RETURNS ON WELLBEING INSTITUTE PODCAST

Mike Thompson is the CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, formerly, the National Business Coalition on Health.  The National Alliance is an association of over 50 regional coalitions whose members provide healthcare coverage to over 45 Million Americans.

Prior to the National Alliance, Mike was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and has played a leadership role in the destigmatization of mental and behavioral health. One of Mike's signature initiatives at the National Alliance is the Wellbeing Initiative which recognizes that if organizations are going to substantially improve their employees' health and engagement, the focus must move beyond "wellness" to "wellbeing."  

Under his direction, the National Alliance has gathered a team of nationally-recognized experts to produce educational wellbeing workshops for its constituent coalitions and their members. Mike discusses this initiative in the broader context of the value of employee wellbeing. By way of example, he discusses why a "whole person" approach beyond just physical health to focus on, say, stress actually may reap greater and quicker returns both in terms of engagement and reducing coverage costs than focusing on obesity."

Dr. Rajiv Kumar is the President and Chief Medical Officer of Virgin Pulse Institute, the research arm of Virgin Pulse, one of Sir Richard Branson's ventures. Its purpose is to identify scalable, data-driven, consumer-centric solutions to the top workplace issues facing companies today. Dr. Kumar and Virgin Pulse Institute are enthusiastic supporters of employee wellbeing, engagement, and sustainable lifestyle change.

Dr. Kumar jumped into this arena while he was still attending  Brown University Medical School when he founded ShapeUp RI in 2006. Over the ensuing decade, he built that start-up from a dorm room idea to ShapeUp, a global company of over 100 employees, 800 organizational customers, and 2 million participants worldwide. In 2016, Dr. Kumar joined Virgin Pulse Institute after its acquisition of ShapeUp.

Click here to read the edited transcript of the podast inteview with Dr. Rajiv Kumar.

Saul Kaplan is the Founder and Chief Catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory located in downtown Providence, RI. Saul started BIF in 2005 with a mission to enable collaborative organizational innovation.

BIF is a nonprofit which creates a real world laboratory for innovators to explore. It tests new business models and system level solutions in areas of high social importance, including healthcare. Healthcare is one of BIF’s areas of expertise, and Saul discusses innovative strategies in healthcare delivery and in workplace wellbeing.

Darrell Moon is the founder and CEO of Orriant, a workplace wellbeing organization that provides services to employers nationwide for over two decades. Darrell brought his behavioral health background to bear in emphasizing the importance of overcoming mental/behavioral barriers to better health.

A strong proponent of “wellbeing,” his program emphasizes the whole person approach, and Orriant brings to bear a full-service workplace wellbeing menu that emphasizes personal, one-on-one coaching and accountability. Orriant’s website posts data demonstrating its successes with employers. Darrell and his company embody the sort of approach espoused by Returns On Wellbeing.

Click here to read the edited transcript of the podast inteview with Darrell Moon.