return on investment & health and productivity management
 7 Benchmarks of Wellness Success Living Well Program Score ROI Statistics
Return On Investment (ROI) of Worksite Wellness Programs 
The work site is the ideal place for health and wellness programs. Employees spend more than half of their waking hours at work. According to the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA), the amount of ROI that can be expected from a wellness program depends on the type of program being implemented. They refer to three different types of programs (1) Quality of WorkLife (QWL) Wellness or "Wellness for Fun and Pleasure," (2) Traditional or Conventional (ToC) Wellness or "the Safe Approach, and (3) Health and Productivity Management (HPM) Style Wellness or "Serious Wellness."
QWL wellness programs focus primarily on improving the morale of employees. They are intended to add quality to worklife and to improve camaraderie and relationships between employer and employees. This approach to worksite wellness involves entirely voluntary activities that are generally selected for the positive effect they are likely to have on employees. The ROI for this type of program is quite low with a cost/benefit ratio from zero to 1:1.5.
ToC wellness programs focus primarily on the passive offering of a more extensive set of interventions than the QWL program model. They are intended to offer a wide range of activities in a smorgasbord-style approach where about half the eligible participants will usually initiate the use of one or more program activities. The intention is to offer, on a complementary voluntary basis, many different worksite-based wellness activities and to have something for everybody. The ROI for this type of program is moderate with a cost/benefit ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:3.5.
HPM wellness programs focus primarily on the proactive offering of a highly structured and substantial set of interventions than either the QWL program model or the ToC program model. It is intended to provide an infra-structure of health management activities offered to a large portion of the work force involved and their spouses. The core intention of the HPM model is to offer an organized intentional process of health improvement and health risk reduction for all participants. This is the model that the Sarasota Country Government Living Well Program is based upon. The ROI for this type of program is higher than that of the other two program types with a cost/benefit ratio of 1:3.6 to 1:7.0.
Reference: Adapted from  WELCOA. (2006). Planning wellness: Getting off to a good start, Part I. Absolute Advantage (5)4, p. 1-92.
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7 Benchmarks of a Results Oriented Wellness Program
The Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA) believes there are seven critical benchmarks that are characteristic of results-oriented programs. These include; (1) capturing senior level support, (2) creating cohesive wellness teams, (3) collecting data to drive a results-oriented wellness initiative, (4) crafting an annual operating plan, (5) creating a supportive health promoting environment, (6) choosing appropriate interventions, and (7) carefully evaluating program outcomes. 
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WELCOA Assessment Results
The Well Workplace Checklist is an interactive assessment created by WELCOA that allows an organization to determine how it is doing with respect to worksite wellness. The Living Well Program fared well in most of the seven critical benchmarks, however, data collection efforts need to be improved and the annual operating plan needs to be expanded and updated. To read a full version of the assessment results click here.
|
Benchmark |
Score (out of 100) |
| Capturing senior level support |
80 |
| Creating cohesive wellness teams |
66 |
| Collecting data to drive a results-oriented wellness initiative |
50 |
| Crafting an annual operating plan |
50 |
| Creating a supportive health promoting environment |
79 |
| Choosing appropriate interventions |
72 |
| Carefully evaluating program outcomes |
75 |
WELCOA recommended a more stringent data collection strategy for the Living Well Program to increase its score. The program was told to concentrate on collecting all four types of organizational data including;
Organization’s demographics
Modifiable medical claims analysis, which allows the program to pinpoint the amount of preventable health care dollars the government is spending annually
Corporate health culture audit, which determines the health norms and values of our government,
Examination of employee productivity/presenteeism/engagement, which allows program to understand how much the government loses in terms of poor productivity or unhappy people.
WELCOA suggested that; "by gathering these types of data your wellness initiative will become data driven. Indeed, you will have concrete information in front of each of your wellness team members as well as data that can be shared with senior level executives. Certainly, it takes resources and significant commitment to collect these types of data every 12 to 24 months, however, the payoffs will be substantial. In fact, you will be able to create a data dashboard that can be monitored longitudinally over time. This is important for any company, large or small, that is interested in creating a results-oriented wellness program. Data collection may very well be the most important benchmark in the entire Well Workplace process."
The Living Well Program Operating Plan can be found in the Balanced Scorecard within Govmax. This plan is dynamic and continually transforming through analysis, feedback, industry development and expansion. A primary goal of the program going forward is to align directly to the SCG Enterprise objectives.
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ROI Statistics
A review of 32 studies of corporate wellness programs found claims costs were reduced by 27.8%, physician visits declined by 16.5%, hospital admissions declined by 62.5%, disability costs reduced by 34.4%, incidence of injury declined by 24.8%.
A study reported average annual savings of $8.5 million during 4 years when 18,331 Johnson & Johnson employees participated in a health and wellness program at work.
A separate study of the same group showed reductions in tobacco use, sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low dietary fiber intake and poor motor vehicle safety practices.
Another study showed that employees who utilized an employee fitness center gained both physical and psychological benefits: improved morale (64%), job satisfaction (70%), work productivity (66%), energy level (83%), physical fitness (86%), general health (80%), work/life balance (63%), stress management (76%), stamina/endurance (84%), attentiveness at work (70%), healthy back (74%), keeping high blood pressure in check (62%), managing cholesterol levels (68%), and controlling weight (76%).
Citibank’s health management program reported an estimated return on investment of $4.56 to $4.73 saved per $1 spent on the program (AJHP, Ozminkowski, Goetzel et al., 1999).
Over 5 years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Indiana realized a 250% return on its corporate fitness program investment, yielding a ROI of $2.51 for every $1.00 invested (AJHP, Kenneth R. Pelletier, March/April 1991).
Reference: Aurora Healthcare, 2005, http://www.aurorahealthcare.org
Articles of Interest
Medscape An Aging Workforce: Health-Related Productivity and the Economic Value of Health Promotion
Welcoa; Absolute Advantage: Volune 1; Number 9 Results Oriented: Demonstrating Outcomes in Workplace Wellness
Welcoa; Absolute Advantage: Volume 2; Number 5 ROI: Demonstrating results with Population Health Management
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