Employer Wellness : Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs*
The costs of medical have been rising more than 10 percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the medical system treats costly illnesses and diseases.
• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct health care services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are avoidable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, decrease preventable healthcare utilization and enhance work performance, and in turn reduced healthcare expenditures and better employee satisfaction and retention, many organizations are starting, or are interested in starting, Worksite Wellness Programs for employees.
The benefits of workplace wellness are well documented. Greater than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some major findings include the following:
• Savings of $3.48 in reduced health care expenditures per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in reduce absenteeism expenditures per dollar invested.
• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.
• Lifestyle behavior modification programs: $3 to $6 return on investment within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision reinforcement programs: $2 to $3 ROI within a year.
• Disease management programs: $7 to $10 return on investment within a year.
By offering health improvement programs, corporations are not only providing an additional service for employees, but they are also gaining monetarily. Furthermore, the effect of a health improvement program goes beyond decreased medical care cost and ROI. A health improvement program can affect productiveness, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical care expenditures.
• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to designing, implementing and evaluating workplace programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.