Employee Health Programs / Employee Health Studies

Employee Health Studies

Below are a few examples of how different US companies implemented Employee Health Programs, and their positive experience and outcome.

A large American telecommunications company started a Health Promotion Program in 2000. The goal was to improve employee health and impact business results. The study was designed with the purpose that through the active promotion of a healthy lifestyle, the company could help employees improve both their health and their productivity. Initially they gave employees a membership to a Wellness Center, or reimbursements if people chose to go to another gym. 34% of the employees chose to participate in the study and signed up for gym memberships. Within a year, the company saw savings in their health care spending. For the participants, there were lower annual increases in medical costs for lifestyle related diagnoses compared with non-participants. Total savings for medical claims (in 2000) were $6,479,673, and another $10,455,309 were saved in disability claims in a two-year period, 1999, and 2000. The following is a quote from C. Everett Koop, National Health Awards. “Based on 1997 - 2000 data, the medical cost for lifestyle related diagnoses for Wellness Center participants is increasing at a rate of 2.5% while medical cost for non-participants’ is increasing at a rate of 18%.” For each dollar the company spent on gym memberships for employees, they received close to four dollars in return thanks to reduced health care costs. For the period 2001 – 2005, projected savings for this and other wellness initiatives were over $50 million.

A major American automaker is another company that has been forced to take action to reduce their health care costs. Their medical costs rose 40% between the years 1999 – 2004, and as a result, $1,400 of every vehicle sold went towards covering health care costs. The company, who spent close to $7,000 on health care per employee in 2005, decided to ask executives and non-union professionals to fill out a questionnaire regarding health habits, and then have their blood pressure measured, and cholesterol checked, as well as adhere to diabetes testing. As an incentive, the employees would save $120 on their yearly healthcare costs. The company realized that early detection is the key for keeping insurance costs down. By making employees aware of their current health status, the company could potentially save millions of dollars in the coming years by letting employees get preventive care.

Another large U.S. company with over 200,000 employees started a Health Promotion Program, and among other things offered their employees smoking cessation classes, unlimited use of Health and Wellness Centers, and information and education regarding a healthy lifestyle. In the year following the program enrollment, participants reduced their overall benefit costs by 16%.

A multinational corporation decided in 2005 to implement a Health Promotion program at one of their offices. They decided on a 12-month program, and of the employees who were offered the program, 266 decided to join (intervention group). The control group consisted of 1240 people. The program included a Health Risk Appraisal questionnaire that was given to both the intervention group and the control group at the beginning of the program, as well as twelve months later. In addition, the employees answered questions regarding their work performance, and absenteeism. After answering the questionnaire the intervention group received a report card in reference to their health status, and advice on what they could do to improve their health. The intervention group also had access to a website with health information, they attended workshops and seminars, and were given literature helping them to better implement changes in their lifestyles. There were also biweekly emails with information on health and wellness that were individually tailored to fit the challenges for each employee.
After 12 months the intervention group had significantly reduced their health risk factor. They had also reduced their absenteeism by a third of a day per month, and greatly increased their work performance. The areas of health that showed the greatest changes were; alcohol consumption, nutrition, sleep, stress, and physical activity. The control group had no significant changes. When calculating the return on investment, the company did a calculation of how much money was saved from the increase in presenteeism and decrease in absenteeism. These two combined yielded a ROI of 6.19:1.

A well known bank decided in the late 90’s to implement a health promotion program. Out of a sample size of 22,838 employees 11,194 were participants, and the other 11,644 were not. The program had the following objectives;

• Help employees become more aware of their habits and improve health habits if needed, thereby preventing disease
• Educate employees on their chronic medical conditions, and make it easier to manage the diseases
• Assist employees in determining when to seek medical help, and what kind to look for

Participants were required to fill out a Health Risk Appraisal survey once a year. Those participants who were deemed to have a high risk lifestyle were invited to participate in an intervention program where they took an HRA every three months. Following each HRA they received a letter with education materials and recommendations on how to improve their health. Another service provided was a telephone counseling service they could call if they needed advice or information regarding their medical conditions. All participants received a follow-up report and a book on personal health care and how to lead a healthy lifestyle. After three years, the percentage of the high risk participants who exercised had increased by more than 50%, and fewer people reported they felt highly stressed. Almost everyone reported eating more fiber, and less fat. During the three years that the study went on, non-participant expenditures increased by 43%, while the increase for participants was only by 25%. The increase in expenditures for participants was on average $34 less per person and month. These savings amounted to close to $7 million for the three years that the program was running. The return on investment showed that for each dollar invested at least $4.56 was returned, depending on discount rate.

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