The Impact of the Highmark Employee Wellness Programs on 4-Year Healthcare Costs (original) (raw)

Learning Objectives • Identify those elements of the Highmark Wellness Program that gained the most participants in the course of the 4-year study period. • Compare employees who chose to take part in the program with riskmatched non-participants in regard to total healthcare expenditures, annual increases in healthcare expenditures, and return on investment. • Recall whether and in what way participation in wellness programs influenced spending for preventive care. Objective: To determine the return on investment (ROI) of Highmark Inc.'s employee wellness programs. Methods: Growth curve analyses compared medical claims for participants of wellness programs versus risk-matched nonparticipants for years 2001 to 2005. The difference was used to define savings. ROI was determined by subtracting program costs from savings and alternative discount rates were applied in a sensitivity analysis. Results: Multivariate models estimated health care expenses per person per year as $176 lower for participants.