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Salt Lake County's wellness program has been good medicine — not only for employees' health, but also for the county government's pocketbook.
For every dollar the county has spent promoting good nutrition, regular exercise and routine checkups through its Healthy Lifestyles initiative, it has saved more than three on medical claims.
That's the conclusion of a workplace-wellness study presented Tuesday to the County Council, which suggests that Healthy Lifestyles is a positive pill for county finances.
"It is a great program," Councilman Steve DeBry said. "Any way we can help employees better their health is better for everybody."
Dan Kinnersley, director of community health services for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, now wants to expand the program, which serves about 2,200 employees (almost two-thirds of the county's work force ).
He wants to recruit more male employees, now outnumbered almost 2-to-1 in the wellness program. He wants to enhance training about obesity and help workers better self-diagnose which problems deserve medical attention and which ones don't.
"We have shown that it works," Kinnersley said. "It is an affirmation that what we do is beneficial to the county work force."
The Healthy Lifestyles program has been a county fixture since 1988, giving perks to employees who police their health.
It offers cash to workers who exercise, lose weight or reduce their cholesterol. It provides employees with annual health assessments. It even checks out Wiis with games such as "My Fitness Coach" and "Gold's Gym."
The program costs close to $800,000 a year — a sum that is paid out of employees' insurance premiums.
A study by WellSteps, a workplace-wellness firm, found that participants had lower medical bills than those who didn't participate, according to an analysis of medical claims between 2004 and 2008. Participants averaged $399 in claims during that period. Nonparticipants averaged $547.
Consequently, the county saved close to $3.4 million (after subtracting operational costs) in medical expenses during those years.
Health Department officials insist the savings aren't simply the product of already-fit participants. Instead, the study found no "significant difference" between the health histories of participants and nonparticipants in terms of blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, high triglycerides, heart disease or cancer.
County's wellness plan: By the numbers
$547 • Cost of the average medical claim for county employees not participating in the Healthy Lifestyles program.
$399 • Cost for the average medical claim for participants
$148 • Savings per medical claim attributed to Healthy Lifestyles
$3.4 million • Amount the county saved (after expenses) between 2004 and 2008 because of its wellness initiative
Source • Salt Lake Valley Health Department