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The Workforce wellness index: a method for valuing US workers' health
Ron Z Goetzel1, Gary T Pickens, Niranjana M Kowlessar
1Truven Health Analytics, Washington, DC 20008, USA. ron.goetzel@truvenhealth.com
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
|January 11, 2013
Summary
Employers can reduce healthcare costs by addressing employee health risks. Increasing obesity rates significantly impact health spending and worsen wellness index scores over time.
Area of Science:
- Occupational health
- Health economics
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Modifiable health risks significantly contribute to rising healthcare expenditures.
- Existing health risk assessment data often lacks direct correlation with associated medical costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a unified health risk-cost score for health risk assessment data.
- To quantify the medical costs linked to modifiable health risks.
Main Methods:
- Linked health risk assessment data with medical claims for 341,650 workers (2005-2010).
- Employed multivariate analyses to estimate costs of high health risks.
- Developed a composite Workforce Wellness Index (WWI) score using cost and prevalence data.
Main Results:
- Obesity emerged as the primary driver of increased healthcare spending.
- Rising obesity rates were directly correlated with a decline in the WWI score.
- Identified specific modifiable risks contributing to increased medical costs.
Conclusions:
- Addressing employee health risk factors can lead to reduced medical spending.
- Improvements in employee health risk profiles correlate with enhanced WWI scores.
- Proactive employer interventions in health risk management yield financial benefits.
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