Corporate Wellness Blog

25% Jump in Employer Interest in Employee Health and Wellness

Job Site wellness for their staff members, companies are discovering, is wonderful for the health of their companies as well. Company Health Promotion Programs help to cut the costs associated with poor employee health, which include absenteeism, loss of productiveness and poor work quality.

A current Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 United States businesses indicated a valuable paradigm shift in how businesses view health benefits for their workers. Of those surveyed this year, 88 percent 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 work rate of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent rise in interest in Workplace Health Promotion Programs over 2007.

A strong offering of Employee Health Promotion 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 staff members and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Companies also demand a way to measure the effectiveness of their healthcare spending.

“Self-care is our motive,” says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive health & wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving employees 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 shift. Corporations are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver Corporate Wellness Programs. The type of program we have developed over years delivers the highest healthcare 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 – return on investment” says Vic Lebouthillier.

“Corporations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of medical care benefits to cultivate 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.

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

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

Cost is important for most corporations as well. Over 80 percent of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those reductions did not involve shifting responsibility for health care onto staff members. Although 64 percent of corporations have shifted expenditures to their staff members, 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 companies are getting more proactive in assisting 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 companies they work for. Almost half the companies surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to increased work rate and reduce absentee rates. Over 60 percent intend  to institute programs that help workers modify and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle. Almost of these companies will also use data and measurements to be sure their health care strategies meet their health care objectives?