Employee Wellness Newsletter : Are Workplace Health Promotion Programs Cost-Effective?

Studies have repeatedly determined that all-inclusive Workplace Wellness Programs, or Workplace Wellness Programs, can decrease healthcare and insurance expenditures, decrease absenteeism, and improve success and work rate. Other advantages determined in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public conception of the business.

Medical Care and Insurance costs

A number of studies provide evidence of decreased medical and insurance costs for participants in Employee Health Promotion Programs, particularly wellness programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America started a Workplace Wellness Program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an average of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group. Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a 1-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola reported a decrease in medical|medical|medical care|healthcare} claims with an exercise program alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the employees (60%) who joined their HealthWorks physical activity program. Prudential Insurance Company reports that the business’s major medical expenditures dropped from $574 to $312 for each colleague in its wellness program.

Decreased Rates of Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been established to be impacted by wellness programs. The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee physical activity programs.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program decreased absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks participants also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing Corporate Wellness Program efforts on elevated-risk staff members is able to lead to better results. A national manufacturing employer reports a decrease of 12.2 percent in illness days for these staff members.

A two-year study by The DuPont Corporation of the effect of its all-inclusive Worksite Wellness Program on absences among staff members reports that blue-collar staff members at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Enhanced Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with Company Wellness Programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among program participants–all essential factors in enhancing productiveness.

A Johnson & Johnson study observed that employee attitude changes were greater at Workplace Wellness Program intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of business responsibility, supervision, on the job conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Business experimental group realized a 4% growth in work rate after starting a organization exercise program, compared to the control group. Further, 47% of program participants published that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-employees, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators saw that mental success was significantly better in physically fit workers than in non-fit workers. Fit workers committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the success of non-fit workers.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of Worksite Health Promotion Programs wellness program results have been published by individual employers:

Company: Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

• Bank of America (Fries): $5.96/$1
• PacBell: $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group: $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance: $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh): $4.73/$1
• General Mills: $3.50/$1

Summary

There is growing evidence that a large portion of the billions of dollars currently invested by employers on health-related expenditures is avoidable by means of Corporate Wellness Programs. Well-planned, accross the board Corporate Wellness Programs (Corporate Wellness Programs and Corporate Wellness Programs) have been established to be cost-effective, especially when the Corporate Wellness Programs is matched to the health problems of the specific employee.