Top 5 Ways to Influence Employee Health & Maximize Return on Investment (ROI)

Lauren Larkey, PT, MTC, Cert.DN, CEAS I/III

In an ever-changing world, an emphasis on employee health and wellness is paramount. The new normal is a shift of focus to wellness, stress reduction, mental health awareness, inclusivity, and employee engagement that creates a positive culture within an organization. All have become a driving force to support a company’s most valued asset: your employees.

According to Integrated Benefits Institute, “poor health” costs employers $530 billion and 1.4 billion lost workdays in 2018. That cost to employers was greater than the combined net revenues of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, eBay, and Adobe altogether. Employee health is essential to the function and operation of your workplace.

Explore these five (5) options for influencing employee health and maximizing your return on investment:

1. Early Symptom Intervention: administration of OSHA defined first aid level care by a licensed health care provider

• Minimizing injuries early reduces worsening of the issue and offers solutions for timely resolve

• Return on investment (ROI) in a six-month study demonstrated a $6,150 investment returned $197,000 cost savings

2. Employment Testing: screens to assess if a candidate is capable of performing their essential functions of the job

• Includes musculoskeletal (MSK) screening, heart-rate/blood pressure screening, and can be performed on new hires or existing employees

• ROI was completed for the administration of post-offer employment testing vs. carpal tunnel surgery as a result of a workplace injury over five years of implementation

- Cost of testing = $182,000

- One (1) carpal tunnel surgery/each year x 5 = $312,000

- Cost Savings = $133,000

3. Stretching Programs: development of specialized stretching programs based upon job site analysis

• Provides proactive education on stretching and flexibility to maximizing working safely

• ROI was a six percent (6%) improvement, on average, of a general range of motion and decreased back injuries six-fold saving potential of $40,000-$80,000 per employer

4. Ready for Work Programs: strengthening and flexibility conditioning programs designed to ramp total work volume by increasing weight and repetition

• ROI in a controlled case study reported a reduction in weight and decreased blood pressure in sixty-eight percent (68%) of participants thereby reducing risk for heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke

5. Physical Therapy: evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions resulting from an injury

• With an employer providing a direct pay option to the provider, it removes barriers to access healthcare, eliminates the middleman, decreases the use for unneeded diagnostics and testing, and improves morale and engagement with proactively addressing employee health faster

• ROI: Implementation of a direct pay, value-based program to the provider resulted in a thirty percent (30%) reduction in costs compared to using insurance, saving on average $380,000/quarter.

Bottom Line: What better way to invest in the future than investing in your employees, which invest in your clients, which invest back in your company, creating growth opportunities not only for your organization but for those that you serve. Your employees are engaged and committed to excellence which builds a safer, stable, and sustainable workplace to decrease costs which will allow you to invest back in your workforce. Take care of your employees and they will take care of you.

Lauren Larkey graduated from the University of Georgia with her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and went to the Medical University of South Carolina to finish her Master’s of Rehabilitation Science in Physical Therapy. She opened the Newnan, GA clinic for BenchMark Physical Therapy in 2009, and shortly thereafter completed her Manual Therapy Certification and Trigger Point Dry Needling Certification. Her current role is the Director of Network & Payer Management for the Upstream Rehabilitation family of brands which encompasses BenchMark Physical Therapy, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, and Results Physiotherapy.