With employers now paying
around 71 percent of their
employees’ health care premiums1, health and wellness programs have
gained increasing attention as employers
look for new ways to contain costs.
Health and wellness programs focus on
education to help change employee
behaviors. By providing employees with
information about living healthier,
employers will create a healthier work
force, and employees will learn to appreciate the value of medical services and
how to spend health care dollars wisely.
In addition to education, effective
health and wellness programs identify
at-risk employees, as well as provide
interventions that encourage lifestyle
changes aimed at reducing risk.
“A lot of people think wellness programs are only for well people,” says
Teresa Koenig, M.D., MBA, senior vice
president and chief medical officer for
SummaCare, Inc. “But wellness is also
about how you manage the illness that
you may already have.”
Smart Business spoke to Koenig and
Julie Sich, MS, ATC, CSCS, health promotions coordinator at SummaCare,
Inc., about the importance of employers
picking the right wellness program.
Why should employers implement a wellness program now?
Employers should have implemented
wellness programs years ago. With the
cost of health care skyrocketing in this
country, it is essential for people to
understand the impact lifestyle choices
and behavior have on their out-of-pocket
costs.
Look at what is happening in our country with what we call ‘diabesity.’ Sixty-five percent of the population is over-weight, so the cost of health care will
only continue to rise in the coming
years. The illness burden for the next 10
to 15 years can be turned around and
prevented, but it must be incorporated
into not only our lifestyles, but into
health benefits too.
As a country, we need to change our
behaviors. Many existing conditions are due to preventable causes, such as diabetes, heart disease, smoking and alcohol abuse. Behavioral changes will help
draw health care costs forward, but education and constant assessments both
play a crucial role in making these
changes occur. Identifying behaviors,
suggesting healthier alternatives and
educating employees about disease prevention are essential steps in creating a
healthier population.
Have wellness programs been around long
enough to show proof that they can lower
premium rates?
While you can’t always relate return on
investment directly to a wellness program, wellness programs that are incorporated into a company’s overall strategy and integrated into the corporate culture for years show a true trend constituting progress. It takes a long-term
commitment to change and time to nurture a wellness program, but if employers increase awareness of health and
wellness issues, provide support for
individual self-management and promote a culture of good health they
should expect to see a return on investment over time.
What should employers look for when
selecting a wellness program?
Look for a wellness program that fits
your needs. What works for a 2,000-employee site may not work for a 40-employee site, so look for a program
with flexibility and scalability. Select
strategies that work for your employee
base, and make sure program expectations are clearly defined and communicated.
It’s also important to select a wellness
program you can tailor to your environment, and look at it in the context of
overall health costs. If a provider tries to
sell you an asthma program, but no one
in your population has asthma, how
does that save you money?
Before implementing a wellness program, make sure it is a priority in the
company from the top down. Wellness
programs aren’t successful with senior
management buy-in only — supervisors
and managers need to be involved too.
How important is it for employees to understand the way wellness programs work?
It is critical for employers to engage
their employees in wellness programs,
as well as educate them on all aspects of
the programs. In order to move from a
disease-based system to a wellness system, employees have to be informed and
active participants to understanding
what drives wellness and diseases.
1 Health Insurance Benefits, March
2008. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
TERESA KOENIG, M.D., MBA, is senior vice president and chief medical officer for SummaCare. Reach her at
[email protected]. JULIE SICH, MS, ATC, CSCS, is the health promotions coordinator for SummaCare. Reach her at
[email protected]. SummaCare, Inc., a provider-owned health plan located in Akron, Ohio, services members in an 18 county
service area through a network of over 7,000 providers and many top hospitals.
