A New Study Reveals The Impact of Workplace Wellness

WELCOA’s founder, William Kizer, Sr. had a vision for the health of our nation. His vision was to establish a national resource that could easily be accessed by organizations of all types including large corporations, healthcare agencies, government organizations, small businesses, and institutes of higher learning. When William Kizer, Sr., Dr. Louis Sullivan, and Warren Buffett gathered over 30 years ago, they envisioned the future of wellness at work. 30 years later and our vision remains the same: To improve the lives of all working people.

“There’s no question that workplace wellness is worth it. The only question is whether you’re going to do it today or tomorrow. If you keep saying you’re going to do it tomorrow, you’ll never do it. You have to get on it today.”

– Warren Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway

WELCOA believes that wellness programs can transform corporate culture and change lives. While these programs have historically been used to improve employee health and decrease health care costs, according to a recent Harvard Medical School study there is little experimental evidence on the effects of these programs. Over the years, studies like these have been known to put the wellness industry in a tailspin of unanswered questions regarding the impact of this research on jobs, programs, and the industry as a whole.

The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) and the National Wellness Institute (NWI) are co-hosting a free webinar with one of the lead researchers of the study, Dr. Zirui Song. Dr. Song will share his timely research and personal perspective on the impact of his study, followed by a facilitated Q&A by respective CEOs, Ryan Picarella and Chuck Gillespie.

Zirui Song, MD, PhD is an assistant professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School and an internal medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Song’s research has focused on changes in health care spending and quality under global payment, the impact of Medicare fee policies on spending and physician behavior, and the economics of Medicare Advantage. This work has aimed to provide evidence to inform policies on payment and delivery system reform.

The Research

The question of Dr. Song and Dr. Baicker’s research was, “What is the effect of a multi-component workplace wellness program on health and economic outcomes?” What they found, in this particular instance, were several results on overall employee health and financial investment. While a significantly greater rate of positive, self-reported behaviors among those exposed was revealed, there appeared to be no significant differences in traditional health markers, health care spending or employment outcomes during the 18-month program. The disclaimer made in the abstract stated, “Although limited by incomplete data on some outcomes, these findings may temper expectations about the financial return on investment that wellness programs can deliver in the short term.”

To learn more about the impact and details of this study, join us for a free webinar on Thursday, May 16, 2019 from 10:00am to 11:00am CST. All registrants will receive a copy of the recording following the webinar. CEUs are available for those who attend the live session and complete the post-webinar survey.

• This webinar will be hosted as a webcast and will not have the ability to call in.
• Participants will need to have a Wi-Fi or internet connection and listen to the webcast via computer audio.

New Randomized Trial Reveals

Workplace Wellness Programs May Have Limited Effects in the Short Run

Thursday, May 16, 2019 • 10:00 — 11:00 AM CT

Register Now