Employee privacy can be a very common barrier to corporate wellness participation. Many employees worry their health data won’t be safe when collected at the workplace. They also might worry that their health data could end up in their employers’ hands.

At most wellness events, the concerns employees have about privacy are addressed and the risk is minimized. If you work with a vendor for things like biometric screenings, there are probably certain safeguards in place to keep your employees’ health information safe.

As their employer, privacy is definitely something you need to focus on. It’s true at any wellness event. Any time health data is involved, privacy is important. Employee health data is very sensitive information. Different employees might value that information differently. So a high level of focus on privacy across the board is vital.

So you’ve done your biometric  screening event. You did the organization, recruitment and it was a success! A few weeks later, you received your aggregate results. But now what?

Good employees make calculated decisions. They take the time to analyze the details of any given situation and act accordingly. We’re guessing your workforce is full of these good employees.

One of the more complex wellness activities is a biometric screening. These screening events are an excellent tool for your employees and for your company. They can provide a baseline on which to build your wellness program. They can also be used to analyze your program’s progress.

Biometric screenings are one of the most interactive component in an employee wellness program. When done right they are a great opportunity to encourage healthier lifestyles. So it's important you make the most of that opportunity by hosting an awesome screening event. 

But we all know planning any large employee event, and especially a biometric screening event, can be stress inducing.

That’s why we’ve put together a guide of things to keep in mind as you plan your most successful biometric screening event yet. Be sure to check out the guide, share it with your wellness team, and put the ideas into action!

We talk about biometric screenings all the time, but we know it can get confusing—especially when big words like ‘biometric’ are involved.

What is a biometric screening?

To make it a bit more simple, a biometric screening is essentially a quick health exam. It’s used to offer insight into your employees' overall health. 

We strive for positivity in all of our health and wellness events. We want to give your employees an experience that’s inspiring, memorable and not at all scary.

There are a few main reasons we outright focus on positivity at our events.

Our health professionals are really the experts when it comes to our events. This network of qualified individuals includes the people you see at your events. They know what works, what doesn’t work and what you need to keep in mind.

We talked to a couple different Event Coordinators and our Director of Nursing, and the general consensus was this…you guys rock. Overall, everyone agreed that events run pretty smoothly for the most part.

We did manage to squeeze a few tips out of them. Keep these things in mind to help you and help us in the event planning process.

If you have a wellness program, you should definitely have regular biometric screenings. A staple event at these screenings is a blood test to measure things like cholesterol, glucose and triglycerides. These metrics give employees a baseline to help motivate them toward healthy behaviors. 

If you choose to do an onsite screening event, there are a few different ways to get a blood sample for these types of tests. You can draw blood with a fingerstick, or a venipuncture blood draw.

It’s important to look at the two options carefully and decide which works best for your company. You might want to consider what your employees wanted from wellness when you sought feedback from them (and you should’ve sought feedback!).

Everyone makes mistakes, and that’s just fine. But, when it comes to biometric screenings, why not learn from other people’s mistakes? That way, you can save your precious mistakes for something smaller…like opting for the cheapest (and worst-tasting) coffee for the break room.

Mistake 1: Not Screening Regularly

Regular screenings are what help you to catch health trends among your employees. If you don’t offer health screenings regularly, you won’t be able to measure improvements or stop declines in their tracks. Even though we’d love to see you every single month, we aren’t saying you need screenings quite that often. Aim for one health screening each year so your employees have time to make some adjustments and really see the outcomes of their efforts.

There are so many health conditions and diseases to worry about these days that the names can get lost in the shuffle. We want to point out one you may or may not have heard of. It’s called metabolic syndrome. This health condition is different than others because you absolutely have the power to rid yourself and your workplace of it.

So you might be asking, what exactly is metabolic syndrome?

The syndrome is basically a cluster of conditions that—when found together—greatly increase your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The conditions are increased blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels.