Three Evaluation Targets For Your Wellness Program

It’s True That You Can’t Change What You Can’t Measure, But You’d Be Wise To Move Slowly

These days, everyone’s raving about the bottom line impact of worksite wellness programs. And for good reason. In fact, the current research demonstrates that for every $1 invested in a well-designed program, you can return about $3+ on that investment.

But my recommendation is don’t be too hasty in trying to demonstrate bottom line impact. It’s not that the return won’t be there, it will. My recommendation to move slowly is based on the organizational learning that has to take place before impact can be demonstrated.

Unfortunately, a lot of practitioners boast about the returns associated with worksite wellness programs as a way of getting senior level execs to buy-in. In so doing, they put themselves in the unenviable position of having to force impact and outcomes.

Believe it or not, there’s a much better way to go about demonstrating economic impact.

In year’s one and two of your program, focus on participation and participant satisfaction. In taking this approach, you will be building programs that people not only take part in and but one’s that they truly enjoy. By spending a lot of time on these two preliminary evaluation targets, you will ensure that a critical mass of people are participating in your programs and that they are enjoying the experience.

In year’s three and four, focus on quantifying changes in behavior and biometric measures. This is a pretty straightforward thing to do when you have a lot people gladly taking part in your programs. You will have gained their trust and if you educate them along the way, they will already be looking for these kinds of changes to occur.

In year five and beyond, you should begin getting serious about demonstrating economic impact. You will now have several years worth of behavioral data and you can begin matching that against your modifiable medical claims data.

Remember, moving too fast and pressing too hard to demonstrate outcomes can create a lot of friction within an organization. Your employees will feel “strong-armed” because they’ll be pushed into programs that they are most likely not ready for. What’s more, if you press outcomes, you’ll start to view people as “subjects” and not human beings–when that happens, you are in very dangerous territory.

By focusing on participation and participant satisfaction and then behavioral changes, you’ll be charting a course where economic impact will occur naturally.