Health and Wellness Programs : Wellness Programs Now as Important as Cost and Workforce Issues.
25% Jump in Company Interest in Staff Member Wellness
Employee health promotion for their employees, businesss are discovering, is good for the health of their organizations as well. Health promotion programs help to cut the costs associated with poor staff member health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.
A recent Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 USA businesses indicated a significant paradigm shift in how businesses view health benefits for their personnel.
Of those surveyed this year, 88 percent are committed to instituting long-term healthcare assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their employees, with the goal of improveing the health and productivity of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent increase in interest in wellness programs over 2007.
A strong offering of 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 workforce and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Corporations also demand a way to measure the effectiveness of their healthcare spending.
Self-care is our motive, says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving workforce tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the benefits, while giving individuals resources to reach out for help is the key to successful lifestyle change.
Businesses are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver wellness programs. the kind of program we have created over years delivers the highest health care return on investment.”
Combining corporate health promotion promotions, internet based assessments and health trackers, internet based health information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a broad variety of health specialists, is behind the success of the Exan program. “Having internet based statistics about employees’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – Return On Investment (ROI)” says Vic Lebouthillier.
Organizations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to develop holistic programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior modification and eliminate barriers to healthcare, says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.
Nonetheless, in a separate survey of 30,000 employees, 74% said that, although they felt their organization had an obligation to help them understand how to use their health benefits program, only 12% felt the organization had any right to tell them how to be healthful.
Based on these results, employers need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their workforce as well as the corporation. It’s a win-win situation.
Companys and staff members did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95% of staff members understand that their taking care of their health today will impact future health care payments.
A similar percentage also understand the important of early detection and avoidance when it comes to saving on health care costs.
Cost is important for most companies as well. Over 80% of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts didn’t involve shifting responsibility for health care onto staff members.
Although 64% of corporations have shifted costs to their workers, only 17% plan to do so in the next 3-5 years. In like manner with health reimbursement accounts, 20% now offer these, but only about 5% plan to use them in 2008.
These survey leads todicate businesses are getting more proactive in assisting their staff to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is clearly good for the wellness of staff, but also for the wellness of the businesses they work for.
Almost half the organizations surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to increased productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60 percent plan to institute programs that help workforce change and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle.
Nearly of these corporations will also use data and measurements to ensure their healthcare strategies meet their healthcare objectives?
