Healthcare: health and productivity programs more common.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: BusinessBriefs - Brief Article

Health and productivity management (HPM) practices aimed at promoting workforce health and productivity--and lowering healthcare costs--are increasingly popular, and more common at larger companies, a new survey finds.

The survey of 772 employers by the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) shows that 85 percent of large employers, each with more than 5,000 employees, adopt at least one HPM practice, while 69 percent of companies with 500 to 5,000 employees do so, as do 49 percent of employers with fewer than 500 workers.

The top six HPM practices offered or still being implemented by respondents include two prevention practices (Wellness and Ergonomics), three post-condition management practices (Nurse Case Management, Return-to-work Accommodation and Disease Management) and an education program (Employee Benefits Education).

Although the most common HPM goal for responding employers is medical savings (identified by 79 percent as one of their three top goals), employee health improvement and reducing...