Corporate Health And Wellness Programs

Attempting to do more with less money? Here are three proven ways to align the dollars and cents of a wellness program in your budget.

Common thread -  the way you prepare - and control - your budget for a wellness program is crucial to its success.

1. Top-down budget

Depending on the size of your organization and wellness program, you may have full budget responsibility or might need to work with a C-level who has budgeting specialistise.

Regardless of the arrangement, you’re likely to face one of two distinct challenges -  a top-down budget or a zero-based budget.

A top-down budget is when you’re given a finite dollar amount and told to run the wellness program within the limit. If that’s the case, here are three vital questions to ask -

• Does this limit include money set aside for employee incentives and future initiatives?

• Should we keep long-tenured programs that keep going up in price, and

• Does Benefits/HR have to deliver all education about the program, or is there additional funding to hire staff?

2.  Zero-based budgeting

In zero-based funding, you submit to  upper management an itemized list of the programs/features you want and the cost of each. Best practices -

• Rank programs by priority (health-risk assessments should be at or near the top)

• Indicate which expenses are fixed and which are variable, and

• List ways to incorporate existing resources (like an employee assistance program (EAP) program) for a better return on investment.

3. Estimating ROI

On average, wellness programs normally take at least 18 months to break even. After three years, you ought to see savings.

When not, it’s time to take a fresh look at the program design.

Thinking about an obesity-related disease management program for your organization? Here’s what you need to know.

In order to be effective, the program must meet participants’ individual medical and psychological needs, not to mention your own organization’s need to control long-term health costs.

How wide-reaching should the program be? After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay for services your employees don’t want or can’t use.

Mary Beth Chalk of Resources for Living suggests that obesity programs could be broken down into four tiers of employee need, from which your organization’s return on investment (ROI) can also be measured.

Tier 1 -  Education

Tier I staff members struggle with weight control problems but don’t need a health coach.  Instead, they could benefit from a self-directed program that provides weight-management related materials online, targeted mailing, and/or access to nurse call line.

How to measure ROI -  utilization. Do workers click on the Web site? Do they return to the site regularly? Do people  use the nurse line? Your program provider should provide you detailed use stats.

Tier 2 -  Clinical supervision

When the employee has been diagnosed as obese - a Body Mass Index (BMI)  score over 30 is obese, over 35 is clinically obese - he or she would do better working with a health coach in a clinically supervised program.

Three keys to getting maximum results -

1. Periodically have participants rate their relationship with their health coaches. Not everybody clicks, so a change may  be in order.

2. Coordinate your disease management (DM) care with your worker assistance program (EAP)services. Reason -  Inability to control weight is often closely tied with mental health issues - and one can adversely affect the other. the more closely your employee assistance program (EAP) and obesity program managers work together, the higher the chance for success.

3. Beware of the fade-out effect. A lot of employees in weight-loss programs get off to a great start and then fall back into old habits. People  should re-commit to the program after three sessions, four months and nine months.

To measure ROI, look at utlization, goal achievement and lowered presenteeism. of course, presenteeism is notoriously challenging to measure with reliable dollar figures. So how can you overcome that problem?

• Begin with employees’ salaries. Let’s suppose one participant earns $40,000 per year.

• Ask employees to self-report how energetic and productive they feel on the job, on a percentage scale. Then have supervisors estimate the employee’s productivity and split the difference. for this example, let’s assume it averaged to 50 percent.

• Collect scores again six months and one year into the program and then multiply the difference by salary. the result is your estimated productivity ROI.

In the example above, when the employee earning $40,000 improves from 50% to 75% after one year, the productivity related ROI is $10,000.  

Tier 3 -  Medical management

At this level, the obese employee needs a higher level of care than a health coach can offer. the employee has chronic health conditions related to obesity - such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or sleep apnea - and needs a doctor case manager. Specifically, the employee needs to set up regular visits with the doctor and create a treatment plan.

To measure ROI, start with the lower-tier criteria, then track quarterly and year differences in FMLA or paid absences, and prescription drug costs. Then compare it to the per-participant cost of the obesity program.

Tier 4 -  Morbid obesity

At this level, the worker has been diagnosed as morbidly obese - BMI over 40 - and is considered a potential candidate for gastric bypass surgery.

ROI is measured through ongoing health claims in addition to the previous criteria.

Given the huge growth of wellness programs over the last two years, it was inevitable resistance would creep up among watchdog groups.

In Washington, lobbyists have spearheaded a push for Congress, the DOL and IRS to crack down on “punitive” wellness programs.

Particularly, the groups seek to limit programs in which employees’ share of their medical costs are directly tied to their willingness to participate in a wellness program.

HIPAA’s non-discrimination rules prohibit employers from creating negative financial incentives for staff members with health risks.

For  instance, you can’t raise someone’s premium share because he or she smokes. What you are able to do is offer a discount when someone completes a smoking cessation program.

Reason -  the law does allow for financial incentives to workers who willingly participate in wellness programs.

The watchdog groups seek greater regulation to make sure incentives and discounts are used only as rewards for healthy behavior, not as a thinly veiled form of discrimination against high-risk staff members.

A recent survey finds nearly 42 percent of employers with 200 or fewer workers have some sort of disease management program.

That’s a immense increase from four years ago, when just 28% of smaller companys offered such programs.

There’s more to come, too. Fifteen percent of respondents that didn’t currently have a disease management component to their medical plan hope to add one by 2011.

The highest-demand disease management programs are for diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

Source -  Small Business Benefits Survey, PDR Consulting Group, 9/1/2008.

Thinking about an obesity-related disease management program for your organization? Here’s what you need to know.

In order to be effective, the program must meet participants’ individual medical and psychological needs, not to mention your own organization’s need to control long-term medical costs.

How wide-reaching should the program be? After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay for services your workers don’t want or can’t use.

Mary Beth Chalk of Resources for Living suggests that obesity programs may be broken down into four tiers of employee need, from which your organization’s return on investment (ROI) can also be measured.

Tier 1 -  Education

Tier I staff members struggle with weight management problems but don’t need a health coach.  Instead, they could benefit from a self-directed program that provides weight-management related materials online, targeted mailing, and/or access to nurse call line.

How to measure ROI -  utilization. Do workers click on the Web site? Do they return to the site regularly? Do people  use the nurse line? Your program vendor should provide you detailed use stats.

Tier 2 -  Clinical supervision

When the staff member has been diagnosed as obese - a Body Mass Index (BMI)  score over 30 is obese, over 35 is clinically obese - he or she would do better working with a health coach in a clinically supervised program.

Three keys to getting maximum results -

1. Periodically have participants rate their relationship with their health coaches. Not everybody clicks, so a change could  be in order.

2. Coordinate your disease management (DM) care with your staff member assistance program (EAP)services. Reason -  Inability to control weight is often closely tied with mental health issues - and one can negatively affect the other.

The more closely your employee assistance program (EAP) and obesity program managers work together, the higher the chance for success.

3. Beware of the fade-out effect. Many staff members in weight-loss programs get off to a excellent begin and then fall back into old habits. People  should re-commit to the program after three sessions, four months and nine months.

To measure ROI, look at utlization, goal achievement and decreased presenteeism. of course, presenteeism is notoriously difficult to measure with reliable dollar figures. So how can you overcome that problem?

• Begin with employees’ salaries. Let’s suppose one participant earns $40,000 per year.

• Ask workers to self-report how energetic and productive they feel on the job, on a percentage scale. Then have supervisors estimate the employee’s productivity and split the difference. for this example, let’s assume it averaged to 50 percent.

• Collect scores again six months and one year into the program and then multiply the difference by salary. the result is your estimated productivity ROI.

In the example above, if the staff member earning $40,000 improves from 50 percent to 75 percent after one year, the productivity related ROI is $10,000.  

Tier 3 -  Medical management

At this level, the obese staff member needs a higher level of care than a health coach can offer. the staff member has chronic health conditions related to obesity - like diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or sleep apnea - and needs a physician case manager.

Specifically, the employee needs to set up regular visits with the physician and create a treatment plan.

To measure ROI, start with the lower-tier criteria, then track quarterly and year differences in FMLA or compensated absences, and prescription drug costs. Then compare it to the per-participant cost of the obesity program.

Tier 4 -  Morbid obesity

At this level, the staff member has been diagnosed as morbidly obese - Body Mass Index over 40 - and is considered a potential candidate for gastric bypass surgery.

ROI is measured through ongoing health claims as well as the previous criteria.

Create a culture of wellness within your organization

Create Exemplary Management Support

In the most successful Wellness Programs, upper-level managers lead their organizations by example. and they work to ensure that the management structure not only allows, but actively encourages their workers to participate.

Organize a Wellness Advisory Team

Wellness committees serve as the eyes, ears, arms and legs of the program, representing peers ideas and concerns, and assisting reshape the organizational culture toward health.

Conduct an Assessment of Financial and Human Assets and Liabilities

Successful Wellness Programs are built upon a foundation of information, including claims review, demographic analysis of the workforce, management and worker surveys, health risk data, history of organizational wellness, and health benefit plan design.

Develop Obviously Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Establish a clear vision of program direction, expectations and measures to answer the questions, “Where are we going and how will we know when we get there?”

Create a Extensive and Strategic Wellness Program

A multi-component plan ought to consist of strategically developed and implemented awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment programs, in addition to policies and activities that target appropriate health risk behaviors and needs of the staff members.

Identify an Incentive and Reward Strategy

Incentives show the organizational commitment to the program and motivate individuals to participate. Incentives vary widely from program to program, but can include such things as time off, reduction in medical insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness centers, free pedometers, etc.

Communicate to Employees

Your program should be simple and concise, use an identifiable brand, and rely on a selection of media to communicate with workers and managers.

Evaluate Outcomes

Evaluate program participation, satisfaction levels and behavioral change. You could want to track the number of workers’ compensation claims, productivity, turnover morale and absenteeism.

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Wellness Program - Management Support.

Create Exemplary Management Support

Goal -  A Wellness Program established into the organization’s culture.

Focus -  Develop support and excitement for the program from all levels of the corporation -   upper management, mid-level management, and grass-roots workers.

Obtaining  senior management’s buy-in is essential to launching an effective program. the staff members must understand that management is supportive of the wellness program.

Actions -

Create an Senior Level Management Executive Team to determine high-level decisions - positions that must be included are the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Communications Officer, and other appropriate division-level managers and program specialists, as necessary.

The Senior Management Executive Team will -

• Communicate to all levels of management about the program and drive the integration of the Wellness Program as a part of the corporation culture.

• Ensure that organizational resources are available for program planning and implementation.

• Be certain to encourage employees to participate and to assist in “recruiting” other employees, get the momentum going, and keep it growing.

• Share success stories within the business, and continue to raise the perceived value of participation.

Organize a Wellness Advisory Team

Goal -  Create a working committee that consists of employees and essential functional parts of the organization.

Focus -  to assist in reshaping the organizational culture to support employee-wellness activities by serving as messengers and supporters for the program.

Wellness Advisory Committees serve as an essential part of the infrastructure of your Wellness Program. the team members are the eyes, ears, arms, and legs of the program.

They represent their coworkers by sharing ideas and concerns about the wellness program.

Actions -

The Wellness Advisory Committee will -

• Be certain to work with  executive management and the Wellness Program coordinator in the design, implementation, and analysis of the program.

• Develop methods to enhance the acceptance and success of the activities of your Wellness Program by encouraging employee ownership of the program.

• Hold periodic meetings to keep the committee informed of upcoming plans and events and to provide feedback to the program coordinator about their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, and those of their coworkers.

• Recommend policy and environmental changes that are aimed at bettering the health and safety of staff members.

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Wellness Program - Vision and Mission.

Goal -  Develop a baseline of information and identify human and organizational needs.

Focus -  Review a selection of information to better understand past and current conditions regarding health-care utilization, organizational culture, demographic overview, and health-promotion initiatives.

Data collection plays an important role in planning, monitoring, and investigating  a wellness program. It will also set the baseline for continued and future examinations of program efficiency, effectiveness, and feasibility.

Actions -

• Claims review (health care, pharmaceutical) -

• What have been the 10 most expensive major disease categories in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• What have been the 10 most expensive therapeutic classes of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• What have been the 10 most frequently prescribed and filled therapeutic courses of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• Demographic analysis of worker population (may include dependents) -

• List your number of employees, by gender, for each of the past five years and the percentages of males and females by age groups.

• Think about any other factors that may have affected the health of your employees and their use of the health-care system.

This may include mergers, acquisitions, workplace trauma, staff member strikes, layoffs, early retirement offers, etc.

Management survey -

• Conduct surveys of mid-level management to understand their concerns and measure their level of interest and buy-in.

• Employee-interest survey -  Gather information to find out what the staff members want and to measure the level of participation, satisfaction, and “success” of any previous activities.

Risk data (health-risk assessments) -

• is there any data from health-risk appraisals over the past five years?

Participation in similar activities -

• List and describe all wellness programs that have been implemented over the past five years, including participation rates.

Design of the health plan, and anticipated changes -

• Have there been any meaningful changes in the health plan’s design in each of the past five years, such as a change from an health maintenance organization (Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)) to a PPO, increased co-payments or deductibles, or increased employee contributions?

Develop Obviously Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Goal -  Establish a clear vision of program direction, expectations, and measures.

Focus -  Establishing a vision, mission, objectives and objectives to keep your Wellness Program focused toward its desired outcomes. It’ll answer the questions, “Where are we going?” and “How will we know when we get there?”

Actions -

• Identify two to five clearly announced objectives. Make sure that your program is capable of having an impact in the area desired, and be sure that you are capable of measuring that impact.

Example Goal -  Workers having access to healthier food options

• Establish two to five measurable goals that namely state what your program is going to accomplish, by when, how, and how it will be measured.

Example Objective -  Modify all vending machines to include 50 percent healthy food options.

• Identify several activities that will help you achieveyour objective. Activities are very specific.

Example Activity -  Be sure to work with vending machine owners to identify healthy food options and restock with 50 percent of items that are healthier food options.

• Identify who’s going to do what, by when, and what resources are needed.

Example Detail -  the Program coordinator will contact XXX Vending Corporation by September 30.

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Wellness Program Incentives.

Develop a Extensive and Strategic Wellness Program

Goal -  A extensive Wellness Program plan.

Focus -  Development of a plan that consists of a selection of awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment program, policies, and activities that’ll target risk behaviors, needs, and interests of staff members.

Your Wellness Program ought to provide an integrated, strategic approach specific to the needs, goals, and culture of your organization, designed throughout an annual cycle.

It will be important to review and revise existing policies governing such areas as smoking, vending machines, and the staff cafeteria. Additionally, it’s useful to examine what corporate wellness or health-promotion activities are offered under your existing health-benefit plan.

Actions -

• Create activities based on your program goals and the specific needs of your employees. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your employees and the greatest needs of your business, in that order. Prevent topics with narrow appeal.

• Keep it simple. Design the program so it’s easy for the participants to understand and track. Let workers focus their learning efforts on their own behavior, not on the rules and regulations of the program.

Also, simplify the program administration. Let individuals  record their own activities when possible; create a mixture of self-reported activities along with verified activities.

• Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements. Link the activities throughout the year to allow for desired behavior repetition.

• Select activities that every employee can participate in.

Examples -

• Challenges -  Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior and continue for 4-8 weeks and focus on specific topics (like physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

• Learning experiences (seminars, videos, classes) -  One-time activities that last for a relatively short time and focus on a specific topic; these can precede “challenge activities” to prepare participants for behavior change.

• Behavior changes (like tobacco use cessation) -  Interventions may or may not be offered at the workplace; individuals ought to be encouraged to make lifestyle changes that they wanted to make even without the incentive.

• Illness management (support and education groups for diabetes and hypertension) -  These could  be provided or supported by the business through disease-management providers, or by community, health, or religious organizations.

• New skills (first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) -  These might  be provided or supported by the business, or by community, health, or religious organizations.

• Screenings, wellness assessments, physical exams -  A wellness assessment provides the business with aggregate data that may be used in program planning and investigation; preventive screenings and physical exams may be encouraged by awarding credits to employees.

• Program support (membership or leadership in wellness committee or challenge team) -  Reward those who work with you to help make your Wellness Program a success.

• Community events -  Reward participation in events like the Heart Walk or March of Dimes Walk; limit the number of these events that may be counted toward the annual total, and be selective about which events you allow to be counted.

Develop an Incentive Strategy

Goal -  to motivate and reward employee participation and completion.

Focus -  Create a sense of interest in participation and completion of wellness activities.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the workers that the organization is committed to improving their health and will share the rewards that these changes will bring. It also plays a significant role in arousing person to participate.

Actions -

• Identify through staff members what incentives they value most.

• Identify what incentives the organization can provide.

• Integrate your incentives into your benefits strategy.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Offer participation incentives.

• Avoid offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Prevent rewards for biometric changes.

• Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

Examples -

Compensated time off, reduction in health insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness clubs, free pedometers, etc.

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Wellness Program Communication.

Goal -  Increase awareness of and participation in the Wellness Program.

Focus -  Promote the Wellness Program to staff members to encourage participation in activities and benefits.

A well-designed communications strategy is paramount to successful program awareness and participation. Even a “world class” program design will not succeed when nobody knows that it is available or how to get involved.

Employees who don’t get involved in the program must be doing so because they pick not to participate, not because they did not know about how, when, or where to participate.

Actions -

• Conduct a Resources and Communications Audit to identify internal and external resources available to support your Wellness Program, in addition to knowing how information will be disseminated.

• Keep the program simple and concise -  easy to read about, understand, and act upon.

• Build the brand; be certain it’s something that workers can identify with. Add the brand to T-shirts, water bottles, mouse pads, stress balls, etc.

Use a variety of media -

• Print -  flyers, fliers, posters, banners, paycheck inserts, newsletter articles, bulletin boards, literature racks, post cards.

• Electronic - Web, intranet, e-mail, closed-circuit televisions, sign lines, audiovideo productions.

• Staff meetings and organization events; word of mouth.

• Use existing channels of communication - what works best in your business - and make certain to know about all points of contact and systems of distribution.

Timing for communications -

• Prior to activity to create awareness and to educate.

• During activity to stimulate participation.

• After an activity to report results.

• Between activities to maintain momentum and interest.

Consistency of communications -

• Use branding; maintain a consistent look, feel, and tone of messages.

• Maintain this consistency throughout the program.

Surveys and forms -

• Collect information.

• Disseminate information.

Research shows that untargeted health-promotion campaigns have little long-term impact.                  

Chronic diseases, which rob individuals and families of their health and happiness, represent major costs to businesss in the form of health-care and disability costs, lost productivity, and absenteeism.                  

Wellness Programs should address risky behaviors that can help your staff members eat healthier, increase their level of physical activity, help reduce stress, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and quit smoking. Wellness programs should focus on helping staff members achieve and maintain their optimal health status.

Comprehensive worksite-health programs focused on changing lifestyle behavior have been shown to yield a $3 to $6 return on investment for each dollar invested. It takes about three to five years after the initial program investment to realize these savings.

Ninety-three percent of U.S.  corporations offer some kind of health-promotion program for their staff members, but is it the right type?

Main Types of Wellness Programs

Programs focusing on illness management. These programs monitor and treat specific illnesses. Disease management follows the 80/20 rule -  80 percent of health-care costs are spent on 20 percent of employees.

Disease management is reported to have a $7 to $10 return on investment within a year. the 20 percent of staff members requiring the greatest medical expenditures today are usually not the same 20 percent who’ll cause the greatest healthcare expenses a year or two down the road.

Programs focusing on health enhancement and risk management. These programs focus on lifestyle behavior change, and offer a $3 to $6 return on investment within two to five years, according to a 2004 report issued by the National Company Group on Health.

It is important to note that a $3 to $6 return on an entire worker population produces a higher sum savings than does disease management.

Good Data Drives Good Business Decisions

• Based on more than 120 research, the National Business Group on Health reported that, within five years of program implementation, overall benefit-to-cost ratios (return on investment) of -

• $3.48 in lowered health-care costs per dollar invested.

• $5.82 in decrease rates of absenteeism per dollar invested.

The Facts Speak for Themselves - Wellness Assists Reduce Costs

• A 2003 examination of one big USA  business found that simply helping employees control their blood pressure alone can save $547 per person per year.

• Johnson and Johnson claims to have saved $38 million in health-care costs for its workers between 1995 and 1999 by promoting healthful lifestyles.

Medical expenses lowered $224 per employee per year (averaged over four years), and this rate improved over time. the company found most benefits in the third and fourth years after program initiation.

• A 2004 University of Michigan study of 23,500 General Motors workers showed that nonexercising workers claimed at least $100 more per year in health-care costs than exercisers.

The research study  also reported that obese, sedentary staff members who started exercising at least twice a week lowered their costs by an typical of $500 a year.

• the Washoe County School District in Nevada estimated that, in a single year, it spent $300,000 on direct costs associated with obesity and $1 million for gastric-bypass surgeries. It instituted a weight-loss program that paid employees $10 per pound lost, up to 25 pounds.

Program participants missed three fewer workdays per year, producing a cost savings of $15.60 per program dollar spent.

Staff Time                  

Building a successful Wellness Program requires staff time as well as money. Some bigger organizations may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps prior to launching a Wellness Program.                  

Company Costs                  

Monetary costs can fluctuate widely, depending on whether the corporation compensates all costs, the staff members pay all costs, or the costs are shared.                  

A 1992 study indicated that 28% of companies spent $5 or less per staff member, and 19% spent between $6-10 per staff member.                  

The Wellness Council of America estimates the cost per worker to be between $100 and $150 per year for an effective wellness program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. A sample expenditure for various levels of programs include -                   

Program Type                  

A minimal (largely paper) program          $1 - $7         

A moderate program                   

A medium program with a few activities       $16 - $35            

A fairly robust program             $36 - $75      

A very robust, effective program       $76 - $112            

• the news isn’t encouraging. As reported by Corporation Week, family health-care premiums increased 49% from 2000 to 2004.

Another increase of 12-15% is expected in 2005. General Motors expects to spend $5.6 billion on healthcare costs in 2005, or 40% more than it earned in profits in 2004.

• More and more research shows that poor diet andlack of exercise are major drivers of increases in health care costs for employers. the number of obese adults has doubled since the 1970s.

• the rise in obesity has a meaningful impact on health-care costs. on average, 2002 health-care costs for an obese individuals were $1,244 higher than for a individuals with a healthy weight.

• Obesity is causing rapid increases in kind 2 diabetes and contributes directly to a 65 percent increase in diabetes treatment from 1987 to 2002. Nearly $1 of every $5 spent on healthcare in the United States is for a person with diabetes.

Treating employee healthcare as an investment, rather than a cost, can yield long-term dividends

• at least 50 percent of your organization’s health-care costs are driven by the lifestyle related behaviors of your workers, like smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

• In the past 10 years, the annual return on investment for Wellness Programs has been as much as $6 saved for every $1 spent, doubling the return on investment of earlier programs.

• the typical reduction in health-plan costs, sick time, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25% for well-designed Wellness Programs.

• Fit staff members are more productive staff members, with fewer sick days, fewer accidents, higher morale, and lower job turnover.

The concern for staff member wellness is an increasing trend for American corporation. Why? the link between staff member wellness and the bottom line is clear and consistent.

Companys who integrate wellness in their overall goals find they experience decreased absences, better morale, decreased health risks, and decreased health-care costs.

The purpose of this guide to is to encourage and help you launch your own Wellness Program. When you already have a program, but are not receiving the results you expected, perhaps some ideas and best practices in this toolkit will help you and your employees reap the benefits of a healthier workforce.

At least 50% of health-care expenditures are lifestyle-related, and therefore, potentially preventable. Yet despite the $5,000 an typical business spends on health care per worker each year, most businesss are spending less than 5% of that on medical testings and prevention.

The most comprehensive meta-evaluation of Wellness Program studies shows something very exciting! It shows that Wellness Programs aren’t only effective at assisting to reverse the rising spiral of health-care costs, but these programs are also becoming more effective. the average cost-benefit ratio has increased from 1 - 3 for earlier programs to 1 - 6 today.

Simply put, the average reduction in health-care costs, sick leave, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25% for well designed programs.

Corporate wellness provides a long-term approach for assisting keep employees well. the single most important thing you are able to do for your employees is to start a Wellness Program now.