Biometric Testing

What exactly is biometric testing?

Biometric testing is a part of corporate wellness programs wherein employees measure their blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, blood glucose, and any other measurement that corporations and their employees choose to measure.

Conducting biometric testing for your company can be fun and easy. Due to HIPAA regulations, employers cannot take blood measurements without having an independent firm such as a wellness company or health screening organization perform the testing.

What are the benefits of doing biometric testing, and why do companies want this service conducted for their employees? There are many reasons to do biometric testing, such as health promotion, health awareness, and health education, however, the primary factor motivating organizations to have this service performed is economics. Health screenings have been shown to reduce overall medical expenditure by identifying risk factors and employees that need added health coaching services. Screenings are also used widely by insurance companies to assess individual and population risk for premiums and by employers for pre-employment screenings.  The Health Risk Assessment is a great tool for assessing an employees inclusion in a health risk category. But HRA results are dependent upon the information given by the patient whereas, biometric results are exact and measurable.  Most truly comprehensive personal health assessments include some combination of both testing methods.

Wellness programs at work have been shown to create:

  • An environment where individuals can measure, assess and understand their overall health status
  • An organizational culture promoting the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
  • A competitive advantage helping organizations move toward increased productivity, increased retention and lower medical costs. PicMed Wellness health promotion programs and screening services target each employer’s specific wellness objectives to help overcome today’s health care challenges.
  • We pride ourselves on the quality, consistency and seamless integration of wellness screening results with other wellness programs.

Biometric testing, also known as health screening, is the second most commonly implemented component in employee health and wellness programs, surpassed only by Health Risk Assessments (HRAs).

Biometric Testing Tips

Here are some tips for having a Biometric Testing for your organization:

  • Biometric Testing should be done once a year to monitor changes.
  • It is imperative that you reassure all employees of confidentiality during testing, when / how results are provided and in the before / after counseling.
  • Emphasize that Biometric Testing is voluntary, but remind employees of the value of health tests.
  • Incentivize participation in Biometric Testing to insure maximum participation.
  • Health education materials should be distributed / made available for all employees, regardless of their health risk level.

Ideas to help increase participation and produce a successful worksite wellness event:

  1. Assign an event manager to coordinate all communications.
  2. Schedule the event or screening at a convenient time for your employees, and allow them enough time to participate.
  3. Include senior executives in the screening by having them launch and participate in the event.
  4. Consider giveaways or incentives for attendees. Even moderate incentives have been shown to greatly improve participation.
  5. Promote the online Health Assessment .
  6. Provide ongoing support to your employees with opportunities to improve their health and wellness.

When biometric testing reveals an individual to be high-risk, then the employee should be encouraged to see a physician for treatment and advice.  Again, make certain there is incentive outside of the obvious to insure that the employee will participate in a wellness program.

Besides identifying employees that are in a high-risk category, Biometric Testing can motivate your employees to monitor their health. After a Biometric Testing some employees may feel motivated to set goals and change their behaviors due to test results.

Our most requested onsite bio-metric screenings include:

  • On-Site screening event manager
  • Experienced travel team of health professionals not contract screeners
  • Marketing Materials
  • Online Appointment System
  • Online participation reporting for clients
  • Choose Between Fingerstick or Blood Draw
  • Cholesterol & Glucose test with readings on Total Cholesterol (TC), HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, TC/HDL Ratio, Triglycerides, and Glucose
  • Blood Pressure
  • Waist Circumference or Height/Weight/Body Mass Index (BMI)
  • Health Education Counseling
  • Aggregate-Level Reporting
  • Transferring of data to third-party vendor

Additional Testing/Screening Available

  • A1C – Better diabetes screening available by fingerstick or blood draw
  • PSA- Prostate test (Blood draw)
  • Thyroid (Blood draw)
  • Body composition Muscle Mass vs Visceral Fat ( comparable to DEXA scan not cheap inaccurate handheld devices)
  • Body Fat percentage ( comparable to DEXA scan not cheap inaccurate handheld devices)
  • Nicotine instant and lab based testing
  •  Bone Density Screening
  • Hearing Test
  • Eye screening
  • Skin Cancer Screening