Health Handouts : Worksite Wellness Programs Now as Important as Cost and Workforce Issues

25% Jump in Employer Interest in Employee Health and Wellness

Worksite wellness for their employees, employers are discovering, is wonderful for the health of their employers as well. Corporate Wellness Programs help to cut the costs associated with poor employee health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.

A new Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 United States corporations indicated a significant paradigm shift in how corporations view health benefits for their workers. Of those surveyed this year, 88% are committed to instituting long-term healthcare assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their workers, with the objective of boosting the health and productiveness of their workforce. This represents a 25% rise in interest in Employee Health Promotion Programs over 2007.

A strong offering of Workplace Wellness Programs to meet the demand has resulted. Health assistance providers have broadened their programs with tools that address general lifestyle factors, physical, social and psychological health factors. Programs look to predict chronic disease in their employees and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Businesses also demand a way to measure the success of their medical care spending.

“Self-care is our motive,” says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive health & wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving staff members tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the advantages, while giving people resources to reach out for help is the key to thriving lifestyle change. Corporations are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver Employee Wellness Programs. The sort of program we have developed over years delivers the highest medical return on investment.”

Combining worksite wellness promotions, web-based assessments and health trackers, web-based health information, phone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a wide variety of health professionals, is behind the success of the Exan program. “Having web-based statistics about workers’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – ROI” says Vic Lebouthillier.

“Corporations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to advance holistic programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior change and eliminate barriers to healthcare,” says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.

Nevertheless, in a separate survey of 30,000 workers, 74 percent said that, even though they felt their employer had an obligation to help them understand how to use their health benefits program, only 12 percent felt the employer had any right to tell them how to be healthy. Based on these results, businesses need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their workers as well as the employer. It’s a win-win situation.

Employers and staff members did learn common ground when it came to future healthcare. Both surveys indicate that 95 percent of staff members know that their taking care of their health today will effect future health care payments. A similar percentage also know the important of early detection and prevention when it comes to saving on health care costs.

Cost is important for most companies as well. Over 80 percent of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts did not involve shifting responsibility for health care onto workers. Although 64 percent of companies have shifted costs to their workers, only 17 percent aim  to do so in the next 3-5 years. Similarly with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent aim  to use them in 2008.

These survey results indicate corporations are getting more proactive in helping their workers to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is obviously great for the well-being of workers, but also for the well-being of the corporations they work for. Almost half the corporations surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to greater productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60 percent aim  to institute programs that help workers shift and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle. Almost of these corporations will also use data and measurements to be sure their health care strategies meet their health care objectives?