SHIELDS WINS FOR BEST PRACTICE

Shields Health Care Group Receives NEEBC Best Practice Award.

Shields Health Care Group was recently awarded the 2014 Best Practices Award by the New England Benefits Counsel (NEEBC), recognizing their success in creating a comprehensive employee benefits program for the company’s 700+ employees. On hand to accept the award on Shields behalf and also speak about the creative program was Shields Chief of Human Resources, Christine Mavilia.

“Like many of our peers, Shields’ has been challenged by the changing world of employee benefits.”, said Mavilia. . “In 2007, Shields realized we needed to actively manage the program each day rather than waiting until end-of-year.” It was this consistent management and a concentration on Shields company-wide goals for quality, efficiently and growth, that enabled the human resources department to implement forward-thinking programs that concentrated on employee engagement.

Christine stated, “One of our biggest keys to success is the ability to continuously alter the programs and improve upon them each year. It’s easy to throw up your hands in frustration when faced with things like, an aging workforce not accustomed to changes and a growing business model. The team at Shields is extremely hands on and willing to evolve the programs so they continue to be successful. We really have a great team.”

By continuing to alter and improve their benefits program over the years, Shields successfully kept expenses relatively flat, has 52% employee participation in wellness programs, multiple years of 0% change options for benefits, and has even increased the utilization of Shields imaging services to their own employees. All in all, by continuing to change the behavior of their employees around both the consumerism of healthcare and being open to plan design changes, Shields demonstrates the Best Practices in the employee benefits industry.

The NEEBC is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that advances knowledge and education in employee benefits­­­. The awards ceremony took place at the Waltham Woods Conference Center in Waltham, MA, Along with Shields, four other companies were recognized at the conference; Cabot Corporation, Iron Mountain, Staples, Inc., and Unite Here Local 26/Unite Here Health. Congratulations to all 2014 Best Practice honorees!

About Shields Health Care Group
Shields Health Care Group is a family-owned business and was New England’s first independent MRI provider 25 years ago. Today, Shields has more than 25 locations throughout New England, and strong partnerships with some of the top healthcare and technology providers in the country. Shields provides a diverse offering of MRI, Radiation Oncology, and PET/CT Imaging and ProCare services. Visit www.shields.com for more information.

About NEEBC
Visit www.neebc.org for more information.