EAPs Can Help Alcoholic Employees on Disability and Others

If you work for a company of any appreciable size, there is probably a disability insurance policy in case employees get sick or injured to the extent they can’t work for an extended period of time. Some organizations are progressive with their disability insurance, while some still live in the dark ages. 

The most progressive insurance plans cover physical injuries and illness, emotional disabilities, and yes, acute chronic alcoholism. The state of South Carolina, for example, covers alcoholism or any condition caused by alcoholism or alcohol abuse for a maximum of 24 months. 

By the way, did you know that prior to the ADA, the federal government recognized acute alcoholism as a disease without restrictions on alcoholism, but after the ADA and its language covering alcoholism, many changes were made that were actually detrimental to the acceptance of alcoholism as a disease? 

Go to the American Society of Addiction Medication, ASAM.org, website and read the policy statement and response to the language of the ADA and how adamantly opposed this organization is to the EEOC interpretation of the law, which increased discrimination against alcoholism in its belief. 

The ADA did not help alcoholics, they claim. It made discrimination worse in many ways. You will stunned at the insight afforded by this statement.  

For example, did you know that the Federal government, Office of Personnel Management issued regulations that "required" use of the EAP for employees suspected of having alcohol problems prior to the institution of any disciplinary action. If the EAP was not used, the disciplinary action would be considered illegal and void. That changed after the ADA.

Sorry for the digression --- Many physically ill patients retire on disability with acute illnesses associated with acute chronic alcoholism. The smartest organizations with disability insurance that cover alcoholism and mental disorders seek to aggressively document that the patient is participating in required treatment to arrest the illness and manage it successfully. You EAP can play this role and possibly save the employer a fortune. You'll have to feel your way into the benefits policies and administration to see if there is a role for you to play in this regard, but it can boost utilization and make your program more valuable. 

The EAP can play a key role in helping these employees who get sick or are injured, and qualify for disability insurance. Only an EA professional is proactive enough to assist employees in dealing with the psychosocial aspects of illness or injury effectively. This could conceivably assist these employees in getting back to work or in having meaningful lives. If you make headway in this area, let me know! I will make a post about it and it could encourage other EAPs to do the same and be more valuable.

I was afraid this would happen.

Depressed employees drive up costs for EAPs. Huh? An official document issued by the American Psychiatric Association states that depression in the workplace takes a financial toll on the work organization. Specifically, "in addition to claims for behavioral health care, costs due to behavioral health problems significantly impact other costs such as productivity, employee assistance programs (EAPs), disability, general medical, and other pharmaceutical claims. While most employers have developed strategies to reduce behavioral health costs, few employers make use of strategies to manage behavioral health treatment quality.

In other words, the EAP is a cost-center and behavioral health problems burden it. This statement is tantamount to saying the fires drive up the costs of fire departments, so we should find a way to put out fires better to save the costs to fire departments.

Let's be more illustrative. If you view an EAP as simply an employee benefit like a gym membership, this statement is completely consistent with how EAPs are more and more being viewed by the business world thanks to a continuing stream of published literature that has redefined them from their original intent. No longer, it appears, are EAPs viewed as management tools to address behavioral risk issues and improve productivity via supervisory and self-referral.

This view of EAPs should change or a different model for the delivery of the Core Technology (which ain't going away) should be created, and then THAT--whatever it is called--should be sold to rescue workers and management and employers from the burden costs associated with troubled employees.

The Report, from the 4th Quarter document "Mental at Work" published by the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health has, in my opinion, a worrisome view in its context of what the benefits industry sees as an EAP. Tell me I am wrong, and I will love you forever.

http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/mhwfourthqtr2010

Value Proposition or Value of Customer Expectations?

There is a lot of talk these days in marketing circles about clarifying the "value proposition" of what we sell. Simply put, this means selling the message of what we believe the value of our wares to be. We want the customer to listen. And if they 'finally' hear what we are saying, they will wake up and sign on to an EAP.

But wait. 80% at least of America's employers have EAPs the research says. So where is the market we are trying to coax into the value proposition?

EAPs have long sought to sell the "value proposition". But there is another side of the coin. The customer's needs. Managed care won this sale. To be more specific, the other side of the coin is selling to the value of the customer's expectations, and not the value proposition we possess necessarily. Mark Hunter, a marketing guru talks about this in an article entitled "Value of Customers Expectations" that he sent me.

If you are still with me on this post, let me ask, should EAPs be doing this more? If so would this cause us to shift our focus to different customers who are not using EAPs now? I think yes.

And these customers happen to be in the property casualty insurance industry spectrum. These big boys don't know about EAPs. But my belief is that they could use whatever they could possibly squeeze out of an EAP that would help them reduce risk and exposures associated with the things they insure against. This is not health insurance. It's everything else -- from employment practices liability lawsuits, suits for wrongful termination, discrimination, workers comp, property damage, the works. Imagine full-bore EAPs reducing these payouts. Hey, the average wrongful termination lawsuit is $150K out of court. It's over $500K in court and companies lose 70% of the time. Imagine an employee who didn't sue the company because his behavior or that of the supervisor was mitigated by EAP involvement. That's sounds like the beginnings of a new profession to me.

Mark Hunter is a sales pro. He speaks to thousands of sales people per year. Here's what he says, "We've all heard the rule of listening to what the customer has to say, and there's not a salesperson who thinks they don't listen to the customer.  Reality, however, is quite the opposite.  I find time after time when I'm working with salespeople across any number of industries that the failure to listen is a huge issue."

Hunter adds, "Too many salespeople believe because they know the products they represent much better than the client, they know exactly what the customer will see as real value.  Yes, you as the agent are going to have a general indication of what a typical customer wants. However, when it comes to interacting with a specific customer, you can't rely on a "general indication" of value."

Here's the thing. Businesses wanted lower costs on health insurance. Managed care sold them their solution. EAPs, unfortunately, got in the way without the ability to collectively say "halt".

And, EAPs still aren't doing much to collectively and "officially" point out diminished models of quasi-EAP products that insist on the full title to the word "EAP". I don't see this changing in the new EAP Strategic Plan. I may have read it wrong. If so, I will post my correction if someone lets me know.

Unless this becomes a targeted goal--rejecting products that do not adhere to the spirit and intent of the core technology, along with an ongoing survey and confrontation of freelance writers posting misguided articles about EAPs in over 30 HR and Benefits periodicals, I believe problems will continue. That translates to more suppression of life-saving, risk reducing, fully functioning, loss preventing EAPs in the world of work.
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I referenced Mark Hunter above. You learn more about him here: "The Sales Hunter," is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability.  For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on www.Twitter.com (TheSalesHunter), on www.LinkedIn.com (Mark Hunter), and on his Facebook Fan Page, www.facebook.com/TheSalesHunter.

More Thoughts about Workers Compensation and EAPs

Employee assistance practitioners have a history of offering services in what may be called the "traditional" areas of their craft ... alcohol abuse, drug use, mental health services, and other personal problems associated with these conditions.

And yet, research has demonstrated a close correlation between "traditional" employee assistance services and indicators not normally considered a part of that total picture--workers' compensation claims, for example.

Workers' compensation claims my, in fact, be among the most significant indicators of workplace health and wellness, as well as very good clues as to the presence or absence of alcohol, drugs, or mental health problems.

If you're marketing employee assistance services, seek to discover the types of industries with the highest accident rates. Also, be sure to turn to OSHA. OSHA maintains a fresh list of high accident troubled companies. This is list is available, and you may discover some of the companies are near you. Why? There are 20,000 of them--at least--every year. So, go for the high accident businesses, not the high numbers of employees. You may find more motivated employers who will be interested in your services.

And approaching prospective clients along the workers' compensation chain can bring into your service orbit the self-insured as well as those who pay premiums, since both can realize substantial savings through the coupling of worker's compensation programs with employee assistance services.

The higher a work organization's accident rate, the higher the premiums it pays for workers' compensation. The organization is therefore motivated to reduce accident rates, on of the jobs employee assistance services are designed to do.

Media Event! We Have An Expert on that Subject!

1. Throughout the year the major media will visit health subjects that have broad appeal to the public. They will also report on major calamities and news stories of many kinds. By and large, however, media outlets choose the stories they will cover based upon their biases and what constitutes public trends of interest.

To illustrate this, imagine how many earth tremors occur in California per year, versus how many are actually reported. Answer: Thousands of tremors occur than are reported. Only certain Rector Scale values will be reported, or where significant damage occurs. The truth is however, that minor tremors knock things off the shelves in people’s houses in quake prone areas of California all the time. But these quakes are never reported. The same quack on the east coast would be huge news.

2. You will notice that specific topics appear in the news periodically, but predictably. For example, you can predict that approximately once a year the topic of alcoholism will emerge. It might be a news event on its cause, a new drug to fight cravings, a story about the genetic brain, or some other related topic. Many other topics related to social problems also will appear in the media. Pay attention.

Listen attentively to the news. When you hear news that relates to your field of expertise, immediately fax to the local television stations your biography (a half page and photo). Fax your photo even though they will not be able to see it. Or have one drawn like you see the photos of people computer drawn in the Investors Business Daily. Also call the news room to say that you are an expert on that subject, you are faxing a bio right now, and you are ready to meet immediately or at their convenience.

You will marvel at how often they will ask you to come to the studio immediately or phone you to visit your office location. This is a great way to get publicity and to get on TV or the radio. And, it will make you instantly visible to your potential clients and EAP customers. Television and news stations scramble to find experts on subjects when the news hits. They don’t have much time and you will be their rescuer. You are doing them a favor, not the other way around. So, act like it on the phone. Act like you have done this all the time and that you "have cleared time from your schedule to make yourself available."

3. If it is national news, you will have extra time to respond because it will take longer for local stations to run "local expert" interviews. National news filters down to local significance to what is relevant in the immediate community. Again, if it is local news, your window of opportunity is much smaller, possibly an hour or less.

DO THIS: Prepare ahead of time by getting phone and fax numbers, and contacts lined up. Then, wait for the "big one." When “it” happens start dialing for dollars and the free publicity.

Note: Everything I discussed above, I have also done numerous times.

Yes, Your Own Blog Can Pay Off! Pay Attention to Marina London

Hi everyone, yes, it is true. Blogging pays. If you are at the EAPA Conference taking place in Tampa right now, and you are participating in the seminar on blogging, pay attention.

Blogging is awesome and it can really, really help the EAP field---and your EAP.

But let me give you a tip. Select a niche!!! Don't blog about anything and everything. Of course, I am blogging about EAP related issues, but I could just as easily blog about EAPs and Workplace Violence.

Let's discuss this for a moment. Can you guess how many times the phrase "workplace violence" is Googled each month? I will tell you.....looking it up now as I type.......the answer is 49,500 times per month.

Impressive? Yes. But let's say you blogged on Workplace Violence every 7 days. No big deal -- just 100 words on how EAPs can play a positive role in reducing the risk of workplace violence. What would happen?

Here what would happen. Because your blog begins to accumlate highly relevant content, you would slowly but almost assuredly find yourself on page one of Google.

Do you realize the implications of this?

It means traffic---and that means anyone interested in the topic would slowly  begin to view you as the expert on this topic and witha  link to your website on your blog, discover you and your EAP. Search engines will rank you high because you are consistently talking about this topic. The rest is your message. But with 49,500 searches and you being on page one of Google, do you think you would get a few interested customers? Duh.

The Official Dietary Bible Every EAP Should Own (FREE)

You probably know more about alcoholism, psychotherapy, and managing job stress than human nutrition, correct? There are many subjects that come up when counseling employees and let's face it, we don't always feel in command of every topic.

There are some topics you need to be competent to handle however. One of them is nutrition.

Well there is no reason that you have to be an EAP professional who is an ignoramus about nutrition any longer. You can now download the official federal government bible on all this stuff! Nutrition, Health, Exercise -- it all in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

I am talking about having a serious grounding in human nutrition that you can offer to your clients and then be sure you are correct and legally safe in offering those dietary recommendations. You can't get that from a book at Borders. (Well you could, but your risk when offering this advice is reduced when you can reference federal government sources, right?)

I am not saying that you should play doctor, by the way.

For example, in your counseling office, could you intelligently comment on things like offering nutritional recommendations for overweight children, being aware of what pregnant women should be concerned about regarding their diet. What the risks there are in weight reduction for new mothers that jeopardize the weight gain of a nursing infant. Knowing that it requires 60-90 minutes of moderate exercise PER DAY to sustain weigh loss?

There are ton of issues regarding diet that arise in the EAP office, and you are a more valuable contributor to workplace wellness and employee productivity if you have a working knowledge or command of this information.

It's easy to get. Download this "bible" of nutrition information from feds. It's usually about $13 at the Government Printing Office, but yours truly found the federal government download (free) at the following link: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf

Check out this outline:

• Background and Purpose of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Adequate Nutrients Within Calorie Needs
• Weight Management
• Physical Activity .
• Food Groups To Encourage
• Fats
• Carbohydrates
• Sodium and Potassium
• Alcoholic Beverages .
• Food Safety
• Eating Patterns
• Eating Plan at 1,600-, 2,000-, 2,600-, and 3,100-Calorie Levels
• USDA Food Guide
• Discretionary Calorie Allowance in the USDA Food Guide
• Food Sources of Selected Nutrients
• Food Sources of Potassium .
• Food Sources of Vitamin E
• Food Sources of Iron
• Dairy Food Sources of Calcium
• Food Sources of Calcium .
• Food Sources of Vitamin A .
• Food Sources of Magnesium
• Food Sources of Dietary Fiber
• Food Sources of Vitamin C
• Glossary of Terms .
• Acronyms

Awesome.