Drug Education and Intervention in the Workplace

The expenditures of medical care have been rising more than 10 percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money invested in the medical care system treats costly illnesses and diseases.

• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical care services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are avoidable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, cut avoidable medical care utilization and enhance work achievement, and in turn lower medical care expenditures and better employee satisfaction and retention, many employers are developing, or are interested in developing, Workplace Wellness Programs for workers.

The advantages of workplace wellness are well documented. More than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some primary findings include the following:

• Savings of $3.48 in reduced healthcare costs per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in reduce absenteeism costs per dollar invested.
• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.
• Lifestyle behavior modification programs: $3 to $6 return on investment within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision backing programs: $2 to $3 return on investment within a year.
• Disease management programs: $7 to $10 ROI within a year.

By offering health improvement programs, companies are not only providing an additional service for staff members, but they are also gaining monetarily. Furthermore, the influence of a health improvement program goes beyond lowered medical care cost and return on investment. A health improvement program can affect productiveness, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical care expenditures.

• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to beginning, launching and evaluating worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.