Good Health Equals Good Work

When people are in good health, they are going to be more productive, according to Ron Z. Goetzel, PhD, director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies (IHPS), in Washington, D.C.

A study of six employers conducted by IHPS (which was established to do research focused on the relationship between employee health and productivity) and Medstat, an Ann Arbor, MI health information company, measured the financial costs of illness on benefits. Cost estimates in the study were based upon insurance claims data of 374,799 employees working for six large U.S. employers in 1999. Thirty percent of the employees were female, and about half were between the ages of 35 and 54. Disability payments and lost productivity due to absence were included in the calculation of payments for physical health conditions. Each employee cost the companies an average of $3,524 a year. Researchers discovered that the costliest physical condition was heart disease, or angina, with an annual average cost of $236 per employee. Heart disease was followed by high blood pressure, at $160 per employee. The study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine ["The Health and productivity cost burden of the Top 10 physical and mental health conditions affecting six large U.S. employers in 1999," 45: 5-14], also found that mental health problems cost employers $179 per employee annually-less than 5 percent of the total average annual expenditure for health care. Payouts for mental health include the cost of medical care, medications, as well as lost productivity and short-term disability payments, which accounted for almost half the costs. The costliest mental-health conditions were bipolar disorders or manic depression ($62 per employee), and depression ($24). The researchers also identified other costly physical health conditions, such as diabetes ($104 per employee annually); low back pain ($90); and heart attacks, or acute myocardial infarction ($69). When conditions were ranked by category, cardiovascular disorders, musculoskeletal problems and cancers tended to be the costliest. This study is the first to take into account the costs of medical care and prescription medications, as well as disability payments and lost productivity due to absenteeism. All six companies are self-insured-that is, they pay health plans to administer their medical benefits but provide the funds to pay a set percentage of employees' medical bills. Most companies with more than 100 employees are self-insured, said Dr. Goetzel. Healthy Employees More Important Than High Costs Although the study included the data collected from a number of large corporations and businesses, "the relationships between certain disease conditions, absence and disability should apply regardless of the size of the business," Dr. Goetzel told ADVANCE. "While many companies are thinking of getting out of providing medical benefits because of high costs, they need to realize that not managing their employees health may have serious consequences in terms of lost productivity," said Dr. Goetzel. "By staying in the business of providing health care benefits, businesses have a lot more control over the health care their employees receive. And good health care means more productive employees and improved competitiveness for businesses." However, "the main point is to basically expand on the view of providers and clinicians, as well as employers, that health is not just isolated to the treatment and the medicine, but it is much broader in terms of what it affects," Dr. Goetzel commented, adding that when people are well, they are going to be more attentive and energized on the job. Health and productivity go hand in hand. Dr. Goetzel advised employers "to think about health as more than just the medical bill they are paying." Study co-authors were Kevin Hawkins, PhD; Ronald J. Ozminkowski, PhD; and Shaohung Wang, PhD, of Medstat. Dr. Goetzel is also vice president of Consulting and Applied Research at Medstat. IHPS was established in May 2002 in collaboration with Medstat. The institute is part of the Cornell Center for Policy Research (CCPR), a collaboration of Cornells vice provost for research, the New York State College of Human Ecology and the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, both at Cornell. The study was supported in part by the Integrated Therapeutics subsidiary of Schering-Plough, and the National Pharmaceutical Council.