When the keynote speaker at the annual Art and Science of Health Promotion conference snubbed health risk assessments last year, many HRA providers and wellness professionals disagreed, including Wellsource. And not just for corporate interests or financial reasons. Health risk assessments and effective wellness programming can make a difference, and research proves it.
In a new study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers followed 1,000 employees at Ohio State University for three years. They looked at health risk assessment data, medical claims, and frequency of visits for medical care.
Assessing the Population
Half of the group completed a health risk assessment every year during the study. The other half never completed the health risk assessment. Researchers took this approach to compare total medical costs between people who completed a health risk assessment and those who didn't.
Identifying Health Risk Factors
The most common health risks identified for the 500 employees who completed the HRA at the beginning of the study included overweight/obesity, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, and prediabetes. No health risk data was available for the 500 employees who did not complete the HRA.
Implementing Interventions
During the study, Ohio State University staff coordinated wellness initiatives to address the primary risk factors identified by HRA data. Wellness programming initiatives included university-sponsored activities and coaching services to promote wellness, physical activity, good nutrition, and preventive care. Incentives were also used to encourage participation. Employees received $100 for completing the HRA each year.
Measuring the Results
Researchers measured the results periodically throughout the 36-month study. They found that members of the HRA group were twice as likely to seek medical care than the 500 employees who didn't complete the HRA. At first, medical costs increased for the HRA group to about $1,951 per employee. However, over time, medical costs for the HRA group dropped, while costs for the non-HRA group increased.
Medical Costs for HRA Group
Baseline = $1509
36 Months = $1,602
Medical Costs for Non-HRA group
Baseline = $1,212
36 Months = $2,073
"Taking the HRA may have alerted individuals to their health risks, thereby stimulating them to seek health care services," says lead researchers Dr. Cynthia Sieck. "Importantly, however, by the end of the study period, overall costs for the study group were lower than for the comparison group."
Biometric data for the HRA group showed improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose during the three-year study. However, no significant changes were observed in the rate of overweight or obese employees.
"This study demonstrates that significant and sustained improvement in health risks and lower health care costs may be achievable with efforts such as an HRA to engage employees in health improvement efforts," says Sieck.
Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine; 56(12):1284-1290.
