Why Do Traditional Wellness Programs Fail?

Jeppesen and Dent made their comments at the SHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition held recently in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jeppesen, who is SPHR certified, is senior VP, Human Resources, of Larry H. Miller Group of Companies; Dent is a senior consultant for ACAP Health in Dallas Texas.

Has traditional wellness failed? Jeppesen notes that 71% of employers offering wellness initiatives say their programs are not very effective at lowering costs.

Why? Part of the problem is participation. Typically, small percentages participate fully.

Our Health Care System

Then there’s the health care system itself. The bottom line with the health care system is this, says Jeppesen: employers benefit from healthy people, but the health care system benefits from sick people. We wait until people are sick and then treat them. The result is that more than 95% of the nation’s health expenditure is for diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Furthermore, more than 70% of those costs are attributed to preventable illness. And certain lifestyle challenges make it hard to reduce those costs:

• Lack of physical activity (More than 60% do not exercise regularly)
• Rampant obesity (More than 73% of adults are overweight)
• Diet and nutrition (Sugar & caloric consumption are at record levels)
• Alcohol abuse and tobacco usage remains high
• Stress (More than 60% of absenteeism is due to psychological issues and job stress)
• Chronic illness (More than 90 million Americans have chronic conditions)

Although some wellness programs may be working, says Jeppesen, the facts are that:

• Employee’s average weight has increased each of the past 4 years
• The average weight has increased from 178.2 to 194.6 since 2005
• The average employee Body Mass Index (BMI) is rising steadily and is considered obese as defined by the Centers for Disease Control

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In building a wellness program for the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, Jeppesen says, we wanted a program that would:

• Encourage behavior change
• Result in a reduction in medical claims risk and cost
• Provide quantifiable, sustainable results
• Increase employee engagement
• Be easy to use
• Contribute to a quality work environment
• Help us be an employer of choice

Dent says the company chose to align with ACAP Health, a healthcare consulting firm that helps to engage major healthcare stakeholders including employers, insurers, medical providers, pharmaceutical companies, and others to bring new and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results.

The company was founded on the belief that slowing the “production” of disease is the only sustainable way to flatten the rising trajectory of healthcare trends.

Developing a program

In looking at the realm of healthcare costs, Dent says, it’s important to note that in a given year, only 4% of claimants submit claims for more than $10,000; however, claims for more than $10,000 account for 60 percent of expenditures.

The challenge is to get the 4% who spend most of the money healthier, and keep the vast majority who haven’t made expensive claims from becoming ones who do.

Metabolic Syndrome as the Target

The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies chose metabolic syndrome as the target for their efforts. Employees with the syndrome have three or more of a list of conditions that collectively may lead to heart disease, diabetes, or other problems.

One source lists the following conditions as having increased risk associated with metabolic syndrome:

The following were listed as typical risk levels for metabolic syndrome factors:
(different sources define these factors somewhat differently).

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Measurable Factors

One of the key factors for Jeppesen was to base the program on measurable factors. Some results that have been observed:

Reductions in the incidence of specific metabolic syndrome factors:

Percents of participants who showed improvement:

Impact of diabetic risk

The program also showed similar improvements in weight, body mass index, and other measures.

In tomorrow’s Advisor, how the program works, what it costs, and what it’s saved, plus an introduction to the revamped, all-in-one compensation website, Compensation.BLR.com.

Happy New Year from Steve, Rafael, Amanda, Denise, and Allison.