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Understanding Wellness

 

Every company and consultant wants to know that a fresh investment in employee wellness will pay off.  While it is easy to equate return on investment with success, everyone understands that ROI from wellness takes a while to be realized and that it is difficult to measure.  So as more and more companies move forward with wellness programs, here are some common success criteria for gauging the early effectiveness of the plans.

 

Participation

 

Wellness programs that are purely voluntary —have no meaningful participation and support from senior management and do not offer financial incentives average about 20 percent participation, or less.  By contrast, programs that include active engagement by top leadership and that provide compelling incentives, such as premium credits, often achieve 60 - 70 percent participation from the outset. Participation may increase to 95 percent over the first few years of the program.

 

It is important to define what constitutes “participation.”  Employees need to understand their health risk factors by taking a Member Health Assessment (MHA) and getting a biometric screening. However, it is far more valuable for them to take action to reduce those risks.  Engaging with a health coach, attending workshops, joining the wellness committee, serving as a team leader, and getting a routine physical. All provide ongoing participation opportunities during the plan year.  Effective wellness programs require that a combination of these activities be completed in order to receive the maximum incentive.

 

Risk Factor Reduction

 

Improved nutrition, increased physical activity, and better stress coping skills will almost always translate into reductions in health risk factors.  Lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduced weight can be quantified through MHAs and screenings.  Such improvements are clear indicators that the program is moving towards reduced health care costs and improved productivity.

 

Reduced Sick Leave Absenteeism

 

As people become healthier, paid time off for illness is reduced.  Employers who track these changes are capturing an important metric for calculating ROI; employers who do not track sick leave absenteeism are leaving a big part of their ROI unaccounted for.

 

Improved Clinical Compliance

 

To improve treatment compliance is to reduce health risks. For people with diagnosed medical conditions that require ongoing monitoring and/or medications, ensuring that standard treatment protocols are being followed is one of the most important factors governing wellness program success. 

 

Successful wellness programs address all of the above issues and more as they are integrated into organizational culture.  Over time, the influence of a “wellness culture” permeates deeper and deeper into the organization, yielding important gains that cannot always be easily quantified.  These gains include such things as improved employee retention and recruitment, improved decision-making skills, improved stamina and resilience, and improved morale and loyalty.

 

Wellness programs have also been shown to enhance the workplace’s safety culture, resulting in reduced injury rates and workers compensation costs.

 

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