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Tailored wellness programs improve the bottom line

Employer-sponsored health plans are taking up an increasing amount of real estate on companies’ operating budgets, and management has had to get creative in order to slow the rise in costs.

One creative solution that companies have turned to is a customized employee wellness program. By using data of the health of their population, enlisting industry specialists and vendors to help structure plans, and applying new technologies, many employers are seeing that tailored plans are surprisingly effective at managing costs.

“Tailored” is the key word when creating an effective employee wellness program. The first step is for an employer to know the health issues that their employees, and their spouses and dependents face. This is commonly done by asking plan members to complete a health risk assessment. Health risk assessments now include such details as average hours of sleep per night, nutritional and exercise habits, and biometric data including weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

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The latter information in particular, introduced into the HRA process in the past decade, adds the critical physician component into health management. Typically collected by third-party vendors following doctor visits for privacy reasons, biometric details provide a superior snapshot of the overall well-being of a person. This data, when paired with advanced claims details and analysis, have vastly improved companies’ abilities to tailor their employee wellness programs to their employees’ needs. The more a company can perfect that tailoring, the more effective that company will be at managing costs and risks.

Technology has notably played a key role in improving the data available to companies and increased the participation and utilization of their wellness programs. Whereas physical activity was once self-reported, for example, a fitness device can now provide not only more accurate, but also more extensive information.

See also: Genetic testing threatens to increase employers’ healthcare costs

Similarly, programs can be administered online, increasing ease of use and reducing implementation costs. Many wellness companies have the ability to sync fitness activity from devices into their platforms so it can be managed all in one place.

It’s difficult for companies to manage all of this on their own, and it’s not a one-size-fits all solution. While there are many pre-existing program options out there, it’s better to tailor it to a company’s population. In the past decade, the number of options available has increased exponentially. Companies now have access to wellness tools of all shapes and sizes — arguably to an overwhelming degree. In other words, now is a good time for companies to look at their wellness programs and ask some sharp questions. Is the program tailored to the company’s employees? Does it meet the employer’s goal?

An effective program requires a concerted effort from the company’s leadership team. To incorporate a properly designed wellness program, a company must take time to determine both the needs of its employees and the goals of the company.

A third party — usually in the form of an insurance broker — can provide key assistance in these efforts by bringing in both the health claims data, benefits plan integration and an extensive knowledge of the wellness program options available. They have the ability to help the employer research and vet the right wellness vendor for the issues plaguing their population as well as fit it into the companies’ overall employee benefits strategy.

Wellness programs are no longer a stand-alone initiative. They are becoming more baked into the overall management of a company’s health population. With increasing healthcare costs, now is a perfect time for companies to revisit how they are managing their wellness program and what can be done to align it with their overall benefits goals.

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Wellness programs Wellness program ROI Health and wellness Healthcare plans Healthcare benefits
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