Everyone has stressful days at work. Stressors affect mental and physical health and can trickle into overall work performance. To improve employee health and enhance recruitment and retention, companies should consider wellness programs. Jayme Mayo, PA-C, PTA, with JM Wellness, discusses the overall structure of a wellness program and the benefits it can have on a business. With an employee-focused design and a reliance on wellness experts to adapt and change the program to fit the needs of the business, wellness programs can be invaluable to the financial and personnel aspects of a company.
“Workplace wellness is not a new concept,” Jayme says. “It’s actually been around for decades, but with the increase in pharmacy and health insurance costs, more companies are moving to a self-funded insurance plan allowing them to better control and contain their expenditures. A well-designed workplace wellness program helps organizations meet the needs of their people and protect their bottom line.”
A well-designed wellness program helps organizations meet the needs of their people and protect their bottom line.
Health insurance is a major part of a company’s overall budget and risk management. The idea of wellness is centered around preventing high-cost health and pharmacy claims instead of reacting once they have occurred. It should also be noted that numerous mid-range claims can be just as damaging as one or two high-dollar claims. The dollars saved through prevention can be used to cover the cost of the wellness program and invested back into employees.
What Aspects of Wellness Affect Work Performance?
Maintaining wellness looks considerably different depending on the type of job performed. In an office setting, one may be sitting most of the day versus a labor-intensive job where you’re on your feet and affected by the weather. Yes, physical and mental health play a large role here, but sub-categories such as financial, social, spiritual, emotional, and relational health, plus countless other factors, can also impact your work productivity and even safety.
Jayme likes to use the analogy of a drop of water in the bucket to describe managing one’s health. “If one of your sub-categories of health is suffering, that’s just one drop in your bucket; that’s not very much. But over time, as one negative factor begins to impact other factors, what were a few drops becomes a full bucket, and then your bucket overflows,” she says. Health care professionals (and professionals of all kinds) deal with stressors inside and outside the workplace and need an easy way to manage their overall health, set goals, and reward themselves for reaching their goals. A wellness program ties all of these things together: it allows employees to set participation-based and outcomes-based milestones for themselves.
Structure
Before a business can design their wellness program, they need to know where their health dollars are being spent. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what the problem is. What is driving the claims? Specialty drugs? ER visits? Cardiovascular-related disease? Diabetes? Then, you need to know who is driving it. Employees, spouses, or dependents? Once these factors are identified, then the company culture comes into play. What is important to one company may be less important to another. At JM Wellness, Jayme and her husband JJ look at claims data along with the company’s culture. Then they work with leadership to design a program that is based on two key components: the company’s needs and values.
Before a business can design their wellness program, they need to know where their health dollars are being spent. You can't fix the problem if you don't know what the problem is.
There are three wellness program models: participation-based, outcomes-based, and hybrid. In a participation-based format, employees must complete an activity to earn points or credits, such as walking a 5K event, getting a physical, or participating in a wellness challenge. Accruing a certain number of points typically yields an incentive at the end of the year, such as a premium reduction or a gift card. “The downside to a participation-based program is that the employees who get engaged are already healthy,” Jayme says. “They’re not the ones driving health insurance costs.”
In an outcomes-based format, incentives or disincentives are typically based on the components that drive health insurance: blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, nicotine use, and waist circumference. “Some of the more successful companies have moved to an outcomes-based format that incentivizes employees to improve or maintain their health,” Jayme adds.
A hybrid format combines the best of both models. “You have some of what I call the fluffy feel-good stuff, such as participating in a challenge, volunteering, giving blood, or attending a lunch-n-learn, but you also earn points or credits based on your health metrics,” Jayme says. “The participation is the fun, educational piece, and the outcomes-based piece is what saves lives and health insurance dollars.”
Using the Data Productively
Health insurance and pharmacy claims data are a huge asset for businesses if they know how to use it. “We can look at the de-identified data and say, ‘there’s been an uptick in ER visits, an increase in diabetic medicine, or XX percent of employees and spouses are not having a preventive exam,” Jayme says. “This information is then used to design the program, requirements, activities, and incentives.”
Data review also saves time and money. Many companies promote nutrition and fitness as their wellness program, and while that is a good start, it is by no means all-encompassing. “I’ve worked with companies who spent an exorbitant amount of money on initiatives that weren’t driving their claims or important to their employees, so the participation and outcomes were dismal.” That is why having experts, up-to-date data, and executive support are vital to the success of the program.
Recruiting and Retention
Employees want to work for businesses that care about their well-being. “If it’s between your business and the one across the street,” Jayme says, “having a wellness program can set you apart. Applicants are looking for progressive and innovative benefits for themselves and their families. The same goes with retention. It’s getting harder and harder to find quality, long-term employees. A wellness program may play a role in them staying instead of job hopping.
Collaborating with Locals
“One thing that I like to suggest to companies interested in designing their own wellness program is to take advantage of resources in their community or region,” Jayme says. “Local resources are often underutilized as people just don’t know that they exist.” Partnering with local businesses for incentives or to add extra insight about a particular wellness topic can help build a community of support and encourage employees to maximize the resources that are available to them, whether they are hospital programs, chiropractors, running stores, biking stores, community centers, gyms, or registered dietitians, or counselors. This can also cut costs for the business.
Leadership Support is Critical
To successfully implement a wellness program, company leaders must be pro-employee and pro-family. At the end of the day, there is a dollar amount attached to most wellness programs. Having an expert who can come in and help a company design their own wellness program will come with an expense, but the benefits to employees often outweigh (and sometimes exceed) the cost. “Your wellness program will pay for itself very quickly by preventing one heart attack, stroke, or high dollar pharmacy claim. Remember you’re playing the long game here.” Jayme says.
To successfully implement a wellness program, company leaders must be pro-employee and pro-family.
Ultimately, it’s important to look at the data and see where the most important needs are to the company and its employees and then design a program that addresses both employee and financial needs. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to a wellness program,” Jayme adds. “Having somebody who understands the importance of collaboration and customization and can advise accordingly is important. At the end of the day, this is your program, and we’re just here to listen, guide and advise. JM Wellness is here to protect the business and take care of folks.
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{slider title="Meet Jayme and JJ Mayo"}
Jayme Mayo, PA-C, PTA, and JJ Mayo, Ph.D., RD, with JM Wellness, have been serving and helping businesses in the wellness space for almost 20 years. Due to their innovation, Jayme was featured in HBO's documentary on obesity titled "Weight of the Nation" and on the CDC's National Healthy Worksite Program Case Study and follow-up video. Jayme and JJ regularly speak at regional, national, and international conferences sharing the many success and "lessons learned" from their program. Jayme is a 13-time Ironman triathlon and ultra-marathon finisher, while JJ edges her out with 15 Ironman finishes. For more information about wellness programs and how to get started, contact JM Wellness at
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