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The Sages of Clinical Services Award (Sages) publicly recognizes nursing professionals who serve our enterprise. This recognition program began in Evercare, the UnitedHealth Group (UHG) hospice care division, in 2004 and under the direction of the Center for Nursing Advancement (CfNA), was expanded in 2009 to encompass eight distinct UHG businesses. The Sages program expansion came about during a time when the corporate voluntary turnover rate for nurses exceeded the rate for non-nurses by 6%. The Sages program contributed to a 5% decrease in voluntary turnover through supporting the overall increase in nurse engagement scores by 11%.
The Sages program has helped to build a strong UHG nursing community. Today, over 900 individuals participate in the program. “Sages” is communicated broadly throughout the company via corporate websites, newsletters, and emails to over 10,000 nurses. Videography and telecasts of the three day event promotes virtual participation in the celebration.
“Sages” serves as a best practice for the industry. The Healthcare Futures Recognition Consortium study showed that “recognition links performance to goals”. Since the inception, award winners have had significantly higher promotion rates: 5.1% vs. 2.1% and lower voluntary turnover: 2.9% vs. 7.5% for UHG nurses who rated “exceeds expectations”. These outcomes were seen within one year of receiving the award. For the 2009 Sage cohort (21 nurses): 100% rated “exceeds expectations” in 2010, a year-over-year increase of 19%. In addition, 23.8% received a promotion within 1 year of receiving the award.