Archive for November, 2008

The 61st annual World Health Assembly is taking place this week in Geneva, Switzerland and at this assembly; the World Health Organization (WHO) is presenting its report titled “Preventing Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) in the Workplace through Diet and Physical Activity.”

The report calls for Workplace Wellness Programs to be promoted and implemented worldwide.

Importance of Workplace Wellness Programs

The report states that Non-Communicable Disease related deaths have surpassed transferable disease related deaths and have become the leading global killers. Examples of Non-Communicable Disease’s are heart disease, diabetes and stroke. In 2005, 60% of worldwide projected deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. They are predicting that this health trend will continue through at least 2030.

Diet, caloric intake, lack of physical activity and tobacco use are the major risk factors in the cause of Non-Communicable Disease’s. Now more than ever, the understanding of the importance of health and wellness is crucial.

Workplace Wellness Programs are Effective Tools

The report states that Workplace Wellness Programs are found to be effective in improving health-related risk factors, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. The report also states that Workplace Wellness Programs will enhance the health of workers, enhance the corporate image, enhance employee morale, reduce employee absences and sick leave, increase employee productivity, and reduce corporate healthcare expenses.

Workplace Wellness Programs Monitoring

Finally, the report mentions that to have a successful Workplace Wellness Program, monitoring and evaluation through Health risk assessments and health outcomes are essential and should be included in the Workplace Wellness Program implementation. The evaluations ensure that the Workplace Wellness Program developed meets the proper needs of the workers. Employees should be reevaluated on an on-going basis to make sure the Workplace Wellness Program is still working, or to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made.

Wellness During the Summer

Wellness is important all year long; however if your workers haven’t gotten on the Wellness bandwagon, then now is the perfect time to get them there.

Summer is an ideal season to get back into shape and enhance overall Wellness.  The weather is beautiful, workers can get outside and they are motivated by the thought of having to wear clothes with less coverage.  Fitness, or lack of fitness, is apparent in the summer.

Wellness in the Summer has Advantages

There are many advantages to beginning a Workplace Wellness Program in the Summer.  Employees are more likely to get outside and walk or participate in group activities during the summer than they are in the cooler months of the fall and winter.  The summer months are also a great time to establish a Wellness challenge with your workers and celebrate the completion of the challenge with a participant picnic or cookout.  Finally, it always seems easier to eat healthy during the summer with all the fresh vegetables and fruits that are available during this time.

Workplace Wellness Program Kick-off

We recommend following these steps when starting a Workplace Wellness Program in your office.

Pick a coordinator for the Workplace Wellness Program who is willing and able to see it through.
Make sure that you have the support of corporate leadership.
Create a Wellness committee
Make use of a Workplace Wellness Program survey to uncover the obstacles and goals of your Workplace Wellness Program
Provide Health risk assessments
Analyze the Workplace Wellness Program and changes as needed
Remember to stress that the Workplace Wellness Program is for the workers.  Workplace Wellness Programs have been found to prevent obesity, cancer, heart disease and hypertension.  taking part in in a Workplace Wellness Program that offers all that should be an easy decision for the corporation and for the workers.

Workplace Wellness Programs are an excellent investment, at least according to Lincoln industries in Nebraska.  CNN reported on this 565 employee corporation their committed investment in their employee’s wellness.

Workplace Wellness Programs are part of corporation Culture

The Workplace Wellness Programs, according the story, has been in place for 16 years at Lincoln, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  The corporation has three full-time workers dedicated to the Workplace Wellness Program and the wellness of the workers, who receive onsite massages and a round of instructor-led stretching before they start their shifts.

Workplace Wellness Programs Assessed

According to CNN, one of the stipulations of the Workplace Wellness Program, which workers are not required to participate in, is that they receive quarterly checkups where assessments are completed on their weight, amount of body fat and flexibility.  Based on these health assessments, the workers are then ranked from platinum all the way down to “non-medal”.  To become platinum level, where you receive a corporation-paid climbing trip, you must achieve certain fitness levels and be a non-smoker.  Smoking cessation classes are part of the Workplace Wellness Program.

Workplace Wellness Programs Bring a Big Savings

The Workplace Wellness Program has been a wise investment for Lincoln Industries.  By having healthier workers, they have seen an average of $2 million in savings in healthcare costs per year.  The savings don’t stop there, since instituting a Workplace Wellness Program, workers’ compensation claims have gone from $500,000 per year down to less than $10,000 per year.

Workplace Wellness Programs are proven to improve productivity and reduce healthcare costs.  For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81% of America’s businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of Workplace Wellness Program with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most businesses offer Workplace Wellness Programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and healthcare costs.

For many corporations, medical costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives and rewards. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Workplace Wellness Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.

Workplace Wellness Programs are an example of healthcare reform that works. Results from America’s finest corporations, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Workplace Wellness Programs.  This investment in your most important asset – your employees – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.

Workplace Wellness Program Statistics:

Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the Wellness Councils of America, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Workplace Wellness Program. By providing financial incentives and rewards ($250 – $325) to employees who meet specific organizational and employee health initiatives the Workplace Wellness Program continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of healthcare use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices.

During the first 4 years of the Workplace Wellness Program there was a 28% average reduction in healthcare utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group.

Du Pont saw that each dollar invested in their Workplace Wellness Program returned $1.42 over two years in lower absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well workplace Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar workers dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the Workplace Wellness Program was provided, compared with a 5.8% decline at 19 sites where it was not.

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Workplace Wellness Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was lowered 19% during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 employees and retirees by decreasing poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller study, members of a Travelers fitness center Workplace Wellness Program were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.

The Workplace Wellness Program at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, based in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per employee during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 employees participated in the Workplace Wellness Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21% lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-participant. Resulting savings: $127.89 per participant in the Workplace Wellness Program with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1.

Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the business’s broad-based Workplace Wellness Program. Superior showed 22% fewer admissions to a hospital, 29% shorter hospital stays, and 42% lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 employees with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.

With medical costs per employee at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Workplace Wellness Program to its 28,000 employees, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest medical self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Workplace Wellness Program achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Workplace Wellness Program to help employees reduce health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Employees in a treatment group reduceed their risk of high blood pressure (45%) and high cholesterol (34%); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30%); and 21% stopped using tobacco.

Average medical costs of high-risk Steelcase employees- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as tobacco use, little exercise, overweight- are 75% higher than those of low-risk employees. But high-risk employees at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing business who improved their health habits through the company’s Workplace Wellness Program and became low risk cut their average medical claims in half thus lowering their medical insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk employees (20% of the total employee population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years.

Employees at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing business in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and reduceed their business’s healthcare costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 employees and their family members made smart medical decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18% reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the business saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3% decrease in costs over the previous year.

A medical claims-based study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a lower demand for medical services among those with access to Workplace Wellness Programs and self-care programs. Reductions in medical services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials.

CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Workplace Wellness Program delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80% of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50% for non-participant.

With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health rist assessment followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the healthcare claim costs. In another study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Workplace Wellness Program and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11% compared with an increase of 6.3% for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire.

With lower healthcare claims, medical costs decreased 16% for workers in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who participated in the broad-based Workplace Wellness Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city workers.

To prevent back injuries among its workers, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar workers, provided classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant rise in employee morale, lowered worker’s comp claims, medical costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.

Workplace Wellness Programs: Benefits

Workplace Wellness Programs offer Long-Term Benefits

Workplace Wellness Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two choices:  Workplace Wellness Programs or Health Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are a good choice, but only one will really offer long-term medical benefits for your workers and reduce costs over the years.

Workplace Wellness Programs offer Assistance

Insurance-based products offer workers the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the employee during the first 90 days.  We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a individual’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a individual’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce health costs in the future.

Workplace Wellness Programs offer convenient health risk assessments and testing for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and workers are more likely to stay active in an onsite employee Wellness Program.

Workplace Wellness Programs Get Results

Finally, the article states that companies with an effective Workplace Wellness Program can expect to see “500 percent reduce absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent reduce healthcare costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.