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Wellness Programs Keep Workers—and Businesses—Healthy

Employers are finding that employee wellness programs are just what the doctor ordered. These disease management initiatives are designed to keep healthy workers in top form,while helping those with chronic conditions to better manage their illnesses.

Wellness programs seem to be working. Companies who provide them say these programs result in lower health care costs and fewer sick days used. They also boost employee engagement and productivity and help in recruitment and retention. Wellness initiatives can reduce inpatient admissions and emergency room visits, minimize complications, and improve quality of life.

A Hewitt survey of companies with 12,000 or so employees found nearly three-quarters currently have, or plan to offer, wellness programs. It's not only large firms that are signing on. A poll of more than 1,700 businesses across industries and of various sizes conducted by United Benefits Advisors revealed that 20 percent have wellness initiatives; another 55 percent hope to in the future.

What Do Wellness Programs Cover?

Wellness programs cover a variety of services: health risk appraisals, flu shots, weight-management, smoking cessation and stress reduction programs, onsite fitness centers and health club discounts, web-based health and fitness tools, and mental health and substance abuse counseling.

Originally, wellness initiatives focused on major illness such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease. But employers have found that it's smart business to address mental health issues as well. Behavioral health problems are the fifth leading cause of short-term disability and rank third for long-term disability.

Money Matters

Why would companies want the extra work of managing the health of their workers? Among other reasons, if you can keep employees in the pink, they'll use health care services less, costing businesses less. In the Hewitt poll, two-thirds of companies said that wellness programs helped rein in their health costs by an average of five to twelve dollars per employee, per condition annually. Other statistics put business returns in the range of $1.50 to $17 per dollar invested.

How Wellness Programs Work

Typically, companies hire outside vendors who partner with, or subcontract to, specialty providers. Some vendors conduct medical tests or run family histories. Some help employees identify or manage health problems, then steer workers to appropriate programs. Other vendors skip the medical screening altogether and jump right into a program of the worker's choice. In some businesses, a "health coach" oversees the employee's progress, helping to set goals and staying in touch via telephone or online.

Providing incentives so employees want to participate is critical, say experts. Currently more than half of U.S. businesses with wellness initiatives offer incentives. These "bribes" might be lower premiums and co-pays, cash contributions to health savings and reimbursement accounts, or paying workers to fill out a health risk assessment questionnaire, complete a program or achieve certain results (e.g. lower cholesterol or blood pressure).

Other employers offer flex credits or points that are exchanged for merchandise or money. Some employers have adopted a tough-love approach, slapping on a premium surcharge for those who won't participate in wellness programs and/or get results. (Critics argue that such "forced fitness" encroaches on employees' rights.)

Creating a Wellness Program

There's no one-size-fits-all wellness program. Yet there are universal questions all businesses can ask:

What are your goals?
• Who is your audience? Make sure the program appeals to all age groups and fitness levels.
• How involved do you want to be? Would you hold an informational health fair, or do you expect employees to get educated on their own? Will you sponsor a series of events? Offer services through one or more private vendors?
• What do you want to spend?
• How will you gauge improvement? A longitudinal study to measure employees' health over time? Establishing metrics based on productivity, absenteeism and health insurance claims?
• What incentives will you offer?
• What does your attorney say? Have employees signed consent forms before participating in an exercise program? Employers must understand and adhere to two federal laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• Have you publicized the programs? Do workers grasp their scope, the incentives, the schedule of events? Do they know that the medical information they are volunteering is confidential?

Best Practices: What's Out There?

Many of the 2007 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 program offer innovative wellness programs. Among them:

The Principal Financial Group offers free, onsite health screenings for all employees. The screenings are an opportunity for employees to be aware of current and future health issues and risks they need to monitor and take action on. Employees who take advantage of the health screenings pay $390 less annually for their medical coverage than if they had not completed the screening.
• Bon Secours St. Francis Health System provides a Routine Adult Wellness Allowance which pays for routine adult preventive services, including physician office visits, which are not covered elsewhere. The wellness allowance is addition to 100% coverage for regular preventive screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies.
• Atlantic Health System's Wellness Rewards Program aims to help employees improve their health by reducing risk factors. Atlantic works with employees to develop individual wellness goals, and monitors progress over a six-month period. Employees who meet their wellness goals receive a $100 American Express Gift certificate.
• Employees of Brevard Public Schools engage in an annual Wellness Challenge. The goal is to encourage and educate employees and their families to engage in healthier lifestyle behavior. Besides nutrition, stress management and exercise components, the program offers free on-site screenings (cholesterol, triglyceride and blood sugar analysis) as well as blood pressure, body mass index, and hip-to-waist ratios. Each employee receives educational information based on his or her identifiable risk factors.
• Pinnacol Assurance has an ergonomics program to prevent or reduce employees' symptoms such as sore or tight muscles, or pain in hands, wrists, arms, neck, or shoulders. Employees complete a baseline survey, then are observed by a physical therapist and receive feedback on body mechanics and ergonomics. A year after starting the program, Pinnacol experienced a 38 percent drop in workers' compensation claims.

Wellness initiatives are an effective way to address rising healthcare costs, gain a competitive edge in recruitment, and get employees to stay on the job longer. As companies have discovered, a few ounces of prevention can lead to healthier employees and a healthier bottom line.

Resources

Focus on Health Care: Recruiting and Retaining Workers 50+ (PDF)

An overview of the staffing crisis in the health care field with a focus on how to attract, engage and retain the 50+ worker. The recommendations in this booklet easily apply to other industries as well.

AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50