BURLINGTON, MA—From specially designed nap rooms at Asana to onsite 24 hours physician at Google, Wellness at Workplace initiatives have become important features of corporations that make or break their position in the job market.
Learn about this new wellness movement at the 6th Annual Health, Fitness & Wellness Expo on March 4th at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.
Three panelists will focus on this topic: Vijay Bhatt, Deputy Chief Technology Officer at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; Nick Patel, Founder and President of Wellable; and Dhanashree Ramachandran, Founder and CEO of Nous Lab, and Instructor and Community Advancement Director at Art of Living, Massachusetts.
“Lack of awareness towards wellness can consume more than half of corporate profits in form of worker compensations due to illnesses, absenteeism, unproductive mindset etc.,” says Ramachandran.
The Expo will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018 from 10: 00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA. The Expo is free to all attendees, but you must pre-register. For more information and to register for FREE, please visit Health Expo website at http://healthfitnesswellnessexpo.com/
The expo is produced by The Mishra Group in collaboration with INDIA New England News, INE MultiMedia, and IndUS Business Journal.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information accounted 1,989% higher worker compensation costs due to poor wellness standards. Modifiable diseases like depression caused by stress can add up to 70% to annual health plan costs.
According to the CDC, chronic diseases account for 75 percent of total healthcare costs. They are also the most preventable type of diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer and obesity.
“The only way to prevent these diseases is with actionable steps to halt progression. A balanced wellness program addresses both chronic and modifiable health conditions,” adds Ramachandran. “It brings awareness towards physical, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual and occupational wellbeing of employees. Employers offer glamorous incentives for practicing a healthy lifestyle.”
In many cases the incentives are monetary. Last month Bloomberg reported that the Employee Wellness programs with monetary incentives don’t work. Employers, employees, and all stakeholders in the fitness industry want to know what works.
“That’s why we decided to dive deep into the process of making of wellness initiatives. We found that it is crucial for wellness initiatives designed for workplaces to be engaging, creative and technologically smart,” says Ramachandran. “Our expert panelists are actively involved into making wellness initiatives effective. They will share their experiences and tips to make your work life balanced and fulfilling.”
Panelists’ bios:
Vijay Bhat
Vijay Bhatt, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC)
An award winning healthcare insurance subject matter expert, Vijay has served the state of Massachusetts as Chief Architect of the New Medicaid Management Information System (NewMMIS). Vijay owns multiple critical patents on process for real-time fraud prevention. An entrepreneur by heart, Vijay is involved with three start-ups in healthcare industry namely, BiddersEdge, deNovis and Namasoft.
Vijay continues to mentor promising start-ups through HPSC Innovation Center and TiE Start-up mentorship program. Vijay is currently working on a Wellbeing platform and is an Executive Sponsor for My Member’s Wellness ERG group for advancing wellness amongst communities we serve. Vijay recently won a Change Agent award from the Color Magazine for cultivating, guiding and leading a significant inclusion related changes at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare.
Nick Patel
Nick Patel, Founder and President, Wellable
Wellable is a wellness technology platform that enables employers to run fun and engaging health and wellness challenges through an ecosystem of consumer technologies they already know and love, such as Fitbit, RunKeeper, Strava, Apple Health, and more.
Prior to Wellable, Nick worked at TriZetto, a leading healthcare technology company offering software solutions to health plans and providers, and served as Director of Strategy, reporting directly to one of the executives of the firm. Nick also worked at Harris Williams and Morgan Keegan as an investment banking Analyst and Associate, advising on mergers and acquisitions and capital raises for healthcare and technology companies. He is also an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Dhanashree Ramachandran, Founder and CEO, Nous Lab, Instructor/ Community Advancement Director, Art of Living, Massachusetts
An expert in traditional meditation practices and theories, Dhanashree has taught meditation to adults and youths from around the world over the past decade. Prior to starting Nous Lab, Dhanashree consulted award-winning brands like Bose, State Street, TIAA and AXA Financial as a user experience specialist for 15 years.
Dhanashree Ramachandran
Her extensive experience in developing products and processes for global audiences enables her to design innovative products that help people build habits that are conducive to improving mental and physical health. She has been invited to lead meditation sessions at influential institutions such as Massachusetts State House, World bank Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology etc. Dhanashree is the mastermind behind the high-impact Massachusetts Yoga and Meditation Week initiative.
Dhanashree will moderate the panel. Write to her with your queries about wellness at workplaces at [email protected]
(References: Goetzel RZ, et.al (1998, October). The relationship between modifiable health risks and health care expenditures: An analysis of the multi-employer HERO health risk and cost database JOEM, 40(10):843-54. Serxner, S., et al., (2001). The impact of behavioral health risks on worker absenteeism. JOEM, 43(4), 347-354. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-26/workplace-wellness-programs-really-don-t-work.)