How much participation is enough? Employers first need 50 participants to guarantee anonymity in reporting. That alone can be a difficult hurdle for smaller employers. Larger employers should pay more attention to the percentage of employees who take the health risk assessment.

Fair to good ranges between 30 to 69 percent participation. At this level, we can be fairly certain that the data we receive is roughly representative of everyone at the workplace.

Participation rates of 70 percent or better yield excellent data and provide a sound basis for wellness programming that is specifically targeted to an organization's health needs.

What gets employee participation from good to great? A lot depends on employee incentives.

Experience teaches us that employee participation in the health risk assessment will increase proportionally with the cash value of incentives.

An employer who promotes the health risk assessment with no incentive may see 18 percent participation. That's great for the employees who participate, but not enough to ensure accurate reporting.

On the other hand, incentives valued at $150 or more may spur participation as high as 78 percent, ensuring excellent reporting.

There is a lot of leeway to allow employers to discover what works with their employees. Aside from cash, perks that employees value, such as paid time off or priority parking, also can lead to strong results.

Of course, some employers can be successful in making the health risk assessment mandatory. For these groups, an e-mail from the CEO that outlines the benefits of the program and online tools, the importance to the company of having everyone participate, and the consequences of noncompliance can yield results as high as those generated by cash incentives.

It's important to plan this approach carefully. What activity will the task of taking the health risk assessment be tied to? For example, some employers make taking the health risk assessment a part of participating in open enrollment. Keep in mind that the same approach won't work for all employers. For example, unionized work forces usually require employer mandates to go through the bargaining agreement. On the other hand, employers who routinely require online trainings may find this approach to be the right fit.

Employers should never lose sight of the tremendous personal benefits employees can receive by participating in the Health Balance program. The online health risk assessment engages, motivates and educates the employee with personalized reports and recommendations. After only 15 minutes spent responding to the survey, the employee will emerge with new insights about his or her health, access to a host of educational resources, and a plan to make wellness goals a reality.

With their incentive plan ready, employers can customize their health risk assessment campaign using the postcards, flyers, posters and table tents available online in the communication archive at www.providence.org/php/wellness. For more information or sample Health Balance reports, contact your account manager.