Corporate Health Promotion Programs and Health Care Costs

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are more important now than ever. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, with the troubles in the economy it seems that the costs of organization offered health care keep continuing to grow and it doesn’t seem like it is going to change. The article notes that during the year 2008, United States companies can expect to see an increase of 10% in health care costs.

This increase in health care costs is causing some small companies to reduce their staff member health benefits or get rid of them altogether.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs for Healthier Lifestyles

Corporate Health Promotion Programs do provide an option for small companies. The corporations can provide discounted co-pays and deductibles to those workers that fully participate in the provided Corporate Health Promotion Program. Full participation means getting health screens, receiving a health risk assessment, and then working with their wellness coordinator to work towards a healthier lifestyle.

The healthier the workers, the lower the overall health care costs for the corporation. Just one lengthy hospital stay can almost deplete a small business’ health care budget.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs and Your Bottom Line

Corporate Health Promotion Programs provide many advantages to a company’s bottom-line. Corporate Health Promotion Plan Statistics from Prudential Insurance show a benefit expense of $312 per individual enrolled in a Corporate Health Promotion Plan compared to an expense of $574 per staff member that wasn’t enrolled. Coors Brewing Company showed a positive side-effect of member absenteeism dropping by 18%, thus greater production and less health care costs overall.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are an excellent investment, at least according to Lincoln industries in Nebraska. CNN reported on this 565 employee company their committed investment in their staff member’s wellness.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are part of company Culture

The Corporate Health Promotion Programs, according the story, has been in place for 16 years at Lincoln, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The company has three full-time workers dedicated to the Corporate Health Promotion Plan and the wellness of the workers, who receive onsite massages and a round of instructor-led stretching before they start their shifts.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Assessed

According to CNN, one of the stipulations of the Corporate Health Promotion Program, which workers are not mandated to participate in, is that they receive quarterly checkups where assessments are completed on their weight, amount of body fat and flexibility. Based on these health assessments, the workers are then ranked from platinum all the way down to “non-medal”. To become platinum level, where you receive a company-paid climbing trip, you must achieve certain fitness levels and be a non-smoker. Smoking cessation classes are part of the Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Bring a Big Savings

The Corporate Health Promotion Plan has been a smart investment for Lincoln Industries. By having healthier workers, they have seen an average of $2 million in savings in health care costs per year. The savings don’t stop there, since instituting a Corporate Health Promotion Program, workers’ compensation claims have gone from $500,000 per year down to less than $10,000 per year.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Are Becoming Increasingly Popular

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are Are Becoming Increasingly popular outside the worksite, showing the ever-increasing importance of disease prevention and health risk management. Private insurance companies, as well as state Medicaid and Medicare offices are working on ways to improve the health of the people they insure in hopes to save money in the long run. They are finding that mini-Corporate Corporate Health Promotion Programs are definitely the way to go.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Help with Early Intervention

According to an article that recently appeared in The Indianapolis Star, companies, insurers and government agencies are turning to “early intervention to alter the behavior of those struggling with common but dangerous health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, heart failure and coronary heart disease.”

The strategies that they used to improve their beneficiaries’ wellness postcard reminders for different lab tests or check-ups; and possibly even phone calls from nurses to work with the patients to make sure that they are taking their medicines properly and following the lifestyle changes that were suggested by their health care provider.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Provide Quality Benefits

There are more benefits to a Corporate Health Promotion Plan than just the savings that an organization or a state agency will see; there is the benefit to the actually patient. The patient is going to get the motivation and the incentive reward to get better or to manage their health by having to answer to someone, whether that someone is a full-time wellness staff member at their company or a nurse affiliated with their insurance company.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are proven to increase productivity and lower health care costs. For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81% of America’s businesses with 50 or more staff members have some form of Corporate Health Promotion Plan with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. The majority of corporations offer Corporate Health Promotion Programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and health care costs.

For many companies, health costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives and rewards. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Corporate Health Promotion Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping staff members well in the first place.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are an example of health care reform that works. Results from America’s finest companies, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Corporate Health Promotion Programs. This investment in your most important asset – your staff members – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.

Corporate Health Promotion Plan Statistics:

Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the Wellness Councils of America, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Corporate Health Promotion Program. By providing financial incentives and rewards ($250 – $325) to staff members who meet specific organizational and staff member health initiatives the Corporate Health Promotion Plan continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of health care use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices.

During the first 4 years of the Corporate Health Promotion Plan there was a 28% average reduction in health care utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group.

Du Pont saw that every dollar invested in their Corporate Health Promotion Plan returned $1.42 over two years in decreased rates of absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well worksite Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar employees dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the Corporate Health Promotion Plan was offered, compared with a 5.8% decline at 19 sites where it was not.

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Corporate Health Promotion Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was lowered 19% during the four-year research study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 staff members and retirees by decreasing poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller research study, members of a Travelers fitness center Corporate Health Promotion Plan were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.

The Corporate Health Promotion Plan at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, based in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per staff member during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 staff members participated in the Corporate Health Promotion Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21% lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-member. Resulting savings: $127.89 per member in the Corporate Health Promotion Plan with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1.

Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the business’s complete Corporate Health Promotion Program. Superior showed 22% fewer admissions to a hospital, 29% shorter hospital stays, and 42% lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 staff members with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.

With health costs per staff member at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Corporate Health Promotion Plan to its 28,000 staff members, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest health self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Corporate Health Promotion Plan achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Corporate Health Promotion Plan to help staff members lower health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Staff Members in a treatment group lowered their risk of high blood pressure (45%) and high cholesterol (34%); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30%); and 21% stopped smoking.

Average health costs of high-risk Steelcase staff members- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as tobacco use, little exercise, overweight- are 75% higher than those of low-risk staff members. But high-risk staff members at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing business who enhanced their health habits through the company’s Corporate Health Promotion Plan and became low risk cut their average health claims in half thus lowering their health insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk staff members (20% of the total staff member population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years.

Staff Members at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing business in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and lowered their business’s health care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 staff members and their family members made smart health decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18% reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the business saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3% decrease in costs over the previous year.

A health claims-based research study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a decreased demand for health services among those with access to Corporate Health Promotion Programs and self-care programs. Reductions in health services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials.

CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Corporate Health Promotion Plan delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80% of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50% for non-member.

With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Staff Members’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health risk appraisal followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the health care claim costs. In another research study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Corporate Health Promotion Plan and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11% compared with an increase of 6.3% for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire.

With decreased health care claims, health costs decreased 16% for workers in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who participated in the complete Corporate Health Promotion Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city workers.

To prevent back injuries among its workers, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar employees, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant increase in staff member morale, lowered worker’s comp claims, health costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: Benefits

Corporate Health Promotion Programs provide Long-Term Benefits

Corporate Health Promotion Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two varieties: Corporate Health Promotion Programs or Health Insurance products that aim to lower costs if healthy habits are followed. Both options are a good choice, but only one will really provide long-term medical benefits for your workers and lower costs over the years.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs provide Help

Insurance-based products provide workers the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their medical provider, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle. These plans usually involve one coach call to the staff member during the first 90 days. We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a individual’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a individual’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to lower medical cots in the future.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs provide convenient Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals and health testing for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure. As the article notes, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and workers are more likely to stay active in an worksite staff member Health Promotion Program.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Get Results

Finally, the article notes that companies with an effective Corporate Health Promotion Plan can expect to see “500 percent lower absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent lower health care costs.” These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.

Companies are no longer able to trim extra savings out of their health insurance programs, and the majority of companies have been cost shifting, asking staff members to cover more of their health care costs. Health insurance costs continue to climb (10% or more per year) at 2-3 times the general inflation rate. With nowhere else to turn, corporations are – more than ever – looking to get staff members engaged in Corporate Health Promotion Programs as a means of slowing health care costs and improving productivity.

For example, last year 53% of large corporations offered Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals for their staff, up from 35% just two years earlier, according to a Mercer survey. Change is being driven by cost, but Corporate Health Promotion Programs a win-win solution for both corporations and staff members.

Here are other Corporate Health Promotion Plan trends organizations are implementing:

More companies are integrating Corporate Health Promotion Programs into their benefits plans. If they want the best plans or the lowest personal costs, they need to participate in the Corporate Health Promotion Plan and meeting minimum goals.

More companies are providing worksite weight loss programs as a component of the Corporate Health Promotion Program, especially after Duke University’s new research showing the high cost of overweight staff members and raised cost for worker’s compensation for sedentary and overweight staff members.

Companies are providing more Corporate Health Promotion Programs designed to assist staff members with chronic health conditions: health coaches, nurse advice lines, telephone counseling, and self-study guides

Companies are providing more online Corporate Health Promotion Plan interventions and health information resources

More companies are providing regular worksite employee health screenings including cholesterol, glucose, A1c, blood pressure, weigh-ins, and other checks as a part of their Corporate Health Promotion Program. Some Corporate Health Promotion Programs even include bone-density checks and skin cancer screenings.

Many companies are providing fitness programs, either in the community or worksite, as a part of their Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Corporations are providing more prizes, rewards, and incentives getting engaged in Corporate Health Promotion Plan activities

Some companies are adding emphasis to health maintenance. It’s one thing to lose weight or stop tobacco; it’s another to maintain these changes. Helping staff members stay engaged and maintain their health changes is important for long-term success.

Companies are putting more emphasis on keeping healthy people healthy rather than just working primarily with high-risk individuals. Research shows this approach results in a greater Corporate Health Promotion Plan return on investment (ROI).

Wellness companies are providing great resources for companys’ staff members over the Internet – online wellness centers, monthly health and wellness newsetters, wellness challenges, online points tracking systems, virtual fitness programs, online wellness coaching or interventions, interactive health calculators, healthy recipes, even downloadable health tips for your iPod.

Companies who are becoming more proactive are making a big impact on their future health care expenses and productivity. Ohio State University announced that they expect to save $30 million dollars with their complete Corporate Health Promotion Plan over the next 5 years!

Corporate Health Promotion Programs and prevention are sound ideas whose time has come. Health Promotion is more fun and costs less than treating disease.

References: TIME in partnership with CNN, “Businesses Help Workers Lose Weight.” Website accessed July 2007.

Keeping Corporate Health Promotion Plan information organized is critical in order to be able to determine Corporate Health Promotion Plan impact and member progress. Use the simple steps below to keep your information organized.

Manage Corporate Health Promotion Plan information electronically.
• Storing Corporate Health Promotion Plan outcomes information electronically is the best way to manage that information.
• An electronic system will enable you to review and analyze the information more efficiently.
• Scan old surveys and other Corporate Health Promotion Plan information that exist only on paper into .pdf format for permanent storage.

Find the Corporate Health Promotion Plan system that works best for you.
• Some employees are more comfortable with spreadsheet applications; others rather work with database applications.
• You will be more likely to use a Corporate Health Promotion Plan that you are familiar and/or comfortable with.
• Standardize information collection and organization. Keep information columns/fields in the same order for all Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

Keep the Corporate Health Promotion Plan as simple as possible.
• You do not have to be a Wellness Programming wizard or use complicated data entry interfaces in order to manage Corporate Health Promotion Plan outcomes information.
• A simple spreadsheet is an excellent way to keep your information organized.

Store all Corporate Health Promotion Plan data numerically.
• Using numbers (instead of words) will make the information much easier to enter and analyze. For example: use “1” for yes; “0” for no OR “1” for male; “2” for female.
• Number survey responses that contain strings of words. For example: instead of entering the responses: “patient education videos”, “news,” or “no TV,” number the responses so you only have to enter “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Label all Corporate Health Promotion Plan data clearly.
• Make sure all the data columns, rows, or fields are labeled. The information is worthless if you don’t know what information is in which column.
• The spreadsheet/database should include an explanation for column, row, field, and data abbreviations and a key for numbered responses.

Use consistent Corporate Health Promotion Plan data units.
• Make sure all information entered into a given column is expressed with the same unit of measure. For example, enter all heights as total inches, not as a combination of feet and inches.
Putting your data in order by using a simple system that works for you will enable you to track member accomplishments. Keeping your information organized also makes it easier to communicate Corporate Health Promotion Plan impact to leadership and make Corporate Health Promotion Plan improvements as needed.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs start and end with individual health. Individuals, after all, are able to make decisions about maintaining and / or improving their health and wellbeing. Employee Corporate Health Promotion Programs must therefore provide the tools and resources necessary to assist and motivate individuals to actively participate in the program.

Individual health is only one part of establishing staff member Corporate Health Promotion Programs. Below you’ll find some things to assist you in your efforts to create a healthy atmosphere for you and your coworkers.

Encouraging Your Employer to Create an Corporate Health Promotion Plan

This is the first step in establishing a Corporate Health Promotion Program. In recent times more and more corporations are establishing to see the value of promoting and supporting the health of their staff members. Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization, has released a sourcebook called “Healthy Workforce 2010″ (http://www.wellnessproposals.com/pdfs/tool_kits/healthy_workforce_2010.pdf). This sourcebook is an excellent resource containing information on:
• Benefits of Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• Suggestions on where to start
• Tools like surveys and evaluation forms

These resources are for both corporations and staff members to lead the development and evaluate the effectiveness of their new Corporate Health Promotion Program. Provide it to your employer as a place to start or read it yourself and present your ideas.

Taking Part in Corporate Health Promotion Programs

Once you have an staff member Corporate Health Promotion Plan established, participating fully in all facets of the program is important. Many of us know that we need to more actively engage in Corporate Health Promotion Programs to improve our health, yet have difficulty finding and taking the time to do so. These simple steps can jumpstart your participation in an staff member Corporate Health Promotion Program:
• Examine the offerings that interest you and that you need for health improvement.
• Schedule time to go to the seminar or service.
• Actively following through with recommendations from the program.
• Make a decision now to improve your health. You will feel better today and tomorrow and the next day for actively moving towards wellness.

Here is a list of potential Corporate Health Promotion Programs that might be available to you at work:
• ergonomic evaluations and ergonomic training classes
• lactation rooms and classes
• prenatal education
• nap rooms for relaxation
• stress management programs
• onsite fitness centers
• chair massage
• nutritional information
• worksite primary health care services
• child care facility or resources and referral service
• tobacco cessation programs parenting classes
• Elder care resources and referral service
• cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screening programs
• flu shots
• weight management programs
• health care consumerism programs
• employee assistance programs
• wellness coach / health coach programs
• mobile mammography

More information to follow in my next posting about Employee Corporate Health Promotion Programs

Studies suggest that for every $1 invested in Corporate Health Promotion Programs, a business saves $3 to $5 in health and safety costs. Companies that invest in Corporate Health Promotion Programs reap the financial rewards through savings on health care costs, disability pay, rates of absenteeism, turnover and safety problems.

worksites have already proven to be a great place to promote wellness. After all, people spend more time at work than doing anything else. Eighty-two percent of the U.S. population is linked in some way to a worksite. Therefore, providing Corporate Health Promotion Programs is a great way to reach a substantial number of people in your area.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs in Small Businesses

Unlike large companies, small companies frequently lack the resources to provide Corporate Health Promotion Programs to their staff members. However, they may be the most in need of such services. Small businesses are the hardest hit by health insurance costs and have the highest rates of substance abuse. Worker well-being and physical or mental illness can also be more disruptive in a small business environment. Corporate Health Promotion Programs in small companies also makes sense because small firms employ the majority of working citizens.

Regardless of the size of a business, Corporate Health Promotion Programs can pay. Statistically, even if there are only 100 people in a business:

• 60 sit all day to do their work
• 50 don’t wear their safety belts regularly
• 50 feel they’re under moderate stress
• 35 are overweight by 20% or more
• 30 smoke
• 27 have cardiovascular disease
• 25 or more have high cholesterol (over 200 mg/dl)
• 10 are heavy drinkers
• 10 have high blood pressure
• 5 have diagnosed diabetes and another 5 have undiagnosed diabetes
• 7 use marijuana
• 1 uses cocaine

Bottom Line Corporate Health Promotion Plan Benefits

At least one quarter of the health care costs incurred by working adults can be attributed to modifiable health risks (e.g., diet, exercise, tobacco use, etc.) Fortunately, there is a way to hold back the trend. Growing research links an individual’s lifestyle behaviors to their health risk.

The good news is Corporate Health Promotion Programs can:

• Lower health care costs
• Lower workers’ compensation claims
• Lower staff member rates of absenteeism
• Improve worker productivity
• Improve staff member morale

The bottom line is that Corporate Health Promotion Programs can benefit any size business — small or large.

There are a number of reasons why a Corporate Health Promotion Plan is beneficial.

1. Improved Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result the Corporate Health Promotion Program, you and your staff members may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the company. Ultimately, one of the most ambitious goals of any complete Corporate Health Promotion Plan is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the company’s most valuable resource — its staff members.

2. Reduced Turnover – As we all know, staff member replacement costs can be quite high for any kind of business. The effort and expense associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references, interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new employee can be a serious burden on any business. In light of the challenges that high staff member turnover pose, many companies are looking to Corporate Health Promotion Programs as an additional perk that can help to prevent staff members from jumping ship.

3. Increased Recruitment Potential – In the midst of a very tight labor market, companies are forced to pull out the stops in order to recruit new talent. In some instances, Corporate Health Promotion Programs can prove to be a very valuable tool in sealing the deal.

4. Reduced Absenteeism – When an employee misses work in a business setting, the entire company is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities. Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build.

Even worse is a long-term absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or rehabilitation. By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle habits, Corporate Health Promotion Programs can play an important role in decreasing rates of absenteeism.

5. Health Care Cost Containment – The majority of companies don’t create a Corporate Health Promotion Plan with cost containment in mind. However, cost containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by many companies.

6. Improved Worker Health Status – One of the greatest advantages of a well-designed Corporate Health Promotion Plan is the promise of enhanced health. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed Corporate Health Promotion Programs can successfully impact such behaviors as tobacco use, high-risk alcohol use, seatbelt use and more.

It is important to assess the effectiveness of all Corporate Health Promotion Programs. There are a number of very simple ways to assess Corporate Health Promotion Programs:

How many attended the corporate health and Corporate Health Promotion Program, and was there participation or a visible level of interest?

Use a short and simple pen and paper evaluation that people fill out at the end of the Corporate Health Promotion Plan /seminar. Statements that are rated on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) will give valuable information. Ask about:
• The value of the Corporate Health Promotion Programs to the individual
• The style of the presenter
• The presenter’s knowledge of the topic
• The level of knowledge gained by the staff member
• Other areas that would be of interest for future Corporate Health Promotion Programs

Examples of Questions about Corporate Health Promotion Programs
• This program provided me with information and/or skills I will use.
• The presenter was knowledgeable about the subject matter.
• There was adequate time for questions.
• The methods used to present the information were effective.

Open-ended questions about Corporate Health Promotion Programs may include:
• The best part of this Corporate Health Promotion Plan was…
• The part that needed improvement was….
• I would attend another Corporate Health Promotion Plan by this speaker…
• Topics I would like to see included in other seminars or Wellness Programs…

This would be a process evaluation that reviews how well the Corporate Health Promotion Programs were implemented. It is also important to evaluate health outcomes and cost outcomes of Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

More in-depth information about the cost-effectiveness of Corporate Health Promotion Programs can be found by analyzing data before and after Corporate Health Promotion Programs concerning health care claims, workers’ comp claims, sick time, productivity levels, etc. Health outcomes for Corporate Health Promotion Programs can be measured by looking at health claims and sick time.

It is also important to evaluate the impact of Corporate Health Promotion Programs on family members. For example, tobacco by pregnant mothers may lead to the birth of a severely impaired child. This could cost an employer or medical plan hundreds of thousands of dollars, an expense that could have been avoided with well-designed Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

You can also compare the cost per staff member of running the Corporate Health Promotion Programs to the savings per staff member. One evaluation of Corporate Health Promotion Programs involving 20,000 to 25,000 staff members at New York City-based Citibank showed a return of $6.70 for every dollar the business invested in Corporate Health Promotion Programs. The findings were based on a research study of health costs and rates of absenteeism.1

An ongoing evaluation of your Corporate Health Promotion Programs should be performed annually and additional periodic evaluations of Corporate Health Promotion Programs should be conducted on an ad hoc basis. An ad hoc evaluation of your Corporate Health Promotion Programs might be initiated by a variety of triggers. For example, at the end of flu season, a business might want to assess its flu shot program.