The most common measure of “value” for a wellness program is ROI, but a recent survey found that companies are beginning to look beyond just ROI for additional metrics to help justify their programs.
The Alliance for Wellness ROI, Inc.’s (Alliance) 4th Annual Survey of Corporate Wellness Programs showed that such metrics include:
- Wellness program utilization levels
- Decrease in risk (measured by health risk appraisal (HRA) responses, decreased healthcare costs, and absenteeism)
- Reduction in specific identified medical issues
- Comparison of healthcare costs to benchmarks
- Employee satisfaction
- Employee biometric data
- Actuarial analysis of participant vs. nonparticipant claims
- Adherence to recommended diagnostic protocols
As many HR managers are finding it harder to convince CFOs of the worth of wellness, some of the metrics above may prove useful.
Alliance for Wellness ROI
Alliance, the organization that conducted the survey, is a nonprofit intercompany cooperative formed in January 2005.
The mission of Alliance is to promote corporate wellness programs by demonstrating, through an objective Return on Investment (ROI) measurement, that wellness programs are an investment rather than an expense to a company.
The following is a summary of the results of Alliance’s 4th Annual Survey. Readers should be aware that the target of the survey is larger companies—about half of respondents were with organizations of 10,000 or more employees.
Department Where Wellness Was Initiated
Department | Percent of respondents |
Human Resources | 38.5% |
Benefits | 23.1% |
HR/Benefits | 23.1% |
Health Services | 15.4% |
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Senior Management Support
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being absolutely supportive), many survey respondents reported that their senior management is supportive of their wellness program:
Scale score | Percent of respondents |
1-4 | 5.9% |
5 | 5.9% |
6 | 11.8% |
7 | 17.6% |
8 | 17.6% |
9 | 17.6% |
10 | 23.5% |
Annual per Employee Cost
The per employee total wellness program cost for survey respondents varied from less than $50 to more than $400 annually. Almost 20% of the responding companies had annual average wellness program costs in excess of $400 per employee.
Alliance points out that these cost figures can be hard to interpret. For example, say a company offers a comprehensive physical outside of the medical plan to all employees and their spouses. Some companies may consider such a cost a healthcare cost and others may consider it a wellness program cost.
Per Employee Cost | Percent of respondents |
Less than $50 | 33.3% |
$50 – $99 | 16.7% |
$100 – $149 | 33.3% |
$150 – $199 | 0.0% |
$200 – $249 | 0.0% |
$250 – $399 | 0.0% |
$400+ | 16.7% |
Prevalence and Type of Wellness Program Offerings
All of the responding companies had some semblance of a wellness program, the majority of which were extremely robust (i.e., include more than five Alliance’s standard wellness program components).
Program component | Percent of respondents offering |
Work/life balance | 95% |
HRA | 94% |
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) | 85% |
Wellness educational materials | 83% |
Fitness programs | 83% |
Preventive care | 80% |
Disease management | 72% |
Weight management | 72% |
Smoking cessation | 72% |
Telephonic wellness services | 66% |
On-site medical | 22% |
Work/Life Balance Programs
Of the 95% of respondents that offered a work/life balance component, the most prevalent were service programs managed externally by separate vendors, with the exception of lactation support programs, which were primarily administered internally.
Program component |
Percent of respondents offering |
Legal | 71% |
Financial | 53% |
Concierge | 47% |
Subsidy for On-site Childcare | 18% |
Subsidy for Off-site Childcare | 0% |
Lactation Support | 59% |
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Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Eighty-three percent of survey respondents offered an EAP, typically through plan providers separate from their medical plans.
Program component | Percent of respondents offering |
Call Line | 100% |
Critical Incident Services | 80% |
Stress Management | 53% |
Weight Management
Weight management was a common offering. In some instances, to receive coverage, the participants must meet certain requirements such as a body mass index above a predefined level.
Program component | Percent of respondents offering |
Coverage or Discounts for Weight Loss | 85% |
Weight Loss Surgery | 69% |
Weight Loss Medications | 31% |
Nutritional Counseling | 54% |
Healthy Cafeteria Choices | 92% |
Financial Incentives for Weight Loss | 8% |
Wellness Education/Communication
Most survey respondents offered at least one type of wellness education and communication program component.
Program component | Percent of respondents offering |
Online Communications | 93% |
Print Communications | 87% |
Audio/Visual Communications | 27% |
Self-care Guide | 27% |
Pre-natal Program | 67% |
In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll cover survey responses on HRAs, disease management, and smoking cessation, and we’ll take a look at a unique guide that will help you in setting up and administering your wellness program.
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