Wellness the Good the Bad and the Opportunity: The Good the Bad and the Opportunity

By Ronald C. Stoll

Americas greatest days lie ahead if we set a course now that embraces holistic wellness.

Wellness: the Good, the Bad, and the Opportunity explores wellness from the employers view, the employees vantage, the perspective of health care providers, and the insurance companys position. All these elements are required to be in alignment if real wellness is to be achieved. The benefits of wellness will be realized in

higher quality, lower cost, competitive health care;

an informed health care consumer with alternative options readily available;

appropriate health insurance costs and plan designs;

an engaged workforce;

employer control of health care costs;

America returning to economic dominance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479716449

Ronald C. Stoll

Ronald C. Stoll is Vice President of Wellness at Team Excellence, Inc., A Houston-based organizational development and management consulting firm specializing in performance management, leadership development and behavior development. Team Excellence has received two major awards for its unique metrics-driven system of performance accountability called The Team Development Strategy which is the basis for the OmniWell model for holistic wellness. Stoll operates from the Team Excellence office in Sarasota, Florida.

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Copyright © 2012 by RONALD C. STOLL.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2012916960

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Copyedited and indexed by Stephanie Ernestine Salera

Reviewed by Lorden Mar Leopoldo

Ronald C. Stoll, Vice President of Wellness

Team Excellence, Inc.

Ph: 941-966-3031; Cell: 727:215-0587; Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]; Web: www.teamexcellence.com

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Contents

INTRODUCTION CONNECTING THE DOTS

1.   THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

THE MARKS AT THE HEAD OF THE TRAIL

WELLNESS AS A WORKPLACE INITIATIVE

THE OMNIWELL MODEL

BASE ASSUMPTIONS AT THE CORE OF THE OMNIWELL MODEL

THE BASIS OF THE EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE IN THE US

THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

2.   MANAGEMENT THEORIES

THEORIES THAT HAVE IMPACTED EVER-EMERGING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

THE GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES OF THOSE WHO HAVE AND WHO WILL TRED THE PATH

IT IS NOW TIME TO FORGE A NEW PATH

3.   PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

ACCOUNTABILITY MUST BE A CRITICAL WAY POINT GOING DOWN THE PATH TO WELLNESS

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT- THE REQUIRED METHOD FOR GETTING EVERYONE ON THE SAME PATH

GETTING IN SHAPE FOR THE TRIP DOWN THE PATH: THE REQUIREMENT OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION

INDIVIDUAL ENERGY AND INTRAPRENEURIAL SPIRIT EMBEDDED IN THE GATE OF EACH SOJOURNER ON THE PATH

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMITMENT TO MOVING THE TROOPS DOWN THE PATH: THE TEAM COVENANT

THE TEAM COVENANT IS THE COMPASS THAT POINTS THE WAY ALONG THE WELLNESS PATH

4.   HOW WE GOT HERE

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR POTENTIAL ROLE IN WELLNESS

THE STATE OF HEALTH INSURANCE AND BENEFITS AT OUR CURRENT LOCATION

THE PATH ALONG WHICH HEALTH INSURANCE HAS COME

THE DEBATE OVER ALTERNATE ROUTES TO PUBLIC AND GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE DESIGNS

MEDICARE AND MEDICAID TAKE THEIR PLACE ALONG THE ROUTE

PHYSICIANS ESTABLISH STAND-ALONE FACILITIES TO DELIVER SERVICES TO THOSE WHO PASS THEIR WAY

THE CONSIDERATION OF VALUE AS IT RELATES TO THE AVAILABLE SERVICES ALONG THE WAY

FOG AHEAD ON THE TRAIL: DISSATISFACTION WITH THE MEDICAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

EMPLOYERS ARE IN THE CRITICAL POSITION TO GUIDE THE WAY TO WELLNESS

THE OBAMA PLAN IS A BEND IN THE PATH

5.   THE PATH OF HEALTH CARE COSTS

FACTORS IN THE HEALTH CARE PURCHASING DECISION

THE NEW PATH TO INFORMED HEALTH CARE CONSUMERISM

RESOURCES TO GUIDE THE ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS

USING THE MAP IN THE OMNIWELL MODEL

HOW TO AVOID GETTING LOST IN THE UNFAMILIAR TERRAIN OF HEALTH CARE

6.   FROM THE EMPLOYEES’ PERSPECTIVE

MITIGATING THE STRESS OF NOT KNOWING WHAT LIES AHEAD

MENTAL DETOURS DISTRACT EMPLOYEES FROM EFFICIENT PERFORMANCE

THE NEW FRONTIER LIES AHEAD

THE REASONS EMPLOYEES MIGHT MAKE WRONG TURNS AND SOME PROVEN COURSE CORRECTION TOOLS

WE CAN’T KEEP RUNNING AROUND THE ROUND-ABOUT IF WE INTEND TO MOVE FORWARD

7.   FORGING A NEW PATH

FOCUSING DOWN THE ROAD WHILE MAKING NEAR TERM COURSE ADJUSTMENTS

ALTERNATE VEHICLES TO GET TO THE DESIRED DESTINATION

IF ALL THE FILLING STATIONS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE SAME COMPANY THE BENEFITS OF COMPETITION ARE NONEXISTANT

AUTOMATIC PILOT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIVE BEHAVIOR IS THE REQUIREMENT

8.   IMPLICATIONS

WE COULD BE LOOKING AT A WRECK JUST AHEAD

WE HAVE NOT AVERTED THE WRECK

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT LEGISLATION WILL PROVIDE LONG TERM SAFE JOURNEY?

9.   CONCLUSION

EVERYONE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN THE MAGNIFICENT PATH THAT IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW

Appendices.

DISCLAIMER

This publication is not a substitute for the reader’s insurance advisors, accountants, lawyers, or any other personal or business advisors. The author and publisher of this book is not rendering insurance, tax, accounting, or any other professional services by publishing this book. As each individual situation is unique, questions regarding specific needs should be addressed to the appropriate professional.

The author and publisher makes no representation about the suitability of the information contained herein, and as such, the information is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. The author and publisher specifically disclaims any liability, loss, or risk that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and/or application of any of the contents of this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ronald Stoll is vice president of Wellness of Team Excellence Inc., a Houston-based organizational development and management consulting firm specializing in performance management, leadership development, culture design, and holistic wellness. Team Excellence has developed an award-winning system of personality and behavioral assessment, employee performance appraisal, strategic organizational assessment, and various other metric and feedback protocols. Behavior change and individual behavior management education and online facilitated support drive the system. The wellness practice is the culmination of the firm’s thirty-two years of organization consulting and all-encompassing enterprise-wide interventions.

Team Excellence clients have included clients from a wide variety of businesses and industries and have included IBM, Xerox, Tenneco, Nabisco, NL Industries, Bechtel, CompleteRx, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Kraft Foods, BMC Software, Dynergy, Memorial Hospital System, Aker Kvaerner, Procter & Gamble, Hunt Oil, New Process Steel, Sterling Bank, Catholic Church Extension Society, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Patriot Bank among many others.

Ron’s career moved from a roll-formed metals sales engineer for a division of a large conglomerate to materials management in the steel fabrication industry. An avid student of organization development and the human capital component of business, Ron left the corporate world to launch a recruiting firm in Elkhart, Indiana, which grew into a practice including organization development, behavioral profiling, outplacement and career transition, human resources consulting, and human resources outsourcing. He developed a proprietary career transition system and built a successful system in a box product that was distributed nationally. Ron has also delivered many of these services on-site for clients throughout the United States and in Mexico. He was recognized with the highest state-granted award, the Ancil T. Brown Award, by the National Association of Personnel Consultants for his leadership in the trade and the trade association.

Upon the sale of his firms, Mr. Stoll became active in the professional employer (PEO) trade and relocated to the Tampa Bay area in Florida, where he held executive management assignments with area PEO firms. He was active in the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations and the Florida Association of Professional Organizations, serving on various committees and on the board of directors of the latter organization.

Most recently, Ron has become very aware of the wellness topic in the publications and the boardrooms of US business. He has come to the realization that the various components are not mutually exclusive but rather very interdependent. His belief is that the dots need to be connected, and that by so doing, America’s brightest days are yet to be seen.

Ron says that he once saw a sign on the wall of a manager’s office that summarizes his philosophy: There they go! I must rush after them… for I am their leader. Mr. Stoll is a proponent of liberated and educated employees who accept the role of accountability and live by the mantra of mutual trust in the employment relationship.

Mr. Stoll has spoken to trade organizations and civic bodies, company meetings, and employee groups. He was a guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame Executive MBA program while an Indiana resident and has had numerous articles published in a variety of business periodicals throughout his career. He is a music enthusiast, a boating fancier, and remains an avid reader. Ron and his wife, Judy, reside in a quaint little area near Sarasota by the name of Osprey, Florida.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my wife, Judy, who has encouraged me, been a critic when a critical view would be enlightening, and has, at all times, been my most ardent fan. It was Judy who heard my comments about the mission of this book and read parts of the manuscript and then gave me the title for the book.

Along the path that my career has taken me, I have had some insights from several mentors whose names come to mind to this very day whenever I employ advice or teachings they shared with me. Jim Pullen tops that list, and for his insights, broadly based understandings, and patterns of thought, I will always cherish. Jim’s friendship has allowed me to continue tapping his vast reserve of business knowledge and analysis.

As the wellness topic caught my attention and review, two persons became very close associates. Randy Hopkins has intellectual capital in a subject that I have studied for my entire career: team functioning and the metrics to capture not just the individual team member’s motivational factors but also those of the organization and a methodology to analyze the potential fit of candidates for employment. This field of tools and methodologies has many practitioners, but none as down-to-earth and adaptable as the Team Excellence process. Randy’s always cool approach to business and to people in business is a model I try to emulate.

Alan Gappinger brings a learned but sensitive perspective to the sharing of knowledge and facilitating of behavior change. Alan has taught me the wisdom in not-for-profit companies in business, and I, being one of those dyed-in-the-wool entrepreneurs, was not always a willing student. But alas, Alan has persevered. He has also taught me some alternative marketing methodologies, which I regard with respect.

As is the case in every career, there are people who have been antagonists. I appreciate them as well for they brought eye-opening perspectives, and while in many cases I did not and do not agree with them, their crossing my path has had value to me through the alternate perspectives they imparted.

I have been fortunate to have had the clients, some for many years, who have had the confidence to work with me, my organizations, and my revered internal staff. Ours has been a relationship of trusted advisor, and that has been a bond that I have guarded intently. Were it not for the clients from Indiana to Florida, my career would not have been the fulfilling and exciting endeavor that it has been and continues to be. I am one of those people whose career helps to define them, and the clients I have had the honor of serving personally or through my firms have given me great satisfaction. These various and diverse clients have given me an insatiable curiosity for business and the processes that make business function.

INTRODUCTION

CONNECTING THE DOTS

Businesses throughout the United States, whether unionized or