HERO Welcomes New CEO 

The Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) announced today that Jerry Noyce has been selected as its new President and CEO.  "After thirty-two years devoted to what we now call employee health management (EHM), I requested that the HERO Board of Directors conduct a search for a new President and CEO," said Bill Whitmer, the founding President and CEO

"Jerry has been a member of the HERO Board since 2006. He and I have worked together on a number of important HERO initiatives. Because of Jerry's experience in the EHM industry and his hands-on knowledge of HERO operations, he is the ideal person to assume this position." Jerry served as the President and CEO of HealthFitness Corporation (HFC) from 2000 to 2007. Under his leadership HFC became a premier provider of health management and fitness services for employers, the health care industry and individual customers. To achieve this, he expanded HFC's business base through the facilitation of HFC's acquisition of the Health & Fitness Division of Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, Inc. and the HealthCALC businesses.
 
"I have had the privilege of working with Jerry over the last five years as we have built the HERO Think Tank", stated K. Andrew Crighton, MD, HERO's incoming Chairman. "Jerry's demonstrated commitment to EHM and proven leadership will be a great asset to HERO."
 
"It is a great honor to be chosen to follow in Bill Whitmer's footsteps as the chief executive of HERO. Bill and HERO cofounder, Mark Dundon, have been visionaries in creating an organization focused on the creation and dissemination of research, education and best practices critical to the improvement of the health and productivity of America's workforce", Jerry Noyce said. "Along with the Board of Directors, members and partners of HERO, I look forward to continuing this important work in helping employers implement and refine initiatives aimed at improving employee health, while containing rising health care costs".
 
About HERO - HERO has been operational since 1996. In its first major initiative, HERO facilitated much-needed, breakthrough employee health management research on the link between health risk factors and medical costs. The HERO Think Tank was created in 2004 and has become a leader in the development and dissemination of employee health management policy, strategy, leadership and infrastructure. More recently, the HERO Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer has become operational. In 2009, the HERO Association for Employee Health Management was launched. Because of the need and growth of the employee health management industry, HERO recently returned to the facilitation and publication of the highest quality, unbiased employee health management research.  For more information, go to
www.the-hero.org.


HERO Association Unveils More Member Benefits to Expand "Grow, Learn, Connect"

HERO Association leadership recently met with HERO Think Tank members at the annual meeting on February 16-17th in Dallas, TX.  During the meeting, a session focused on expanded member benefits resulted in a number of recommendations that are being unveiled.
 
New and exciting member benefits that focus on "Grow, Learn and Connect" include:
 
"Coffee Breaks": Sometimes we all need a more personalized and low tech approach to connect with others.  Talk with fellow HERO Association and HERO Think Tank members on relevant industry issues that impact what you do everyday.  
 
Library Sharing: Gain immediate access to relevant industry resources via our new "push" messaging system, so you'll obtain essential employee health management materials to help you perform better at what you love to do.  
 
Conversation Series: In today’s information-rich age, meaningful conversations with fellow colleagues in the field are vital.  Maximize your experience by participating in our interactive series where you can ask others for tips on what works, exchange ideas, share your viewpoints, and learn best practices!  New topics are launched monthly.
 
Member Introductions: Enhance networking with fellow Association members, learn more about their role in employee health management and what challenges they plan to tackle through email introductions. 
 
Practitioner Surveys: Gain insights into industry trends and learn the opinions of your employee health management colleagues via our HERO Association Survey Series.  Members gain access to survey results via our HERO Association member-only webpage.


HERO CEO and President Retires

Long time CEO, president and a founder of HERO announces he will retire in 2010.  

"Under Bill Whitmer's leadership, HERO has become one of the most highly regarded organizations supporting employee health management. Bill leaves HERO very well positioned to play a leading role in the future growth and development of the field," said David Anderson, PhD, HERO's outgoing Board Chairman.

Bill will move to a new position in the organization, he will act as Consultant to the President, to help with the transition to the new leadership and continue to focus on new projects to expand the role of HERO in the EHM market place.


Holbrook Leads HERO Association

Kristine Holbrook, M.Ed., Vice-President of Employer Health and Wellness Services for MediFit Corporate Services (MediFit), became the HERO Association’s Charter President on January 17, 2009.  Kristine was appointed to a one-year term.

She was also elected to the HERO Board of Directors, creating a natural working relationship between the Association and the Board that she hopes to maximize during her presidency.   

Kristine also represents MediFit as a HERO Think Tank Member, is a member of the HERO Innovation Committee, and is a Texas State Leader for Health Promotion Advocates.  She formerly served as a Business and Industry Awards evaluator with the Association for Worksite Health Promotion (AWHP), was an AWHP Region II Membership Chair, and oversaw the annual General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for The United States Army, V Corps, in Frankfurt, Germany. Kristine looks forward to leveraging these past and current roles to create valuable experiences for Association members.


HERO Announces launch of Educational Webinar Series

HERO, as part of their focus around cutting edge thinking on the most difficult challenges facing EHM professionals has launched a webinar series.  Pat Rohner, HERO's manager of Operations and Marketing unveiled details about the first three events:

April 27: The first event will partner with NCQA and focus on Benchmarking and accreditation
NCQA and HERO have joined forces to facilitate a webinar on several of today's most important and critical issues: Wellness Provider Accreditation and Benchmarking and Best Practice in employee health management.

June 8: HERO Practitioner Survey Results  Noon - 1:00 ET
The 2010 Practitioner Survey is done and the results are in!  Join us for this FREE webinar to review and discuss the results.  Find out the answers:


July:  Date TBD "Obesity in America" with the CDC The details of this webinar are forth coming.

Each event will be a live one hour webinar free to members of the HERO Association..


HERO Scorecard V3.0 in Collaboration with Mercer

The collaboration between HERO and Mercer adds a new level of sophistication and acceptance to employee health management (EHM) benchmarking and best practice. The ultimate goal is to create widely accepted EHM standards. Benchmarking and best practice is a major step towards the realization of this goal.

Background - HERO first introduced the Scorecard in 2006. The extraordinary acceptance and success exceeded expectations, and therefore, the Scorecard V2.0 was introduced one year later. Shortly thereafter, discussions began between Mercer and HERO. The end result was an agreement that HERO and Mercer would work together to create the Scorecard V3.0, which was released in March 2009.

Use of the HERO Scorecard V3.0 ­ THE HERO Scorecard V3.0 is available to the public at no charge. For more information, go to www.the-hero.org and click on the Scorecard link. The Scorecard V3.0 is available in two formats: 1) PDF and 2) the online Scorecard V3.0. It is recommended that you print the PDF version and become familiar with the suggestions for use and the questions. To populate the Scorecard V3.0 with your EHM information and data, go to the online Scorecard V3.0. After your information has been accepted, you will receive a complimentary report that compares your score with the average scores of all the Scorecard V3.0 users.

Additional HERO Scorecard V3.0 Reports - HERO and Mercer have agreed to create, operate, and co-own a large scale, highly secure HERO Scorecard V3.0 normative database. When available, employers, providers and other stakeholders will be able to receive a more comprehensive report that compares specific benchmarking and best practice accomplishment with demographically similar organizations. These reports will be available when a predetermined number of organizations have populated the Scorecard V3.0. There will be a charge for this report.

HERO Scorecard V3.0 “Module”- In the future it will also be possible for organizations to have their own confidential, secure and independent HEROScorecard V3.0 “Module” (Scorecard Module) database that they control and to which they have exclusive access. The Scorecard Module is licensed from HERO. Only the licensee may populate their Scorecard V3.0 module with information and data from their employees, clients, constituents or any other group of their choosing. The Scorecard Module reports are provided by HERO and are updated quarterly. The Scorecard Module is highly flexible. For example, if a licensee has a substantial number of clients, it may use its data to compare the Scorecard Module results of a given client with the average of all of its clients, or with the average of its clients in a specific industry group. The licensee may also use its data for various kinds of research or benchmarking activities.