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CCH® BENEFITS — 9/24/08

Worksite Clinics And Pharmacies Are Effective Employee Health Programs

From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Health care services offered at the worksite, although not prevalent, are popular with employees and valued by employers for successfully improving employee health and productivity, according to a survey recently conducted by Hewitt Associates. The Hewitt survey of 248 large and midsize companies found that employers continue to invest in employees’ health and productivity with the implementation of varied health-related programs addressing the whole range of health status. The worksite health programs are used frequently by employees.

Slightly fewer than one-fifth (19%) of the surveyed employers offered worksite medical clinics, and 11% offered worksite pharmacy services; one-fourth of employees used the clinics when they were available and half used the pharmacies. Of the employers sponsoring worksite health programs, more than four-fifths (81%) expressed satisfaction with worksite clinics’ results and 95% were satisfied with the pharmacies.

Other commonly offered health programs, including behavior modification programs and patient education and support, reflected low participation rates among employees and had among the lowest employer satisfaction rates. For example, nearly three-fourths (73%) of companies, but only 7% of employees, used such programs, and fewer than half (45%) of employers were satisfied with results. Furthermore, although more than half of employers offered programs for smoking cessation (54%) and weight management (53%), fewer than 5% of eligible employees participated in those programs, and fewer than half of employer sponsors were satisfied with the results.

“While onsite health care programs have been slow to catch on with employers—likely due to the complexities involved in offering them—they are attractive to employees because of their convenience and the level of personal interaction they provide,” said Marie Kobos, leader of Hewitt’s health and productivity solutions group. “Companies need to assess their current health initiatives to determine whether the programs they offer are accomplishing their goals. In some cases, it may mean discontinuing less effective, less attractive programs and adding ones that improve results and encourage positive behaviors. In other cases, it may mean taking a closer look at how to promote or alter existing health programs so they better meet their intended outcomes.”

Among the most prevalent health services offered to employees are health risk assessments, which attain fairly high employee participation relative to other programs, but varied employer satisfaction, Hewitt found. Administration of flu shots at the worksite and biometric screenings, offered by 88% and 37%, respectively, of the responding employers had better employee participation than other health programs (30% and 34%, respectively); and elicited higher employer satisfaction with results (81% and 75%, respectively). Although health risk questionnaires were offered by 68% of employers, employee participation still was relatively low at 30%, and fewer than half (47%) of employers were satisfied with the results.

Because more than half (51%) of employees or dependents suffer from a chronic health condition requiring continuing care, nearly three-fourths (74%) of employers offer disease management programs. However, only one-tenth of employees eligible for these programs used them and, consequently, fewer than two-fifths of employer sponsors were satisfied with the results. Hewitt recommends introducing “high-touch” and “face-to-face” coaching, elements that are conveniently available in worksite clinics, into disease management programs to improve patient participation and results.

The predominant factors that employers said that they used to determine the success of their health and productivity programs are yearly changes in overall benefits costs (89%), and in health and prescription drug costs (86%), and employee participation rates (72%). However, few employers used “formal and comprehensive measurement tools” to assess their health programs’ effectiveness—24% used a scorecard system to track program participation levels and compare vendor performance, and 43% regularly received comprehensive information on participation and health outcomes from their program administrators, Hewitt found.

For a free copy of the Hewitt survey, The Road Ahead: Driving Productivity by Investing in Health 2008, visit http://www.hewitt.com.

For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH Pension Plan Guide, CCH Employee Benefits Management, and Spencer's Benefits Reports.

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