A deeper shade of green: sustainability meets health company's goals.

• Author: Medin, Daniel J.
• Position: Lessons Learned

Businesses seeking to grow their market share are increasingly aligning with consumers' values. We see this as more and more customers are increasingly factoring sustainability into decisions about buying stocks, products and, as Regence is finding, health insurance. Potential customers are beginning to ask about our sustainability practices and many of our 6,000 employees have offered ideas for "greening" our corporate operations.

The confluence of both internal and external interest spurred Regence to examine sustainability as a corporate strategy. Given the recession, the uncertainties of health care reform and stiff competition from local and national health plans, only a strong business case could persuade us to devote resources to developing a sustainability program.

We faced several challenges in examining whether sustainability was a reasonable corporate strategy for us. First of all, we don't manufacture products or ship them. We sell products and services intended to protect and support our customers, and help them feel smarter and more connected in their health care experience.

Any new initiative must meet our goals of growing the business by delivering value to our members, such as preventive and coordinated health care, while keeping overhead costs down. New initiatives must also help us meet our obligations as a steward of member resources and responsible corporate citizens. And, new initiatives should help us thrive in the post-health care reform environment, even as our business model may shift.

What's Sustainability?

While our company supports recycling and energy conservation, we learned from prospective customers and our own employees that corporate "sustainability" goes far beyond these now common practices.

From Wal-Mart's insistence on recyclable packaging to Whole Foods' emphasis on local produce, sustainability is about reducing the overall carbon footprint of conducting business. Advocates call it a "deeper shade of green."

Examined through the lens of our roots in service to our communities, the context came into focus: sustainability in the everyday operations of our business is an extension of our stewardship of the billions of dollars members entrust to us for their health care. They trust in us to be here today and long into the future to meet our obligation to them.

More than Costs

To become a deeper shade of green, we canvassed our operations and invited employee scrutiny and suggestions to identify our...