Employee wellness programs catching on

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio—Wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular among employers, but experts say it remains difficult to measure the return on investment for such offerings.

In 2012, half of all employers with at least 50 employees offered a wellness program, and nearly half of employers without a program said they plan to introduce one, according to RAND Health and its 2013 Workplace Wellness Programs Study.

“Everybody is dipping their toes into this,” said Dr. Derek van Amerongen, market medical officer for Humana in Ohio and chief wellness officer for HumanaVitality, a rewards-based wellness program.

The HumanaVitality program, opened to outside employers in 2012, now has 180,000 members in Ohio — and 3.7 million participants across the U.S.

There are two types of wellness programs — lifestyle management and disease management, according to RAND Health, a California-based nonprofit research institution.

Lifestyle management focuses on employees with health risks, such as smoking and poor eating habits. Disease management focuses on those already with chronic conditions and avoiding further complications, according to RAND Health.

“If an employer wants to improve employee health or productivity, an evidence-based lifestyle management program can achieve this goal,” according to RAND Health. “But employers who are seeking a healthy ROI on their programs should target employees who already have chronic diseases.”

The Metalworking Group, a metal manufacturer in Fairfield and Colerain Twp., is completing its third year using the HumanaVitality wellness program, said Doug Watts, the company’s vice president and chief financial officer.

The privately-held company of about 190 employees moved to self-funded insurance a few years ago after the cost of health insurance kept rising every year. After payroll and metal, health care is the company’s third-largest expense at about $800,000 a year.

“We got into that mode of go to the market every year (for insurance), and the prices just go up,” Watts said. “Before, I felt like I had no control. Now, I feel like we’re totally in control.”

Watts said the company has a 90 percent participation rate in the program. He said at least three cases of undiagnosed diabetes have been caught.