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Return on Investment

 

A frequent question regarding wellness programs is “What is the return on investment?”  While this is a reasonable query, it is a difficult one to fully answer.  The following questions are implicit:

 

  • What is the value of the heart attack that didn’t happen? 
  • What is the value of the diabetic amputation that didn’t happen? 
  • What is the value of the stroke that didn’t happen? 
  • What is the value of the breast cancer that didn’t happen?

 

Notwithstanding, the human value to the individuals who didn’t have an acute medical event, there is a way to address these questions.

 

Consider the following:

 

  • According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetics account for 60 percent of all non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations, at an average cost of about $60,000 per event.  Foot care programs that include regular examinations and patient education can prevent up to 85 percent of diabetic-related amputations.
  • Diabetics who receive four key annual tests spend $5,000 per year less than diabetics who don’t get the tests.
  • Diabetics have medical expenditures 2.4 times higher if they are out of compliance with diabetic disease state protocol.
  • Congestive heart failure (CHF) patients who take an ACE inhibitor or beta-blocker spend an average of $14,000 per year less than CHF patients not taking these, according to United Healthcare.
  • Approximately 8 percent of arterial fibrillation patients who aren’t taking anticoagulation medications have a stroke in a given year, at an average cost of $91,000 per event.  Proper anticoagulation therapy can reduce those events by 70 percent.
  • The value of routine mammography screening:
    • $12,000 = average treatment cost of early detected breast cancer
    • $143,000 = average treatment cost of late-stage treatment
  • Early detected breast cancer treatment costs on average less than $15,000, with an almost 100 percent survival rate.  Late-detected breast cancer treatment can cost up to $150,000, and there is a much higher mortality rate.

                                                                                 
So, what is the value of a wellness program that can help improve compliance rates with standard clinical treatment protocols?  Priceless.  And yes, it saves money too.

 

Comprehensive health management programs include screenings, health risk assessments, data management, and health coaching.  The cost of wellness versus the cost of doing nothing is pennies on the dollar.  Just ask anyone who has had a heart attack, an amputation, a stroke, or breast cancer.

 

Through customized wellness programs, Viverae tailors unique solutions that composed of biometric screenings and health assessments, personalized health coaching, onsite workshops/programs and online tools to best fit the needs of your organization. 

Learn more about what Viverae can do to help your organization live well and benefit: