OREANDA-NEWS.  May 31, 2013. McKesson Corporation announced that it received Platinum certification in the 2013 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles® award presented by the National Business Group on Health. McKesson was recognized for its ongoing commitment and dedication to promoting a healthy workplace and encouraging employees and families to pursue and maintain healthy lifestyles.

“McKesson is partnering with our customers to create a stronger, more sustainable healthcare system capable of delivering better care to patients," said Jerry Warren, Senior Vice President of Total Rewards, McKesson Corporation. “We believe our focus on employee health and wellness better prepares our teams to provide superior service to our customers and the millions of patients they serve. That’s why we provide our employees with the resources they need to help them be healthier and more productive.”

McKesson began its wellness journey more than five years ago, committing to provide employees customized benefits that are built on prevention and wellness. Under the program, McKesson provides employees with flexible tools and resources to enable them to monitor and improve their health and realize their full wellness potential. The program emphasizes preventive care, which has been covered 100 percent for several years, and online tools that provide easy access to personalized resources for employees and their families.

McKesson’s senior leaders have championed its wellness program as both a business strategy for health and productivity improvement and as a catalyst to increase employee engagement. Employees have embraced the initiative and are now averaging nearly 90 percent participation. Employees continue to increase their engagement in wellness throughout the benefit year. In 2012, 78 percent of McKesson employees completed three times as many wellness activities as a traditional program.  Moreover, of that 78 percent, nearly half completed five times more wellness activities.

Formed in 1974, the National Business Group on Health is the nation’s only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers’ perspectives on national health policy issues and providing practical solutions to its members’ most important health care problems. The group’s members are primarily Fortune 500 companies and large public-sector employers — including the nation’s most innovative health care purchasers — who provide health care coverage for more than 50 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families.

“We are proud to honor McKesson for its ongoing commitment to providing lifestyle improvement programs that encourage healthy lifestyles for their employees,” said Helen Darling, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health.  “McKesson is among an elite group of organizations that are leading the way to promoting healthy workplaces and lifestyles.  McKesson and its management team should be proud of their commitment to their program and we congratulate them on receiving this award.”

Since 2004, the Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles awards program has rewarded those organizations that have found creative solutions to advancing the well-being of employees. The program serves as a means of sharing successful interventions, programs and services, and illustrates best practices that can be emulated by other members.