Employers are redefining open enrollment by using the process to encourage workers to sign up for health risk appraisals and disease management programs.

They see the benefits enrollment period as the perfect time to educate workers on how healthier lifestyle decisions affect health care costs.

For instance, 53% of companies report they included or will include by 2009 an HRA in their benefit enrollment process, while 36% use open enrollment to encourage employees to sign up for disease management programs or will do so by 2009, reports Watson Wyatt.

The HR consulting firm recently interviewed HR executives from 117 U.S companies on their benefits enrollment systems.

The survey shows 67% of employers have integrated their enrollment system with their HR portal or intranet, yet only 27% have incorporated it with their health care provider's system, which often stores robust information on disease management and healthy lifestyles, Watson Wyatt notes. Nearly 30% of respondents have not integrated their enrollment system with any other systems.

"Open enrollment marks the one time each year in which most employees' attention is focused on their benefits programs," says Jeri Stepman, Watson Wyatt's national leader for health and welfare administration.

"Including behavior-change information and decision-support tools directly in the enrollment process can make a big difference in the number of people who sign up for wellness programs and take them seriously," she adds. "Sending out information on healthy behaviors and asking employees to take the initiative is not nearly as effective."