Overview
At Cleveland Clinic, our approach to building a culture of well-being is holistic and inclusive. This means that in addition to programs addressing traditional elements of disease prevention and physical health, we consider the person as a whole and aim to provide an environment that positively impacts the body, emotions, mind and spirit of our caregivers. As an organization, we believe it is our responsibility to take care of our caregivers and encourage them toward new heights of personal and professional satisfaction and fulfillment. Our philosophy is that all employees are caregivers, and they are our greatest asset. They make our enterprise stronger and help us aspire to our vision to be the best place to receive care anywhere and the best place to work in healthcare.
Well-being Strategy
In any organization, a key driver for an effective well-being strategy is executive leadership commitment and fortitude. Leadership support of caregiver well-being is critical to creating a culture of health and achieving positive outcomes. Often, the most challenging part of creating a culture of well-being is making well-being a realistic part of a caregiver’s life. At Cleveland Clinic, our well-being strategy encompasses the caregiver’s personal and professional journey and aims to 1) remove barriers to optimize energy, 2) promote and create opportunities for self-care, 3) provide chronic disease management and support, 4) ensure proactive support for mental well-being, 5) encourage financial awareness and benefits participation, 6) foster effective communications and a culture of safety and 7) establish social connectedness among caregivers. In order to better help caregivers achieve these aims we organize resources and supports into five dimensions:
- Physical: Supporting physical health and healthy behaviors through education, resources, programs and policies.
- Emotional: Promoting resilience, a positive attitude, spiritual well-being and the ability to cope with stress to achieve better work-life integration.
- Financial: Ensuring the ability to effectively manage current and future wealth, and developing financial literacy.
- Making Connections: Fostering strong and supportive work relationships, contributing to community and empowering a diverse, inclusive and accepting culture.
- Lifelong Learning: Providing professional training and development, and advancement opportunities.
Total Rewards Benefits
Through our competitive Total Rewards offerings, we provide a collection of benefits to promote well-being and attract and retain top talent. Our Total Rewards package provides added value equivalent to approximately 30% of a caregiver’s base pay on average, and is designed to help our caregivers thrive. Benefits include multiple health and dental plan choices, vision and prescription drug coverage, life and disability insurance, maternity and parental leave, flexible spending accounts, partner benefits, 403(b) investment and pension plans, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, career development and more.
Maternity and parental leave
In 2020, Cleveland Clinic launched its Maternity and Parental Leave benefit for active, full-time caregivers. Through this benefit, birthing caregivers receive eight weeks of paid maternity leave following childbirth, plus four weeks of paid parental leave. Non-birthing and adopting caregivers receive four weeks of paid parental leave.
Caregiver discounts
Cleveland Clinic has networked with regional and national vendors to provide our caregivers a wide selection of discounts on activities, products and services. The goal of our discount programs is to promote well-being and provide affordable opportunities for caregivers to relax and enjoy time with family and friends. Offerings span categories such as arts and entertainment, automotive, dependent care, dining, education, financial services, health and wellness, housing, sporting events, travel and more. We review offerings on an ongoing basis to provide added value for our caregivers and list new discounts on a caregiver portal throughout the year.
Dependent care support
Intermittent school closings and the fluctuating availability of daycare during the pandemic created a need for family care services for our caregivers. Cleveland Clinic partnered with a vendor to provide caregivers with free, unlimited access to a site allowing them to post jobs, search for and reach out to safe, local providers for child care, tutoring, elder care and pet care. This resource helps caregivers identify backup care for children with vetted in-home or in-center options, as well as backup care for adults with vetted in-home providers, home health aides or experienced elder care companions.
Employee Health Plan and Healthy Choice Program
The Cleveland Clinic Employee Health Plan (EHP) offers employees a comprehensive benefits program that includes access to the entire Cleveland Clinic Quality Alliance network of providers. In 2021, we provided healthcare coverage to over 118,000 members through our EHP. As we moved through the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to ensure that members had appropriate access to medical and pharmaceutical care, and were able to continue their participation in our Healthy Choice premium discount program by removing barriers to their ability to report final wellness metrics.
Our Healthy Choice program enables Health Plan members to take charge of their well-being. Caregivers and their spouses who participate can improve their health and earn up to 30% off their premiums by meeting personalized annual medical, nutrition or fitness goals. In 2021, over 60,000 members were eligible to participate in Healthy Choice programs and work toward better health outcomes and premium discounts. This included over 18,000 members who participated in our disease management programs.
Individuals progress toward their goals by tracking steps or activity minutes, or by participating in one of six chronic disease management programs. All Healthy Choice Program participants have access to a personal wellness portal where they can view their health goals, track progress from their step-counting devices and receive important program communications. To date, Cleveland Clinic has recorded more than 40,000 portal users. Members can also access their portal on-the-go through a mobile app.
The Healthy Choice program encourages EHP members to improve their health and wellbeing, and has resulted in lower annual increases in healthcare premiums compared to national averages since 2009. For example, Cleveland Clinic Employee Health Plan premiums increased 5% from 2021 for the 2022 benefit year, which was below the national average increase experienced by large employers in 2022. Additionally, the Healthy Choice Program has contributed to the avoidance of over $1 billion in healthcare costs since its inception. Members benefit from our health and wellness programs by receiving support to proactively manage chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma, leading to decreased inpatient and emergency department utilization.
