25% Jump in Corporation Interest in Employee Wellness
Corporate health promotion for their personnel, employers are discovering, is good for the health of their businesses as well. Wellness 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 U.S. organizations indicated a meaningful paradigm shift in how organizations 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 employees, with the goal of boosting the health and productivity of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent increase in interest in health promotion programs over 2007.
A strong offering of health promotion programs to meet the demand has resulted. Health assistance providers have broadened their health promotion programs with tools that address general lifestyle factors, physical, social and psychological health factors.
Programs look to predict chronic illness 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 wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving personnel tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the benefits, while giving people resources to reach out for help is the key to successful lifestyle change.
Companies are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver wellness programs. The type of wellness program we have developed over years delivers the highest health care return on investment.”
Combining employee wellness promotions, web-based assessments and health trackers, web-based health information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a broad variety of health experts, is behind the success of the Exan wellness program. “Having web-based statistics about employees’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – ROI” says Vic Lebouthillier.
Organizations are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to create holistic wellness 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.
Notwithstanding, in a separate survey of 30,000 personnel, 74% said that, although they felt their company had an obligation to help them understand how to use their health benefits program, only 12% felt the company had any right to tell them how to be healthy.
Based on these results, companys need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their staff in addition to the corporation. It is a win-win situation.
Corporations and personnel did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95 percent of personnel 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 healthcare costs.
Cost is important for most businesses as well. Over 80% of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts did not involve shifting responsibility for health care onto workforce.
While 64 percent of corporations have shifted costs to their employees, only 17 percent plan to do so in the next 3-5 years. In like manner with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent plan to use them in 2008.
These survey leads todicate corporations are getting more proactive in assisting their staff to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is obviously good for the well-being of staff, 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 increased productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60% plan to institute health promotion programs that help workforce change and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle.
Almost of these companies will also use data and measurements to ensure their healthcare strategies meet their healthcare objectives?