Industry Strategist
Aon
Moving Beyond Pain: A New Approach to Caring for Caregivers
Chronic pain among caregivers is real and substantially affects employee well-being. The National Institute of Health* recently warned that physical and emotional stressors endured by nurses intensify the perception of musculoskeletal pain, which is now a “main contributing factor” to nursing absenteeism and early exit from the profession. Caregivers often have generous healthcare coverage and access to on-site physical therapy services, yet MSK pain remains prevalent and persists as a top three cost for health system employee benefit plans.
Join Hinge Health medical director Louis Dickey, M.D., in a discussion exploring how leading health systems are modifying their approach to health coverage and MSK care, driving better health and well-being outcomes for their caregivers and lower cost for their plans.
In this session, we will explore:
- Unseen but pervasive barriers caregivers face when confronting MSK pain.
- How extending traditional MSK care with complementary digital health programs transforms the care experience.
- Outcomes achieved restoring long-term physical and emotional well-being for caregivers with MSK illness.
- Health plan savings realized while also achieving superior program engagement and satisfaction.
Presenter:
- Dr. Lous Dickey, M.D.
Medical Director
Hinge Health
*Krishnan K.S., Gunasunderi Raju, G., Shawkataly, O. (2021). Prevalence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Psychological and Physical Risk Factors. National Institute of Health, National Center for BioTechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8430476/
Combating Burnout and Compassion Fatigue for Healthcare Workers
According to a recent survey from Medscape, rates of physician burnout increased to 53% this past year, from 47% in 2021 and more than one in five physicians reported experiencing depression. Day in and day out healthcare workers are providing care and supporting the health and well-being of others, while navigating the heavy demands of every aspect of life from professional to personal that can lead to burnout. This is hard work at the best of times, and in recent years it’s been unbelievably harder. As the workforce copes with burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue, healthcare organizations face downstream effects including diminished engagement, disability claims, and increased turnover. What can HR leaders do to address the growing need for mental health services for our frontline workers?
In this session, you’ll learn:
- How HR leaders can develop a comprehensive mental health strategy that aligns their healthcare organizations with new workforce mental health guidelines from the World Health Organization.
- How to address mental health stigma in a clinical setting.
- Why it’s important to build on/go beyond traditional employee assistance program offerings.
- How mental health benefits can help address workforce challenges like retention, burnout, violence, and compassion fatigue.
- Why culturally responsive care must be part of your mental health strategy.
Presenter:
- Dr. Tatiana McDougall, Ph.D.
Director of Culturally Responsive Care
Lyra Health
Frontline Financial Support
Your frontline employees play a crucial role in your organization’s success as they care for your patients. Frontline employees are often living from paycheck to paycheck and just one money emergency away from financially drowning. It’s a cycle of hardship that doesn’t offer easy or immediate solutions. Financial challenges cause high levels of stress and anxiety for your employees and lead to lower productivity and higher turnover.
Traditional financial wellness solutions help employees that are focused years or decades out and working on retirement readiness. But most frontline employees need financial solutions that can help this month, this week or even today. Financial education, literacy and coaching solutions can’t help an employee to avoid eviction, pay an unexpected medical bill or put food on the table. And standalone financial solutions like emergency loans and earned wage access can make the situation worse.
Frontline Financial Support combines empathetic, non-judgmental financial guides, access to government and local resources, non-toxic financial products and a fully integrated, technology platform that provides short-term financial relief and long-term financial stability. This leads to 41% lower turnover, $1,200 after tax income and a +90 net promoter score for engaged employees.
Objectives:
- Learn how the financial challenges of frontline employees differ from those of other employees.
- Identify how financial stress negatively impacts your organization’s top human capital priorities.
- Discuss the unique financial support strategies required to help your financially-vulnerable frontline employees.
Presenters:
- Tom Spann
Founding CEO
Accolade
- Graham Chalfant
Senior Vice President, Employer Solutions
Brightside Financial
Care Navigation Paradox: Improved Benefit Experience and Lower Costs
In order to improve the employee benefits experience while reducing costs, employers must help their employees better understand and utilize existing resources. In fact, members at Houston Methodist Hospital utilize their EAP at a rate that’s three to five times higher than the industry average. Join Quantum Health’s Eric Parmenter, PhD, and Janay Andrade for a discussion on how care coordination and navigation can enhance the health and wellbeing of those who are dedicated to life-giving work. Our deep dive will uncover how Houston Methodist Hospital built a first-class benefits experience that improves clinical outcomes and wellbeing awareness while producing greater cost savings.
In this session, we will:
- Identify proven strategies to improve employee health and well-being while reducing and maintaining costs.
- Discover best practices to better understand and meet your employees’ individual and ever-changing needs.
- Examine methods for increasing member engagement while reducing the burden for HR teams.
Presenters:
- Janay Andrade
Director, Benefits
Quantum Health
- Eric Parmenter, Ph.D., MBA, CEBS, SPHR
Vice President, Sales, Hospital Health Systems
Quantum Health
Wednesday, Jan. 31
FAQs
All healthcare HR benefits leaders are encouraged to apply. ASHHRA receives many qualified applicants and will accommodate as many attendees as possible. Submission of your application is not guarantee an invitation. ASHHRA’s goal is a diverse attendee pool and selection will be based on geographic location, system/organization, region/market, site/location and specialty. Preference will be given to ASHHRA members.
Yes, we encourage you to apply.
Expect an intimate group of 20 to 24 of fellow healthcare HR benefits administrators. Attendees will be joined by ASHHRA staff and representatives from host companies.
Attendees will be hosted at the luxurious Alida Hotel in Savannah, Georgia, where much of the symposium programming will also take place. The event will begin with a welcome reception on the first night, one followed by an educational dinner with one of our hosts. Day two will consist of networking, roundtables, hosted education with meals, and a dinner in the evening. The event will conclude on day three over breakfast at The Alida, to give attendees one more opportunity to connect with final discussions.
The symposium is a unique opportunity to take a brief break from your daily routine while growing your professional connections in the historic city of Savannah. This is an excellent opportunity to network with peers and truly problem solve with ideas for solutions back home.
ASHHRA will make reservations for all selected participants at The Alida and cover room and tax for two nights (Monday and Tuesday nights).
If you would like to extend your stay beyond the two nights covered by ASHHRA, you may contact The Alida hotel’s Sales Coordinator, Steve Kaczor (912-715-7000) to make your request after Dec. 15.
ASHHRA will make reservations for attendees at The Alida and cover room and tax for two nights. All meals will be provided beginning with the welcome reception on the first day to the breakfast on the third day. Attendees will be provided with an expense reimbursement form for travel expenses, for which ASHHRA will cover up to $500 for airfare, ground transportation, parking, etc. Attendees will be responsible for all other incidentals beyond these covered expenses.
Yes, you have the option to extend your stay at The Alida. The symposium is adjacent to a weekend, giving attendees an opportunity to extend their visit to Savanah before or after their session. The hotel will make every effort to accommodate these extensions, including offering the group rate, however, this is not guaranteed. If you would like to extend your stay beyond the two nights covered by ASHHRA, you may contact The Alida hotel’s Sales Coordinator, Steve Kaczor (912-715-7000) to make your request.
Recommended attire is business casual along with comfortable walking shoes. Layers are recommended as the temperature in the rooms may fluctuate.
Thank you to our sponsors:
