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Indianapolis Business Journal
Schoettle, Anthony
Excerpt
...."The key for
companies' decisions regarding these programs quickly
became return-on-investment," agreed Patty
Hollingsworth, director of health promotions for St.
Vincent Hospitals and Health Services.
Though Hollingsworth
said the positive effects could "be seen on the faces"
of workers and in their performance, many corporate
chiefs wanted quantifiable proof.
Industry experts said
several factors, including productivity and reduced
absenteeism, show the monetary benefit of corporate
wellness. But escalating health care costs are giving
those selling corporate wellness plans a hammer to drive
home their point.
"For many companies,
employee health care costs were going up two, three,
four times as much as the year before," said Sally
Stephens, president of Indianapolis based wellness
program provider Spectrum Health Systems LLC. "Employers
realized they needed to be proactive." ...
...Companies in various
industries nationwide report saving millions of dollars
due to corporate wellness programs.
* Everett, Wash.-based
Providence Health System showed a company savings of
$1.5 million, with $4.24 saved for every $1 spent over
three years, according to company officials.
* Officials for
Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont Co. cited a 47.5- percent
drop in absenteeism over a six-year period for
participants in their wellness program.
* Medical claims were
55 percent lower over six years for employees
participating in a wellness program compared with those
not in the program at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based
Steelcase Inc., according to company officials. That
statistic, however, could be explained by the tendency
for healthy people to more readily participate in the
plans.
* Omaha, Neb.-based
Union Pacific Railroad, with mostly union and
blue-collar employees, introduced an employee wellness
program after its medical costs soared to $6,000 per
employee. After Union Pacific officials instituted what
they called "a modest wellness program," they reported
saving $1.26 million in health care costs in just one
year, more than 50 percent more than they invested in
the program.
* Superior Coffee and
Foods, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Sara Lee, reported
the wellness program for its 1,200 employees showed 22
percent fewer hospital admissions, 29-percent shorter
hospital stays and 42-percent lower expenses per
admission when compared with other divisions. Long-term
disability costs dropped 40 percent.
* The Canadian Life
Assurance Co. found turnover among wellness- program
participants was reduced 32.4 percent over a seven-year
period.
As the proof of
corporate wellness program's effectiveness rises,
Stephens said, more Fortune 500 companies are developing
in-house departments to take care of it, while smaller
companies are turning to outside agencies in growing
numbers to administer their programs.... |
