Workplace wellness programs aim to improve employee health and reduce healthcare costs. They coordinate comprehensive strategies including programs, policies, screening, and community links. Research shows modifiable health risks contribute significantly to spending, and wellness programs can help address conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. To succeed, programs need senior support, goals, and interventions tailored to employee needs. Common models include quality of life, traditional activity-based, and results-oriented population health management approaches. Measuring outcomes is important but results may vary depending on the goals and what is being measured.

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©2014 by Blue Cross of Idaho, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
An Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Workplace Wellness
Idaho Association of District Boards of Health Annual Meeting

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Today’s discussion
• Laying the foundation
• Defining workplace wellness
• Reviewing models and best practices
• Common misconceptions
• Results
• Q & A

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What We Know
• We use more healthcare as we age
• Most groups are getting older
• Most of us are connected to an employer workplace
• Health risks increase healthcare costs, sick leave use and
worker’s comp cost
• Health risks are very common in our work force
• Healthcare spending is not normally distributed
• Individual healthcare spending doesn’t stay high
• When health risks change, healthcare costs change

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What’s Driving the Interest in Wellness
• “Ten Modifiable Health Risk Factors Are Linked To More
Than One-Fifth Of Employer-Employee Health Care
Spending”
• Depression remained the most important predictor of
higher healthcare costs ($2,184 or 48% higher)
• High blood glucose, high blood pressure and obesity were
strongly related to increased healthcare costs (31.8%,
31.6% and 27.4% higher respectively)
• 32.2% of employees in survey were obese
• According to a recent Gallup poll, Idaho ranks 23rd with
an obesity rate of 25.9%

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Average Annual Healthcare Spend
$380
$1,110
$2,600
$4,550
$8,402
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
$9,000
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, National Conference of State Legislators

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What is Workplace Wellness?
• “Workplace wellness is any workplace health promotion,
activity or organizational policy designed to support healthy
behavior in the workplace and to improve health outcomes.
Generally speaking, health promotion is defined as the
process of enabling people to increase control over, and to
improve their health.” Source: Wikipedia
• “Workplace health programs are a coordinated and
comprehensive set of health promotion and protection
strategies implemented at the worksite that includes
programs, policies, benefits, environmental supports, and links
to the surrounding community designed to encourage the
health and safety of all employees.” Source: CDC

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Refined Workplace Wellness Definition
• Supports improved health outcomes/safety
• There is intent and it is strategic
• Programs are coordinated and comprehensive
• Programs should enable health improvement
• Takes into account programs, policies, benefits,
environment and community

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Program Models
• Workplace wellness programs vary greatly by employer,
but can generally be categorized into one of three
models:
• Quality of Work Life = Morale Oriented
• Traditional Approach = Activity Oriented
• Population Health Management = Results Oriented
Source: L. Chapman, Planning Wellness 2011.

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What You Need to be Successful
• Obtain senior level support (most critical)
• Create wellness team
• Identify needs
• Formulate goals (most often skipped)
• Select interventions
• Plan and execute
• Measure/evaluate

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Programs You Can Provide
• WELCOA recommends the following programs to impact
ROI
• Mandate Seat Belt Use
• Conduct Ergonomic Assessments
• Provide Flu Shots
• Push Preventive Screenings/Well Baby Care
• Promote Medical Self-Care
• Offer Opportunities for Physical Activity
• Go Smoke Free
• Combat Depression
• Offer Programs for Alcohol and Substance Abuse
• Encourage health assessment via tools and health screening

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Common Misconceptions
• If you build it, they will come
• One initiative a wellness program makes
• Results are immediate
• Wellness just happens…like magic
• Everyone will participate
• $100 is adequate incentive
• If I tell my employees once, that’s enough
• Wellness is one and done, right?
• It’s easy to demonstrate ROI

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Does it Work?
• It depends on what you want to accomplish and how you
measure success.

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Results I’ve Observed
• Participation rates as low as 15% and as high as 95%
• The healthiest employees are the ones who participate first
• Groups will see an increase in healthcare spend for outpatient
services and prescription drugs
• The most common areas of health improvement are tobacco
use, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar
• The most difficult area to achieve health improvement is body
mass index
• Theoretical savings from health improvements year over year
are more than enough to pay for the cost of plan
administration

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Questions?