Letter from the CEO
Dear Friends:

You may have noticed there's a new face greeting you here at The LifeCare Connection—mine! After 22 years of inspired leadership at LifeCare, our chairman, John Place, has bid us farewell. When John, Jeff Burki and I launched LifeCare back in 1984, we had no idea how far our company—or the fledgling work/life industry itself—would go. I'm proud to say that both have exceeded our expectations! LifeCare's success has been due in large part to John's tireless commitment to helping employers build more supportive work environments. I'd like to thank John for his dedication and for his friendship. The entire LifeCare team wishes him great happiness and success in the future.

In this, my first letter to open The LifeCare Connection, I'd like to share an interesting experience I had as I read through our latest batch of Quality Assurance Questionnaires (the forms used by LifeCare clients to rate our services). I came across several questionnaires that contained a strikingly similar theme. The writers were actually surprised to discover that LifeCare was available to them. Here is one of their comments: “Thanks for providing this great service! I wasn't aware of it until accidentally finding it while linking from a website.”

Statements like this confirm that we must continually remind employees of the benefits available to them. I know that the vast majority of our clients are extremely diligent when it comes to employee communications but repetition is critical to promoting benefits successfully. This comment from another LifeCare user drives the point home: “I seem to take advantage of your services more when my employer sends e-mails regarding information and services available to me.”

Now, some of you might worry that you risk appearing self-serving if you “advertise” your employee programs and benefits more frequently. In our long experience, however, that simply hasn't been the case. Clients who ramp up their promotional efforts often tell us that their employees and members actually appreciate being reminded of the programs available to them. And why shouldn't they? After all, your communications will help them become better, more informed health care and benefits “consumers.”

You and your organization spend a significant amount of time and energy looking out for the wellbeing of your employees and members. Providing them with a competitive and progressive benefits package is only half the battle, though. A steady stream of reminders is equally important!

As always, we'd appreciate knowing how we can better serve you. So e-mail us at connection@lifecare.com, fax us at 203-291-3571, or call us at 800-873-4636 if you'd like to share ideas and offer feedback.

Sincerely,

Peter G. Burki, CEO