The Impact of the Highmark Employee Wellness Programs on 4-Year Healthcare Costs (original) (raw)
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Do workplace wellness programs reduce medical costs? Evidence from a Fortune 500 company
Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing, 2013
The recent passage of the Affordable Care Act has heightened the importance of workplace wellness programs. This paper used administrative data from 2002 to 2007 for PepsiCo's self-insured plan members to evaluate the effect of its wellness program on medical costs and utilization. We used propensity score matching to identify a comparison group who were eligible for the program but did not participate. No significant changes were observed in inpatient admissions, emergency room visits, or per-member per-month (PMPM) costs. The discrepancy between our findings and those of prior studies may be due to the difference in intervention intensity or program implementation.
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2002
reducing the health risks of 4586 employees who participated in two serial health screening programs, with a minimum of 1 year between screenings. The study also examines the impact of participation in a high-risk intervention program called Pathways to Change® on health risk factors. McNemar chi-squared and z-test statistics were used to evaluate changes in health risks over time. Results indicate significant risk reduction in 8 of 13 risk categories examined for all employees who participated in two health risk assessments over an average of 2 3 ⁄4 years. When comparing Pathways to Change participants with non-participants, participants outperformed their non-participant counterparts in six categories but performed worse in five other categories that were not specifically targeted by the high-risk program. In two categories, no differences were found. The study underscores the ability of large-scale, well-attended, and comprehensive corporate health and productivity management programs to positively impact the health and well-being of workers. (J Occup Environ Med.
A Return on Investment Evaluation of the Citibank, N.A., Health Management Program
American Journal of Health Promotion, 1999
Program components included an initial screening of employees, computerized triage of subjects into higher and lower risk intervention programs, extensive follow-up with the higher risk subjects, and general health education and awareness building. The objective of this study was to estimate the financial impact of this program on medical expenditures. Methods. A quasiexperimental design was applied comparing medical expenditures before vs. after the intervention for program participants and nonparticipants. 838 subjects (11,194 program participants and 11, 644 nonparticipants) were follozoed for average of 38 months before and after administration of a Healthtrac health risk appraisal (HRA) instrument that triggered the start of the program. To adjust for selection bias the extent possible with these data, multiple regression models were used to estimate the savings in medical expenditures associated with program participation. The resulting dollar savings were compared to program costs to estimate the economic return on the company's investment in the program. Results. The return on investment (ROI) was estimated to be between 4.56and4.56 and 4.56and4.73 saved per dollar spent on the program, depending on the discount rate applied. These results are similar to published evaluations of Healthtrac programs implemented with other populations. Conclusions. Despite limitations inherent in any retrospective observational study, the strong, positive ROI shown here suggests that a well-designed health management program (HMP), which focuses interventions on high risk populations, can result in monetary savings to an organization. (A m J Health Promot 1999;1411]:31-43.) Corporate worksite health management, health promotion, and wellness programs have often been sold to senior management with the promise that they will save money. The HRA and Scoring t~'ocess. The Citibank HMP made substantial use of a standard HRA survey developed by Healthtrac. This HRA form requested self-reported inforraation from employees on demographic factors, smoking status, alcohol use, vitality, height, body weight, exercise levels, seat belt use, nutrition habits, stress levels, use of medications, chronic health problems, and perceptions of
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2014
Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are popular among employers in the United States. This study examined an employee wellness program and its association with employee health in an organization that recently initiated a CDHP. Methods: This retrospective observational analysis compared the health risks, employer-paid health care costs, and short-term disability absences of employees of a large financial services corporation from 2009 to 2010. Results: The two-time health risk appraisal participants had a significant improvement in the percentage of employees in the overall low-risk category. The average annual employer-paid medical and pharmacy costs did not significantly change. For employees who improved their health risk category, there was a commensurate change in costs and absences. Conclusions: In a difficult economic climate, this organization began a health promotion program for employees as well as a new CDHP benefit structure. No short-term reduction in health care usage or overall health status was observed.
The Economic Value of a Wellness and Disease Prevention Program
Population Health Management, 2010
The objective of this study was to determine the economic impact of the Hawaii Medical Service Association's health promotion/disease prevention program. A retrospective analysis of health risk, health claims, and cost was performed using a mixed model factorial design for the years 2002-2005 that compared program participants to nonparticipants. All analyses were adjusted for preexisting observed differences based on sex, age, baseline morbidity, and health care costs between participants and nonparticipants using propensity score matching method and/or covariates as appropriate.
Workplace Wellness Programs Can Generate Savings
Health Affairs, 2010
Amid soaring health spending, there is growing interest in workplace disease prevention and wellness programs to improve health and lower costs. In a critical meta-analysis of the literature on costs and savings associated with such programs, we found that medical costs fall by about 3.27foreverydollarspentonwellnessprogramsandthatabsenteeismcostsfallbyabout3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about 3.27foreverydollarspentonwellnessprogramsandthatabsenteeismcostsfallbyabout2.73 for every dollar spent. Although further exploration of the mechanisms at work and broader applicability of the findings is needed, this return on investment suggests that the wider adoption of such programs could prove beneficial for budgets and productivity as well as health outcomes.
Workplace Wellness Programs: Services Offered, Participation, and Incentives
Rand health quarterly, 2015
This article leverages existing data on wellness programs to explore patterns of wellness program availability, employers' use of incentives, and program participation and utilization among employees. Researchers used two sets of data for this project: The first included data from the 2012 RAND Employer Survey, which used a nationally representative sample of U.S. employers that had detailed information on wellness program offerings, program uptake, incentive use, and employer characteristics. These data were used to answer questions on program availability, configuration, uptake, and incentive use. The second dataset included health care claims and wellness program information for a large employer. These data were analyzed to predict program participation and changes in utilization and health. The findings underscore the increasing prevalence of worksite wellness programs. About four-fifths of all U.S. employers with more than 1,000 employees are estimated to offer such program...