New employee solutions focused on employee wellness and healthcare management

Health Advocate, Central Michigan University’s new employee wellness program administrator, launches on Friday, July 1. Health Advocate replaces Virgin Pulse as CMU’s wellness program administrator and is available to staff, fixed-term and medical faculty, and post-doctoral research fellows.

Health Advocate includes improvements from the previous system in areas identified by the university’s health care committee. These areas include re-engaging employees in the CMU Wellness Program, mental health, offering health and wellness coaching with a focus on condition management, and simplifying access to benefits. Health Advocate offers solutions to these areas, as well as providing many other improvements, according to the health care committee.

New solutions and individual programs include:

• New Wellness Coaching along with workshops, nutrition support, challenges and trackers designed to improve mental health.
• Healthy rewards to earn cash prizes up to $400 each year for well-being activities.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) & Work/Life Support offering unlimited text support with counselors and skill builder courses. This program replaces Encompass and is available for all staff and faculty employees.
• New Health Cost Estimator+, which shows the cost of a covered item or service before receiving care, enhancing the ability to shop for the healthcare that best meets an individual’s needs.
• New Engagement 360, which includes original services for CMU employees including help securing second opinions, medical decision support, help to resolve claims and billing issues and more.

  
  

  Along with the addition of many new offerings, Health Advocate will also consolidate many wellness offerings – improving system operations and user experience.
  

  Eligible employees can register for the program now through the CMU Health Advocate webpage. New hires who have not yet activated a global ID can contact Health Advocate by phone at 866-799-2691or email to inquire about insurance options available through CMU.
  

  Additionally, the Benefits & Wellness team is hosting a webinar at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12 to walk through the Health Advocate site and conduct a Q&A session. Attendees are asked to register for the webinar in advance.