Early in his career, Don Kemper came to realize that the greatest untapped resource in the healthcare industry was the consumer. When he created Healthwise in 1975, he made sure that the mission would always come first and that empowerment of the consumer would remain at the non-profit's core. "Letting them do more for themselves" quickly became a primary principle for the firm, both in the work they do and in staff relations. This sentiment gave rise to the three fundamental pillars of Healthwise, which are now known collectively as "The Healthwise Way": Respect, Teamwork and Do The Right Thing.
Like the 14 other Top Small Workplaces of 2007, the organization has experienced tremendous growth in recent years – in fact, the staff in its Boise, Idaho, headquarters has grown 70 percent since 2004. Yet, The Healthwise Way has preserved the culture as they've continued to find new ways to communicate their information to consumers.
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The firm's gleaming, eco-designed facility in Boise's Foothills is a far cry from its humble beginnings as a not-for-profit in 1975, when there wasn't much of a market for distributed health content. They began with books and workshops, which weren't very scalable, and were labor intensive. They also had some success with content provided to nurse call centers, but the real turning point came with the advent of the Internet. Today, websites for the 10 largest managed care organizations in the U.S. license Healthwise content, as do WebMD, MSN and Yahoo!
Like many Top Small Workplaces, Healthwise not only opens up the books to employees, but teaches them how to read the financial statements. Kemper argues that such full disclosure encourages quality production and frugal spending. But of greater importance, he stresses, is the tracking and sharing of "mission points," which indicate every time a person uses Healthwise information or tools. A high-tech display in their lobby provides a real-time snapshot of statistics including website hits, publications access and contact with nurse call centers. Kemper says this display underscores the importance of allowing employees to see the fruits of their labor.
The focus on fostering informed employees starts with new hires, who are shown on day one that they're joining a supportive community. Every new employee is assigned a volunteer mentor who helps to build a sense of belonging and familiarity with the many unwritten rules of the game. In new hires' first month, mentors facilitate lunches and personal introductions, tours of nearby hiking trails and host the famous "signing of Flat Cat."
This giant cardboard cat boasts the John Hancock of each new staff member. Each of them keep it on their desks until the next new hire arrives. Employees think it's great. "It's a reminder that he or she has joined an extraordinary – and clever and good-humored – group of people," says Pat Truman, an associate editor and two-year employee of the firm. Fellow editor Carrie Henley, an eight-year veteran, even goes so far as to argue that "It's as important to an employee's first day as making sure the new person's office and computer are ready to go."
In addition to cultivating a strong sense of community within the organization, The Healthwise Way aims to improve the greater Boise community, starting with employees' lives. When personal or familial responsibility butts up against getting work done, the former often wins out, with the rest of the team picking up the slack. For instance, five-year employee Douglas Dana, a medical content specialist, says his supervisors convinced him to take more paternity leave after the birth of his child. "I can't tell you how nice it was. I'm a more loyal employee because of it," he says.
Of course, with a name like Healthwise, you'd expect some of the personal improvement benefits to revolve around wellness, and you'd be right. Employees are encouraged to keep track of the healthy activities they undertake throughout the year, accruing $1 in "Wellness Bucks" for each venture in education, physical activity and healthy eating or lifestyle they undertake. The end of each "Wellness Buck Year" is in October, when "Wellness Day" is celebrated. As part of the festivities, employees add up their points and submit them to payroll. Henley has bought massages and new running shoes with her points, Truman used them toward membership at the Boise State Recreation Center and Dana has acquired new bike parts and backpacking gear.
Wellness is such a priority in the firm that it maintains a Wellness Committee, which, with the help of employee volunteers, spearheads projects within the greater Boise area. These have included delivering locally grown produce to work sites and programs such as Rake-Up Boise, which literally clean up the town. "I feel very lucky to be a part of a company that is working to help solve the problems in our local community and beyond," Dana says.
Along the way in the effort that Dana describes, the organization has built a solid financial foundation, to the tune of $29 million in revenues in 2007, a 28 percent increase over the previous year. Strong performance, yet Kemper says he doesn't see Healthwise changing its ownership status anytime soon.
"We stayed a non-profit so that we could be sure our commitment remained to the mission, not stockholders," he says.
Company: Healthwise
Web site: www.healthwise.org
Industry: Health information provider
Location: Boise, ID
Number of Employees: 208
Sales: $29 million
Read more in our Health Care Success Stories archive.