By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

St. Vincent’s Health Systems offers health services beyond hospitals.

Dana Meginniss, corporate relationship manager, presented information about the

programs for businesses through St. Vincent’s Employer Solutions to the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 6.

The health system has been working with businesses to keep employees healthy for the past 20 years.

“Our goal is to provide employers with a continuum of care for their employees so that they receive the right care, at the right place, at the right time,” Meginniss said.

This includes providing preventive health services and managed health services.

The majority of services offered through the preventive programed are offered at the business. Meginniss said this includes health screenings, wellness education and health coaching.

Education provides information to employees on staying healthy, while the health coaching provides opportunities for employees to ask medical professions questions one-on-one. This can also be from medical professionals who are in a particular field the employees need.

“We offer targeted health coaching that is where we would take your health screening results … then we can we offer targeted coaching to those individuals that wind up in those higher risk categories,” Meginniss said.

Tobacco cessation coaching is also offered.

“Those health coaches are able to hold those people accountable, and we are seeing a lot of success,” Meginniss said.

Managed wellness programs over incentive programs from employers for employees who participate in tailored health programs, which include a health portal for individual employees to use for tracking health goals and access information.

The Executive Health Program provides a day of health diagnostics and tests at the St. Vincent’s One Nineteen facility.

“At the end of the day, they go home and we provide those results back to the individual so they can share those results with their primary care physician,” Meginniss said.

Occupational health is on the horizon for expansion of service by St. Vincent’s.

“What we are trying to do is find out from the employers what types of services are needed,” Meginniss said. “Are you interested in pre-employment screenings? Are you interested in having an occupational health clinic here that can take care of your on the job injuries? Are you interested in having DOT?”

Options for offering more streamlined services to employee and to lower costs are also in development.