Business leaders frequently state that people are their greatest asset and employee wellbeing is critical to the health of their organization. To affect this, businesses have focused on creating and evolving a wellness program. While wellness initiatives can provide some motivation for employees to maintain or improve health, to truly drive outcomes employers need to take a broader approach by going beyond a wellness program to adopting a Health Risk Management (HRM) strategy.
HRM requires a cultural shift, where policies, procedures, and practices support health improvement and credible data is utilized to measure outcomes and efficacy. It also requires employers to think beyond their own employees and to consider family members and the communities in which they live. The simplest way to state this is: wellness is an outcome, not a strategy.
The road to healthier, more productive employees begins with an understanding of current and prospective cost drivers. It involves risk identification and analysis to set a strategic direction for mitigating health risks and the associated costs.
There is a direct correlation between the health risks of a population and the costs related to healthcare, workers’ compensation, disability, absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall productivity. Studies prove a healthy workforce is a safer workforce. Healthy employees have fewer workers’ compensation claims and of those who do have claims, they tend to require less healing time and fewer dollars in treatment.
As the number of health risks increase, so do the costs. The inverse is also true—as risks decrease, costs decrease. The CDC estimates that 80% of diabetes, 80% of heart disease and stroke, and 40% of cancers could be prevented if Americans would quit smoking, develop healthy eating habits, and get in shape.
The truth is simple—employee health is vital to the health of a business and its community. And the best way for employers to drive outcomes is to adopt a Health Risk Management strategy.
