There is a difference between disease prevention and health enhancement. The former involves things like inoculations, pap tests, and mammograms. Health enhancement deals more with influencing behavioral change through programs for smoking cessation, weight management, physical fitness and proper nutrition. In either case, these activities do not command much of the health care dollar. The Secretary of Health and Human Services indicates that about 5% of the health care budget is spent on disease prevention and health enhancement combined. On the other hand, we are told that about 50% of all diseases and medical problems are associated with lifestyle choices that can be influenced by health enhancement activities. This dichotomy must be addressed and action taken to advance health enhancement. HERO is moving in this direction.

One approach is to establish the link between health and individual productivity. Employers around the world have interest in health and productivity. If quality research proves a direct association between poor health and low productivity and good health and high productivity, then employers will become proponents for being proactive in creating a healthy workforce. Over the past several years, HERO has assumed a leadership role in this area of health and productivity research.

The HERO philosophy centers on the strength that can be generated by numbers. To this end, HERO has united a number of organizations in order to create a system of synergy directed toward facilitating high quality health related productivity, disease management and health enhancement research. Following is a brief review of the major events involved in this activity:

April 1994 - March 1995 Discussions with a variety of employers and about interest in the creation of a health enhancement research coalition.

March 1995 in depth feasibility work started to determine the need for, and how to create a national health enhancement research coalition.

April 1996 HERO becomes operational with 15 Sustaining Partners providing funding for start up operations.

May 1997 A collaborative effort between HERO, The MEDSTAT Group, The StayWell Company and six large employers creates the HERO database, one of the largest and most significant employee research databases in existence. It has over 47,000 employees and yields over 115,000 person years experience.

June 1997 Number of HERO Sustaining Partners doubles to 30.

July 1997 The HERO Productivity Coalition (HERO-PC) has first meeting attended by 15 corporate medical directors. The HERO-PC now consists of about 110 medical, human resource, and benefits executives and meets four times annually.

June 1998 HERO announces the start of four major research projects funded by: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The American Dietetic Association (ADA), The Midwest Center for Health and Healing (MCHH), Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), and a project co-funded by HERO and The StayWell Company. (The NASA and HERO-StayWell and UPRR studies will be published in the fall of 2000.)

October 1998 HERO publishes in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM) the landmark study: The Relationship Between Modifiable Health Risks and Health Care Expenditures (40:10. Oct 1998; 843-854). The study, which was funded by HERO, was featured in the WALL STREET JOURNAL and dozens of other publications.

November 1998 HERO introduces the Health Enhancement Research Advocate, a high quality, complimentary, eight-page newsletter that provides the most cutting-edge and broad spectrum information on health enhancement, disease management and health related productivity research issues.

June 1999 The decision is made to launch THE HERO INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY CONFERENCE in February of 2001.

August 1999 HERO is awarded grants from NASA and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to conduct feasibility research relative to the creation and operation of a large-scale, ongoing, Framingham-like health and productivity research study that could produce meaningful and important health and productivity research databases.

February 2000 The HERO Productivity Coalition meets in Colorado Springs bringing together medical, finance, HR and benefits mangers and executives from about 70 corporations. For the first time, the faculty included key thought leaders from the federal government... NIH, AHRQ and NIOSH.

September 2000 HERO publishes in the American Journal of Health Promotion a study titled: The Relationship Between Modifiable Health Risks and Group-Level Health Care Expenditures (15.10. Sept. 2000; 45-52). The study, which was funded by HERO and StayWell Health Management was featured in USA TODAY and numerous other media outlets.

February 2001 The HERO Health and Productivity Conference is held in Washington and received extraordinary endorsement from over 300 who registered. Announcement is made that the second conference will take place in Chicago the first week of October 2002.

April 2001  Agreements are finalized with scientists from a prominent medical school to join forces with HERO in order to create and facilitate a major health and productivity research pilot project.

April 2002  HERO announces plans to create a large group of new HERO Research and Associate Partners. This precedent creating effort will allow HERO Research and Associate Partners to learn from the experts how to convert the newest HP/DP and H & P research into useful and effective programs for their organization.

February 2003 –Because of increasing corporate concern about health care costs, HERO announces a major initiative to move prevention forward as a major method to reduce health care utilization and moderate cost increases.

June 2003 HERO facilitates a highly successful Investment in Human Capital Conference in Chicago. Slide presentations and abstracts from the conference are available on the Conference page.

September 2003  Bill Whitmer, the CEO of HERO lead a team of nationally known authors in researching and writing an editorial titled A Wake-Up for Corporate America, which was published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (45:9, Sept. 2003; 916-925) Complimentary copies are available by calling 205-969-2680.

December 2003 HERO facilitates an invitation only meeting of large employers, national benefits consulting firm, health promotion providers, health plans, professional associations and other organizations as a first step in creating an international Think Tank devoted to advocating for prevention as a major method to control health care costs.

April and September 2004  HERO facilitates two additional invitation only employer and provider meetings in order to collect more information and validate the mission and strategies associated with the creation of a new employee health management Think Tank.

February 2005 After two and one-half years intensive effort and fact-finding, the HERO Forum Think Tank is launched with 18 members. Eight are corporate members and eight are provider members.

September 2005 The HERO Forum Think Tank has expanded to 40 members. Operations are centered on the strategies of creating and testing new financial and related metrics that clearly reflect on the bottom and construction on infrastructure that supports the facilitation of Best Practice Workshops.

February 2006 The HERO Forum Think Tank membership will facilitate the national HERO Forum for Employee Health Management Solutions, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Airport, on September 18-20, 2006.

© 2007 by HERO