Boost flu shot participation: Incentives that work
November 5, 2009 by Christian SchappelPosted in: Health care, In this week's e-newsletter - benefits, Latest News & Views, Pay and benefits
How do you convince the needlephobes and “I’m too busy” types to come out and get a flu shot?
One option: Consider a flu prevention rewards program.
Incentives can take the form of:
- Contests. One company doubled participation by putting everyone who signed up for a flu shot into a drawing for an iPod.
- Merchandise. A school district in Minnesota got more teachers to get vaccinated by giving away winter hats with sports teams’ logos on them.
- Healthy rewards. Many companies tie flu shots into promoting overall wellness by giving away pedometers, yoga kits, workout videos or electronic scales.
- Gift cards. There’s always the popular standby of providing small gift cards (worth $20 or so) for department stores, restaurants or movie theaters.
Benchmark participation
Not sure if offering incentives will make enough of a difference to justify the added cost? Try this:
Benchmark your past sign-up rate for flu shots against a new drive using an incentive. Compare both the change in participation and the number of sick days taken during flu season by all employees.
Tags: electronic scales, flu shots, gift cards, Minnesota, school district, wellness, workout videos, yoga kits
November 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am
This is probably one of the best ideas I have been involved in! It encourages employees to stay healthy & a keep a healthier work environment! Not to mention the fact that it must minimize the amount of employees who call out sick due to the flu. This is a benefit that companies should not pass on! Surely worth the investment!
November 5th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Will definitely look into doing this next year. We do pretty well without it, 1/3 sign up on average, I would love to get more involved!
November 13th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Our health plan covers flu shots as an in network benefit for a co-pay. We set up a co-pay reimbursement plan for any employee who gets the flu shot. Now they get what they need and they are getting the cost back in their pockets
November 18th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Incentives are always a good idea; however, I’d be sensitive to those who ‘can’t’ or ‘choose not’ to get Flu Shots. There is a certain percentage of the population who for medical reasons do NOT get a Flu Shot or are not recommended to and there is definitely a growing population who choose not to -’put something foreign’ into their bodies. Unless it is mandatory for employment, it is a voluntary action and you don’t want to promote a negative environment by excluding folks.
Rather, promote positive behaviour such as hand washing and the buddy system to encourage those really sick folks to stay home rather than infect a co-worker.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
We hired a company to runa clinic for employee. We just picked up the tab. It was cheaper than reimbursing employees and kept claims of the health insurance bill.