+
Making Wellness Successful and Profitable
Debra Wein, MS, RD, LDN, CWPD
President and Founder
+ My History …
Began working in worksite wellness in
the early 1990s in NYC.
At WW, we have worked with
companies including: Putnam
Investments, MIT, Old Mutual Asset
Management, Massachusetts Bankers
Association, EMC, Brown University
Rockland Trust, Clifford Chance,
Northeastern University, MITRE,
Bentley University and many more…
Present strategy, year-round programs,
classes, seminars, weight management
and disease risk programs, health
screenings, branded internet sites,
advanced technology solutions,
newsletters and many other programs
and communications…
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That was then. This is now!
now
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Quiz
According to a joint Harvard Medical and Business School
study, how much money does a company save for every
dollar spent on worksite wellness?
1.$10
2.$5
3.$0
4.$3
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Quiz – Correct Answer!
According to a joint Harvard Medical and Business School
study, how much money does a company save for every
dollar spent on worksite wellness?
1.
$10
2.
$5
3.
$0
4.
$3

Between savings on health care costs and absenteeism costs, for every
$1 spent, a company will save over $5.
+ Quiz
Heart Disease
…costs employers $_____ per employee per year.
More than…
1.
$2,500
2.
$5,000
3.
$11,500
4.
$18,500
+ Quiz – Correct Answer!
Heart Disease
…costs employers $18,618 per employee per year.
$18,618 =

$5617 for group health

$981 for worker’s comp

$6052 for sick leave

$178 for long term disability

$4845 for short term disability and

$945 for unpaid leave
+
Quiz
Diabetes
…costs employers an additional $____ per employee per year.
More than…
1.
$2,500
2.
$5,000
3.
$11,500
4.
$18,500
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Quiz – Correct Answer!
Diabetes
…costs employers an additional $11,744 per employee per year.

On average, people who have diabetes expend 2.3 times more
money on health care than people who do not have diabetes.
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Wellness at work- A great case!
•
Employers, insurers, and health care organizations are looking for ways
to increase the level of care while lowering costs
•
Captive audience
•
•
•
More than 60% of Americans get their health insurance through their employer
•
Americans spend most of their waking hours at work
Preventive worksite wellness programs have become a great tool
o
Reduction in health care costs
o
More productive workers
Worksite wellness at large companies is becoming more popular
o
A 2012 MetLife Survey found that 77 percent of employers with more than 500 employees
offer wellness programs 44 percent of all companies, regardless of size, offer wellness
programs.
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+
+
Wellness Programs Today
+
Wellness Programs Today
The Biggest Loser Challenge
•
•
•
•
•
•
Many companies are turning to weight
loss competitions modeled after
NBC’s The Biggest Loser to help
promote healthier employees
Only appeals to overweight people
• Smokers may be thin, too
Public weigh-ins
• May prevent many from joining
No educational approach
• Many may lose weight by
unhealthy habits – not helpful for
long-term weight management
No focus on other lifestyle habits
• Smoking, heart disease, diabetes
other areas may be cost drivers
as well
No focus on proper ways to lose
weight
Wellness Challenge
•
•
•
•
Long-term programs (8-week)
focusing on lifestyle interventions and
incentives
Team-based, motivating and FUN
Strategic, scientifically oriented
programs
Comprehensive focus
o
•
Easy to administer
o
o
•
Participants earn points for healthy lifestyle
activities, i.e. physical activity, fruit and
vegetable consumption, smoking cessation,
age appropriate screenings.
Web-based tracking and reporting system
Educational webinars, available 24x7
Everyone can learn and be successful!
o
o
Earn points for maintaining a healthy weight
OR losing at an appropriate rate of weight loss
Earn points for not smoking OR joining a
smoking cessation program
+Benefits of Successful Workplace
Wellness
“Healthy Employees Cost Less”
•
Health Care Savings
•
Greater Productivity
•
Employee Morale
Source: Harvard Business Review, Dec 2010
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Health Care Savings

Johnson & Johnson established a Wellness Program in 1995,
generating savings of $250 million on health care costs over
the past decade.

From 2002 to 2009 a return of $2.71 was seen for every dollar spent

SAS Workplace Wellness program established a health care
center saving $6.6 million in 2009 alone on health care costs.

H-E-B internal analysis shows annual health care claims are
$1,500 higher among non-participants than participants
with high-risk health status

Lowering high and medium-risk employees to low-risk status yields
as estimated ROI of 6 to 1.
Source: Harvard Business Review, Dec 2010
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+
The truth hurts…
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Current Challenges to Wellness Today
 Population
Management
 Engagement

On average less than 50% of employees will participate in worksite wellness
programs.

According to an East Carolina University study, some of the most common
barriers to participation include:
 insufficient incentives
 inconvenient locations
 time limitations
 not interested
 not enough information
 unmotivated
 information is not personally relevant
 Return
on Investment
Best Wellness Practices!
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Tips to meet Today’s Wellness
Challenges…
 Effective


Communication
Employees have to be aware of a wellness program’s
existence, when it meets, and the benefits to the
employee
Brand your wellness program







Company wide emails
Letter from CEO introducing program
Postcard mailing home – welcome family to wellness,
announce a special program
Marketing materials in the office – elevators, kitchen, break
room, etc.
Meet with a key group of influencers to increase peer-topeer discussions about the program
Branded newsletters
Branded internet site
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Tips to meet Today’s Wellness
Challenge…
 Commitment
 Employees have to know that their employer has
made a commitment to this program, that it is
important to the employer at top level management,
and that it will become a permanent part of the
company culture

The more management gets involved in the program
and leads by example, the greater the success of the
program
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Tips to Meet Today’s Wellness
Challenges

Personally Relevant Information

Understand what health issues may be most
common for your area and your employees

Overcoming obesity

Seeking to lose/maintain weight

Information on cholesterol or hypertension,
diabetes, or overall healthy living

Dealing effectively with stress, work/life
balance
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Tips to Meet Today’s Wellness
Challenges
 Finding
the Right Balance

Need to combine what your employees
SHOULD focus on, with what they WANT to
focus on

Marry the HRA results (top risk factors for
employee population) with the Needs and
Interest Survey

Strategic combination will ensure participation
and cost avoidance
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Tips to meet Today’s Wellness
Challenges…

Convenience
 Understand the time demands on your
employees to know when they will be available
for a wellness program
 Lunch, early morning, in lieu of an hour of work

Incentives and Motivation

Beyond the desire for a healthier lifestyle, many
employees will need another reason to participate in
the program
 Lowered premiums for their health insurance
 Extra paid vacation
 Cash bonus
 Other perks
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Seven Elements for Success
1.
Senior Level Support
2.
Background Data
3.
Operating Plan
4.
Wellness Team
5.
Targeted Interventions
6.
Culture / The Environment
7.
Evaluation
Source: WELCOA
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You Get Out What You Put In
 Determine
 Do
Goals
something nice for your employees
 Increase employee retention
 Moderate health care costs
+Top Programs to Promote ROI
1.Seat
Belts
2.Ergonomics
3.Flu
Shots
4.Preventive
5.Medical
Screenings
Self-Care
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Incentives Drive Participation
0
Trinkets /
T-shirts
10-15%
50
Merchandise
15-30%
Cash
30-60%
100
Tied to
Premiums
80-90%
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Incentives
Which do you want to reward?
1.
2.
3.
Participation?
Behavior Change?
Health Outcomes?
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Incentives
1.
Participation
1.
2.
Biometric screenings, Personal Health
Assessment
Lectures, webinars, cooking demos
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Incentives
2. Behavior
1.
Behavior Change programs:
a.
2.
Change
Wellness challenge, Veto Your Vice,
Hypertension, Weight Management, Smoking
Cessation
Behavior Modifications:
a.
Increase fruit and vegetable consumption,
increase exercise and daily physical activity,
sleep 7 hours or more, well visits with doctor,
preventative visits, education
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Incentives
3.
Health Outcomes
1.
Improved BMI, body composition,
weight loss, non-smoker status
2.
Decreased risk of chronic diseases:
a. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression
b. Improved blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, HDL
cholesterol, triglyceride levels
c. Off medication
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Wellness Program Value on Investment

Growing trend to move away from complicated ROI calculations towards
measurements based on VOI—or value on investment.

VOI allows companies to evaluate wellness programs based self-defined
outcomes that are important to their organizations and take steps to fulfill them.

Map out your objectives when you start planning your wellness program. What
are your goals?





Get a sedentary population moving?
Engage a majority of employees in wellness initiatives?
Reduce absenteeism?
Increase productivity?
Keep yearly insurance premiums from rising?

Set goals and use simple methods to track data.

Collect as much data as you can—use it to demonstrate that your wellness
program is achieving the objectives that you want to achieve.
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Population Health Risks
 High
Risk* >5 risks
 Moderate
 Low
Risk
2-4 risks
0-2 risks
36%
12%
High Risk
Moderate
52%
*High risk employees consume 60-80% of
total health care costs.
Low Risk
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Population Strategies
Motivate the entire
employee population!
Population Strategies

LOW risk


MODERATE risk


Keep healthy people healthy
Help people reduce risks
HIGH risk

Help people NOT get worse OR
help them get better
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Thank you!
Visit us at:
www.WellnessWorkdays.com
www.Wellnessworkdays.blogspot.com
Follow @debrawein on twitter
Like us on Facebook
Drop your business card to receive our
free wellness newsletter.
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Wellness Care Reform Offers to
Boost Wellness Programs
1. Development of a national health promotion plan
2. Enhanced health promotion research
3. Technical assistance to enhance evaluation of workplace health
promotion programs
4. Regular periodic surveys on workplace health program prevalence
and components
5. Grants to pay a portion of the cost of comprehensive workplace
health promotion programs for small employers
6. Allowing employers to offer employees a premium discount of up
to 30%, for positive lifestyle practices or participation in health
promotion programs
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Health Care Reforms Impact on
Wellness

Wellness incentives increase from 20 to 30 percent of the total
premium.
 In 2014, employers can offer bigger incentives for employees’
positive lifestyle practices or participation in health promotion
programs

Millions of people will have better access to programs that can
help them quit smoking, manage stress, lose weight, and improve
fitness.

Proving the ROI for worksite wellness programs will get a lot
easier.

Regular national surveys on best practices for worksite wellness
programs

Vending machines to dispense junk food AND calorie counts