Posted by Winston Salem | Posted in Wellness Tips, winston salem wellness | Posted on 29-05-2009
The costs of medical care have been rising more than 10 percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money invested 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 care 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, reduce avoidable medical care utilization and enhance work achievement, and in turn decreased medical care expenditures and better employee satisfaction and retention, many organizations are beginning, or are interested in beginning, Worksite Health Promotion Programs for workers.
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 major findings include the following:
• Savings of $3.48 in reduced healthcare costs per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in cut absenteeism costs 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 ROI within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision reinforcement programs: $2 to $3 ROI within a year.
• Disease Management (DM) programs: $7 to $10 return on investment within a year.
By offering health improvement programs, corporations are not only providing an additional service for employees, but they are also gaining monetarily. Furthermore, the impact of a health improvement program goes beyond lowered healthcare cost and return on investment. A health improvement program can affect productiveness, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and healthcare expenditures.
• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to designing, launching and evaluating workplace programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.