How can organizations earn their employees' trust, and show that their health data will be kept secure and not used against them? (Image: Shutterstock)

With corporate health programs becoming an essential benefit at modern organizations, many are realizing the importance of utilizing individuals' health data to create targeted and impactful programs. The more data available, the easier it is to stratify the employee population and provide personalized plans that can achieve positive health outcomes for the individual employee, and reduced health costs for the business.

This is where condition-management programs, which utilize individuals' health data, come into play. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to wellness, it's important to deliver programs that best suit an individual's conditions and meets them where they are on their health journey. The only way to achieve this is through incorporating data.

Related: Why are employers settling on segmentation to improve health?

For example, Jane might have high cholesterol. A broad, pre-structured program might suggest a specific workout routine paired with a new nutrition regimen. However, Jane is not overweight. In fact, she works out five days a week and is training to run a half marathon. Jane doesn't need to be taught a new exercise routine, but her nutrition might need a jump start. Without understanding Jane as an individual, it would be difficult to create a plan that addresses her specific lifestyle, and desired results are unlikely to be achieved.

A successful corporate health program starts with data—but trust is also a key ingredient. Annual sales of wearable devices for use in company wellness programs will grow to 18 million in 2023 in the United States, according to tech consulting firm ABI Research. But, with the vast amount of health data being mined as more employers roll out these activity trackers and other high-tech wellness programs, employees are becoming increasingly concerned about how their organizations may be storing or using their data, and about the precautions being taken to secure it.

Driving positive outcomes from corporate health programs only works if employees embrace the power of health data. And this only works if there is trust. So, how can organizations earn their employees' trust, and show that their health data will be kept secure and not used against them?

The value of third-party health and wellness programs

The sophistication of today's wearable devices means that everything from heart rate to sleep schedules to daily exercise can be logged. When these devices are supplied through an employer, it's only natural to question how that data is being used.

One of the largest concerns among individuals is organizations having access to their data and using it to penalize them. Te-Ping Chen of the Wall Street Journal covered a scenario in West Virginia last year, where “a statewide teacher's strike was partly spurred by the introduction of Go365, an app used to track steps, sleep and heart rate. Failure to earn a certain number of points through the system would result in a $500 hike in the employee's annual insurance deductible.”

Rolling out health and wellness programs through a third-party provider eliminates the possibility for employers to utilize health data to control employees outside the workplace and potentially affect whether an employee is retained, promoted, demoted, or laid off. By storing health data with a third party rather than within the organization, the employer can develop a better understanding of the needs of its employees as a whole, but will not learn specific information about John Smith who works in accounting.

Finding programs with the right features

When it comes to identifying the right program provider for your company, there are a few important qualities and features you should be looking for:

• Transparency around how and why data is used. Terms and conditions should be up front and clear—not in hard to find spots or filled with legal jargon. When these health companies are straightforward and honest, employees can be put at ease in how their data is actually shared.
• Data from the provider is shared with the organization in aggregate form. In other words, presented as a summary or statistical analysis, so that trends and patterns can be identified without exposing personal information.
• Programs that anonymize user profiles can also help to protect employee privacy, while allowing employees to safely interact with one another. This can be a great way to generate peer support, and chat with others who are also working to make changes in their nutrition, exercise, stress, or sleep management. Employees can have that real social connection without being directly identified by their coworkers.
• Secure email and messaging can ensure safe communications that do not expose sensitive data. Members just need to be told upfront how they can take advantage of those options, and be reassured that their information will not be broadcast to the public.

There is a world of data out there of which organizations can take advantage to help employees improve their health, which will in turn help businesses improve their own bottom line. Organizations cannot lose sight of the potential privacy implications though, as that vast amount of data can only be effective when there is trust that it is being kept secure and is not being misused.

Cheryl Morrison Deutsch is the Chief Experience Officer at Zillion, a leading health behavior modification company, where she leads the strategy, planning, and execution of the Zillion experience for customers, members, and employees across the digital health programs on the platform. She has nearly three decades of experience in optimizing internal operations through the development and implementation of activities designed to accelerate change, specifically in the health care sector.

Read more: 

• How to maximize the power of wellness incentives
• Employee wellness programs and compliance: What to know right now
• 4 wellness priorities for employers in 2019