Are you taking advantage of the social media trend? Facebook has 200 million members. Twitter is growing at over 40% a month. YouTube visitors are viewing 13 billion videos every month (approximately 325 million hours or 13.5 million days worth of video).
But YouTube is only one of the Internet's 30-plus English-speaking video hosting sites, some of which host predominantly business-related content ranging from how employees cheat drug screenings (I recommend watching that to strengthen your screening process) to field-tested solutions on how to effectively manage health care cost.
Like anything on the Internet, you have to sift through a lot of information to get to the good stuff. However, you'll be rewarded for your time spent by finding valuable information on business trends and techniques that you can use to significantly improve your competitive position and decrease your company's operating costs.
When my health and fitness interests led me to accidentally discover what I thought to be the keys to successful health care cost management, I spent more than 10 years dissecting successful wellness programs and health care cost-savings initiatives - not because I had to but because, for me, that's just plain fun!
I grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled down my ideas. I soon had well more than 100 pages of notes and had created the backbone for a strategic health care cost management plan.
This plan would allow companies to lower health care costs without reducing benefits or shifting cost to employees. A year later, I had created an entire toolkit with step-by-step instructions.
When I got the green light from my employer to prove my theory, I was thrilled to see that my alternative plan not only worked, but exceeded my highest expectations. I began spreading the success formula at speaking engagements and conferences.
However, after two years of using my paid time off to travel across the country, I realized I was spending too much time away from my family. I voluntarily "grounded" myself but couldn't stifle the passion I had for (or the urge to share) what I had discovered.
I began thinking of alternatives. While participation at conferences struggles to exceed 500 people, the size of the potential audience on the Internet is limitless. It made sense to explore social media and video as one of the most engaging manners to address an audience. I knew what I had to do.
Learning to film, edit and upload video clips was more difficult than I had thought, and it took me quite a while before I was ready for my Internet video debut, but I now have a series of videos that addresses points that have prevented countless companies from successfully implementing and maintaining wellness and health promotion programs.
The online knowledge depository that is rapidly expanding as part of social media can save you money, time and a lot of frustration. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, because chances are somebody has already figured it out and was kind enough to share. Add social media to the tools and resources of your trade.
Contributing Editor Michael Puck, SPHR, is the director human resources for a midsize manufacturing company in Tennessee, author of "Healthcare Cost Management - The High Road" and the founder of www.8020wellness.com. Send him your health care success stories at michael@cut-health care-cost.com.
