Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that comprehensive wellness programs, or Wellness Programs, can lower healthcare and insurance costs, lower absenteeism, and improve performance and productivity.
Other benefits demonstrated in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater staff member allegiance, and improved public image of the company.
Healthcare and Insurance Costs
A number of studies provide evidence of lower medical and insurance costs for participants in wellness programs, specifically wellness programs involving exercise.
For $30 per person, the Bank of America conducted a wellness program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an typical of $164 annually in this group while they increased $15 for the control group.
Since they were able to document meaningful changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.
Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.
Coca Cola announced a reduction in healthcare claims with a workout program alone, saving $500 per worker per year for the staff (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program.
Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the corporation’s major health care costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each participant in its health promotion program.
Decreased Absenteeism
Absenteeism has been shown to be impacted by company health promotion and health promotion programs. The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved thus of employee exercise plans.
Pacific Bell’s FitWorks health promotion program lowered absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.
Focusing wellness efforts on high-risk workers can lead to better results. A national manufacturing company reports a decrease of 12.2% in disease days for these workers.
A two-year study by the DuPont Corporation of the effect of its robust wellness program on absences among workforce reports that blue-collar workforce at intervention sites had a 14 percent decline in disability days versus 5.8 percent decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.
Increased Performance, Productivity and Morale
A number of employers with wellness programs report documented betterment in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among wellness program participants–all crucial factors in enhancing productivity.
A Johnson and Johnson study found that staff member attitude changes were greater at wellness intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.
In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Company experimental group realized a 4 percent increase in productivity after beginning an employee fitness program, compared to the control group.
Moreover, 47 percent of wellness program participants announced that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their peers, and ordinarily enjoyed their work more.
Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit workers than in non-fit staff members. Fit workers committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit staff members.
The Bottom Line
The following sample of corporate wellness wellness program results have been reported by individual companys –
Company – Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent
• Bank of America (Fries) – $5.96/$1
• PacBell – $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group – $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance – $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh) – $4.73/$1
• General Mills – $3.50/$1
Summary
There is compelling evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by employers on health-related costs is avoidable by means of wellness programming.
Well-planned, comprehensive wellness programs (wellness programs and worksite wellness programs) have been proven to be cost-effective, namely when the wellness programming is matched to the health problems of the specific employee
