Canadian HR Reporter

Credit: Frannyanne (Shutterstock) Preventive medicine By Sarah Dobson A fter getting off a 10-hour fl ight from Chile, then grabbing a one- hour nap before he showed up at the offi ce on a ursday morning, Jason Winkler knows well the demands of a leadership role. Which is one reason why Winkler, chief tal- ent offi cer at Deloitte Canada in Vancou- ver, appreciates the executive health-risk assessments provided to executives at his company. "Any executive-level role comes with, in today's world, a very high level of stress and generally habits that are not great for health and wellness," he says. "Our partners in par- ticular, as leaders in the business, if they are healthy both physically and engaged emo- tionally and balanced, it makes them better leaders and just more eff ective overall. So we view this as both a preventive and, I'd say, protective measure for what may argu- ably be our most important asset." ese assessments started as benefi ts for senior employees but are now seen as also being a source of risk mitigation or risk man- agement, says Joseph Lo, president of Medi- sys Corporate Health in Toronto, which pro- vides the assessments for Deloitte Canada. "It's really about protecting and being proactive against the health of (fi rms') most valuable human capital assets," he says. "It's actually much more of a perk, that's actu- ally the wrong way to look at it — this re- ally is about getting a handle on the overall health composition of an executive team, of the senior team, and then taking proactive measures to actually improve that." at's the whole notion of preventive medicine, says Lo. "It's about taking action from something as simple as lifestyle and behaviours early to prevent bad things from happening and, on the margins, fi nding bad things before they become serious. And being able to take action there." At Deloitte, the assessments are part of a broader wellness framework at the fi rm, says Winkler. "It also sends a message to the partners that organizationally we take it seriously but also that we actually care about their health and wellness, and that's an important mes- sage to send not only for executive-level as- sessment but our people at large see that we do that for senior folks." Greater consistency, data Out of 9,000 employees in Canada, 900 of the partners are covered by the program, which was introduced several years ago, says Winkler. Previously, partners were re- quired to confi rm they had had a medical evaluation every two years. "But the evaluations were relatively in- consistent across the country," he says. "It was diffi cult to get any kind of data and report out on themes or emerging issues." e Medisys assessments are provided every two years for people under the age of 50 and every year for those over 50, un- less there are other criteria, such as high risk factors, says Winkler. Best practice is for people to be assessed once a year, says Lo. "What's important is we are assessing along the same parameters every year be- cause it is very much about the data and collecting at the outset a kind of baseline in terms of what is that individual's health profi le and then measuring that, measuring changes against that over time." e two- to four-hour evaluations take place at Medisys facilities across the coun- try or affi liated clinics, and provide a more accurate picture, says Winkler. "We get data, obviously not at an individ- ual level because that would be confi dential, but thematically where are things changing, what are some of the things that we might want to look at in terms of supporting pre- ventive type of activities, more than others." As well as, there's data that would help Deloitte predict other elements of its ben- efi ts plans, he says, such as drug plans. "It's not perfect — obviously, you're doing your best to kind of look at all the diff erent pieces of that puzzle — but the executive as- sessments are defi nitely a piece that help us with our overall health, wellness and ben- efi ts priorities and investments." e assessment includes key diagnostics such as stress echo cardiograms and pelvic and abdominal ultrasounds, along with a full blood panel and a nutrition consulta- tion, says Lo. Another important part of the evaluation is a 30- to 60-minute conversa- tion with a physician. "In that conversation, it's the full spec- trum — talking about physical health, talk- ing about emotional health, mental health, etcetera, and it's really an opportunity for the doctor to be a coach and help them set goals for the following year." e range of metrics includes levels of obesity, diabetic risks and heart risks, says Winkler. But Deloitte also looks at how new partners compare to more experi- enced partners, and how women compare to men. "You can't look at a single year change in data and then make too many assump- tions but it does give us some indications on where we might support messaging, what kind of programs we might want to be off ering… those are the kinds of patterns and themes that we see," he says. "Causal- ity isn't necessarily easy because it depends on the size of the population but it gives us some facts to point to as opposed to pure anecdotes." And if an extreme case, such as cancer, is diagnosed, Medisys can act quickly to assist by providing referrals, says Winkler. And with earlier detection, treatment can start sooner than it would have otherwise. " ey're the fi rst line of how to go about doing things and then the partner moves into the medical system itself or other choices." Making an impact After the assessment and diagnosis, there is the advisory piece where Medisys can sit down with the client company to discuss its risk profi le against age and gender, and dis- cuss ways to make an impact from a health perspective, including corporate programs that could incentivize good health, says Lo. "What's really valuable to the company is that they can see at an aggregate level how are they doing, and what are some of the themes that they can address at more of a corporate level." For the most part, the executives are comfortable with the process, says Winkler, with only a few reluctant to depart from their usual family doctor or network. "Some partners prefer to use their own," he says. "We don't require use of Medisys but it is highly encouraged and we make it easy and it does provide a more thorough assessment than… a family doctor." As these assessments evolve, Lo says he is seeing more companies making the ben- efi t mandatory and broadening the off ering beyond the C-suite. "We're starting to see co-sponsorship and creative use of HRA dollars, that kind of thing, at the director level now as well, so it's not just the exclusive domain of senior executives anymore, which is great." for the C-suite Executive health assessments provide in-depth results F E AT U R E S H&S ASSESSMENTS F E AT U R E S H&S ASSESSMENTS F E AT U R E S

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