Cardiovascular Health Status and Health Risk Assessment Method of Preference Among Worksite Employees

Marschke, Lisa; Allen, George J.; Coble, Denis A.; Zellner, Scott R.; Klein, Randi; Aiudi, Barbara; Murphy, Daniel R.; Pescatello, Linda S.

doi:10.1007/s10935-005-0023-7

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

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“…In other words, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that healthier individuals and individuals more interested in improving their health or being healthy8,18 are more likely to fill out HRAs. Furthermore, there is a tendency for individuals to overstate their positive health status on an HRA 18,21…”

Section: Evidence Of Effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Risk Reduction Programs in Employer-Sponsored Health Plans: Part I—Efficacy

Rothstein

Harrell²

2009

Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine

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Objective-We sought to determine whether workplace health risk reduction programs (HRRPs) using health risk assessments (HRAs), individually focused risk reduction, and financial incentives succeeded in improving employee health and reducing employer health benefit costs.Methods-We reviewed the proprietary HRA available to us and conducted a literature review to determine the efficacy of HRRPs using HRAs, individualized employee interventions, and financial incentives for employee participation.Results-There is some evidence that HRRPs in employer-sponsored programs improve measures of employee health, but the results of these studies are somewhat equivocal. Conclusion-Employer-sponsoredHRRPs may have some benefits, but problems in plan design and in the studies assessing their efficacy complicate drawing conclusions.Virtually, every employer faced with substantial increases in employee health benefits expenses has been exploring ways to reduce costs without drastically cutting benefits or excessively shifting costs to employees. At the same time, there has been an increased awareness of the role of lifestyle in health risk and a growing sense of need to increase personal responsibility in health care utilization and outcomes. Employer sponsors of health plans have adopted a variety of activities to improve employee health measures and reduce costs. Some of these initiatives have been aggressively marketed by vendors using proprietary health risk assessments (HRAs), individual health risk reduction programs (HRRPs), and other related services. Besides vendor-produced studies and anecdotal evidence of improved employee health and lower employer costs, is there conclusive evidence that HRRPs are effective in achieving their goals? Health Risk Reduction ProgramsThe escalating costs of employee health benefits have sparked an interest by employers in reducing health care payments, especially if employee health is improved at the same time. To satisfy this growing demand, vendor companies have begun selling individualized worksite health promotion plans. 1 According to the websites of these companies, they are now responsible for managing, to varying degrees, the health of millions of employees. 2 Employer-sponsored wellness and health promotion programs have been in place at numerous companies for many years. 3 Many of these programs are outstanding in design and implementation. The potential of workplace health promotion to improve population

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