Health Promotion Program Budgets.
Trying to do more with less money? Here are three proven ways to align the dollars and cents of a wellness program in your budget.
Common thread – the way you prepare â.” and control â.” your budget for a health promotion program is vital to its success.
1. Top-down health promotion budget
Depending on the size of your corporation and health promotion program, you could have full budget responsibility or may need to work with a C-level who has budgeting specialistise.
Regardless of the arrangement, you’re likely to face one of two distinct challenges – a top-down budget or a zero-based budget.
A top-down budget is when you’re given a finite dollar amount and told to run the health promotion program within the limit. If that’s the case, here are three vital questions to ask -
o Does this limit include money set aside for employee incentives and future programs?
o Should we keep long-tenured wellness programs that keep going up in price, and
o Does Benefits/HR have to deliver all education about the wellness program, or is there extra funding to hire staff?
2. Zero-based wellness budgeting
In zero-based funding, you submit to senior management an itemized list of the health promotion programs/features you want and the cost of each. Best practices -
o Rank health promotion programs by priority (health-risk assessments should be at or near the top)
o Indicate which expenses are fixed and which are variable, and
o List ways to incorporate existing resources (like an employee assistance program program) for a better return on investment.
3. Estimating health promotion Return On Investment (ROI)
On average, health promotion programs typically take at least 18 months to break even. After three years, you should see savings.
When not, it’s time to take a fresh look at the wellness program design.
