Employee Wellness : Benefits of Workplace Wellness Programs*

The expenditures of medical care have been rising more than 10 percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the medical care system treats costly illnesses and diseases.

• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are preventable as they are associated with potentially-modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, cut preventable healthcare utilization and enhance work execution, and in turn lower healthcare costs and better employee satisfaction and retention, many organizations are planning, or are interested in planning, Corporate Health Promotion Programs for employees.

The advantages of workplace wellness are well documented. Greater than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some primary findings include the following:

• Savings of $3.48 in reduced medical care expenditures per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in cut absenteeism expenditures per dollar invested.
• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.
• Lifestyle behavior modification programs: $3 to $6 return on investment within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision reinforcement programs: $2 to $3 ROI within a year.
• Disease management programs: $7 to $10 return on investment within a year.

By offering health improvement programs, companies are not only providing an additional service for employees, but they are also gaining financially. Furthermore, the impact of a health improvement program goes beyond decreased health care cost and ROI. A health improvement program can affect productiveness, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and health care costs.

• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to beginning, launching and evaluating worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.