Changes to Come Alongside the New Affordable Care Act
With the impending Affordable Care Act will come many changes for all, and wellness programs will be affected as well. As an employer, you will need to design your wellness programs so that they adhere to new regulations. Also, to keep up with the new incentive levels (an increase from 20 to 30% or 50% for smoking cessation!), you must plan your budget on how incentives will be divided and tailored to your employees. Research has shown that if you tailor incentives to specific audiences, they will be more effective in motivating your employees to reach their goals.
You will also want to stay on top of employee awareness and keep them actively seeking out the programs that you offer. Regular communication with your employees is a necessity, and an important one at that. If you want to continue getting your employees to participate, then you need to keep them aware and have all lines of communication open. What other wellness program trends can you expect to see for 2014? We'll break them down for you.

Personalization is KEY
The biggest trend for 2014 is the fact that companies are focusing more on personalizing and reaching target audiences rather than providing a general program for everyone to follow. Not everyone in your company is going to need the same program, as everyone has different changes that they need to make to get healthier.
If everyone has different target goals, then there needs to be different programs to help them reach those goals. Providing your employees with a chance to select a program suitable for their needs will increase the likelihood that they will participate in a program and stick to it. When sending emails to raise awareness to your wellness program offerings, make sure you provide a list of the programs available so employees can choose what they want to learn more about and don￢ﾀﾙt get swamped with info not relating to them.
Relative to personalized programs, incentives need to be personalized as well. Not everyone will be motivated by money or gifts, so you need to survey what people like and then choose incentives to meet their desires. You can also provide health incentives for select audiences. For example, if you have a group of employees working to eat healthier, provide them with healthy food savings at a local health food store. Or, say you have a group of women over 40, offer them free yearly mammograms as a preventative measure to breast cancer. When your employees see that you are taking the time to discover their individual needs, they will be more willing to participate in your programs.

Gamification is Still in the Game Plan
As it gets closer to 2014 and wellness programs start making changes to what they have to offer, one thing will stay for sure: GAMIFICATION. It works and it keeps employees actively engaged and coming back for more. Whether it￢ﾀﾙs through friendly competition or helpful motivation from a coworker, gamified wellness programs get employees participating. By the time 2014 rolls around, some gamified programs will be offering monetary rewards along with the badges or leveling up already offered.
Gamifying wellness programs is fun and exciting, which is not how most people describe their workdays or physical fitness regimes. Providing your employees with a fun way to get healthy will not only get them to keep coming back or being encouraged, but it will also put them in a better mood and make them more productive during the workday.

Accessibility Anywhere You Go
Another trend is an increase in accessibility. Employees want to be able to easily access their health plans and track their progress. One way to encourage easy access is by allowing employees to use their own devices. Whether it's a smartphone, tablet, or a computer, when the employee is able to use it wherever they please, there will be an increase in participation and even work productivity. It has been found that employees like to be able to take care of personal matters at work and business related endeavors at home as they need to. If they are able to use their own devices at work, this makes it easier for them to track all the information in one place. Allowing your employee to use the devices he or she wants, whenever he or she wants, will increase participation and the happiness of your employee.
Another way to provide easy access for your employees is to have all of the programs you offer in one place. Whether it is a personal website or portal each employee gets that links to the various program vendors they are using, having all of their wellness tools in one place keeps them happy and at ease. Grant them access to program websites in one spot, show successes and progress in another, and show goals in another, but all on the same page to keep everything right at their fingertips. Employees don￢ﾀﾙt want to log in to separate websites to see their progress in their various programs, they want it all in one place. So designing a website or portal to do this for each employee is vital for success. Keeping programs flexible is another way to keep employees engaged. Allowing for open registration, start dates, and ways to complete tasks will be of benefit to you and your employee. Keep that in mind when designing your wellness program strategy.
Non-Participation Penalties: Should You Do It?
Employers like yourself have been implementing more rewards than penalties when it comes to wellness programs. Very few have actually punished employees for non-participation by imposing penalties to them. However, that is expected to change over the next few years. Employers plan to penalize employees who choose not to participate in a program offered to them. Some plan to fine their employees, while others plan to penalize premiums or deductibles that employees have. Either way, punishment is going to be on the rise as financial investments have been successful in increasing employee participation.
The questions is, will it work? Most researchers think that it will, because employees won￢ﾀﾙt want to pay more money for healthcare or fines.  But only time will tell if that is the case. Do you think it will work?  Let us know your thoughts and what steps you plan to take to create the best wellness program strategy for you company!

Sources: IHC, Virgin HealthMiles, Workforce

http://blog.voomwell.com/blog/bid/344310/Trends-for-2014-What-Wellness-Programs-Have-in-Store-for-You