Managed Care - February 2008 - (Page 24) Wellness WELLNESS PROGRAMS No Longer Just an Add-On By Lola Butcher Contributing Editor merica’s health plans have heard the message: Employers want wellness services, and the plans are delivering with gusto. The nation’s biggest plans are rolling out slick programs that are designed to improve the health status of a client’s workforce by picking off the incubating health problems of each worker — one at a time if that’s what it takes. Rooted in the philosophy of disease management, most wellness programs are designed to identify a worker’s health risks and intervene early and often. That means newsletters, online coaches, worksite programs, telephone calls from health coaches, reminders about doctor’s appointments, blood draws at the office, posters at the clinic. If a health threat can be remediated (obesity, smoking, A poor nutrition, inactivity, stress overload) or managed (pregnancy, asthma, depression) there is a program tailored to do so. “We see this as a huge opportunity,” says Christine Page, senior vice president of Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. “Our program goes from wellness, prevention, and early detection all the way to chronic disease management. All of that makes people not only healthier, but also more functional, even while they are managing a disease.” Strengthening ties Kaiser and other health plans say those services make them more valuable to their clients, cementing relationships. Joan Kennedy, senior vice president of WellPoint and president of its Health Management subsidiary, considers health optimization, as she calls it, to be Employers see link between wellness & productivity No wonder employers are pushing wellness: They can expect a quick return on their investment. An employee who starts working out, for example, may curtail sick days and exhibit more energy after just a short time. Relative importance of wellness program objectives Percent of U.S. employers that consider this very important Reducing health care costs Improving worker productivity Reducing employee absences because of sickness/disability Improving workplace safety Attracting/retaining employees Improving workforce morale Promoting corporate image/brand Fulfilling social responsibility 21% 20% 38% 37% 35% 55% 50% 79% Source: Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies, Buck Consultants, 2007 Although 466 employers of all sizes participated, the average respondent employed 12,500 employees. 24 MANAGED CARE / FEBRUARY 2008
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