Value - Based Wellness Programs : Are We There Yet ?

AND JUDITH A. SHINOGLE PH.D. W orksite wellness programs are becoming increasingly popular among U.S. employers. In 2011, 74 percent of employers offered health benefits and some form of worksite wellness programs, including weight-loss programs, gym membership discounts, on-site exercise facilities, smoking cessation programs, personal health coaching, classes in nutrition or healthy living, or wellness newsletters. As more employers implement wellness programs, and broaden them each year, the evaluation of these programs is vital. Currently, few reports examine what types of information employers use to evaluate programs and if the evaluation of a program affects benefit design. As evaluation should be a feedback tool to improve and refine the program, we examined whether employers’ overall benefit plan designs were set up such that they supported what the employers claimed they were trying to accomplish. This article utilizes findings from a regional employer survey to explore how benefit designs differ by companies that evaluate their wellness programs as well as what they evaluate. In fall 2011, the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and RCM&D conducted a survey of employers in the Mid-Atlantic Region (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington) to assess their progress with healthy workforce programs. Employers surveyed included members of the MidAtlantic Business Group on Health, the Lancaster County Business Group on Health, the Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health Care, the Maryland Healthcare Human Resources Association, employers participating in the Healthiest Maryland Businesses initiative, and employers unaffiliated with these listed organizations. Responses were received from 162 employers. Thirtyeight percent of the responding employers had 500 or more employees, 13 percent had 250 to 499, 12 percent had 100 to 249, and 37 percent had fewer than 100 employees. The largest industry sector represented was the health care industry (27 percent), but a variety of industry sectors participated in the survey. All employers participating in the survey provide some form of worksite wellness program or benefit plan design to promote a healthy workforce.