Three Factors Determine Wellness Program Success

Worksite wellness programs can reap strong ROI and have positive financial benefits on employers’ health care costs. According to recent research, the economic success of these programs is dependent on three factors:

• Establishing clear goals or expectations for the program over a defined period of time
• The primary focus of the program (disease management vs. lifestyle programs)
• Using best practices to enhance overall program success

Goals
An employers' goals can focus on concrete measures such as reduced health care utilization, which can be measured; or softer measures, such as greater productivity, increased presenteeism or higher morale, which are harder to quantify.

Program Focus
Wellness initiatives generally focus on two areas, as mentioned previously: disease management and lifestyle programs. Both play important roles in employee well-being; however, with regard to ROI, current research from the RAND Corporation suggests that disease management programs have demonstrated significant savings, while lifestyle programs show a lower level of direct return.

Looking at the ratio of reductions in health care costs to program cost, RAND determined that the overall ROI for worksite wellness programs is $1.50, whereas returns for the individual components differ dramatically. The ROI for disease management programs is $3.80 but drops to $0.50 for lifestyle management initiatives.

While RAND researchers do not think lifestyle management programs are worth the investment, other highly regarded professionals such as Leonard Berry, who wrote “What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs?” for the Harvard Business Review, disagree. Berry notes: "Although some health risk factors, such as heredity, cannot be modified, focused education and personal discipline can change others, such as smoking, physical inactivity, weight gain, and alcohol use — and, by extension, hypertension, high cholesterol, and even depression. The results are worth the effort." Other researchers have found that the ROI from lifestyle interventions accrues over time and needs to be measured in the long term, noting that employers need to get ahead of illnesses to control and manage employee healthcare costs.

Best Practices
Most researchers agree that ultimately the success of a wellness program lies in adoption of best practices including: the development of a wellness culture supported by all levels of management through visible participation, effective and creative communications with employees that are continually refined and delivered through diverse media, offering a variety of accessible activities and pursuits, and ongoing programmatic assessment with methods for employee input.

Source

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