Health Fairs

The corporations with the most cost-efficient health care programs are the ones that streamline the services workforce receive for both their physical and psychological health.

As a long-term goal, having your general health plan, worker assistance program (EAP) and health promotion program communicating regularly with one another about employees’ treatments is the single best way to reduce redundant or contradictory treatments, eliminate unnecessary claims and increase the quality of the plans for which you pay.

Let’s look at the relationship between your health promotion program and your EAP to illustrate the importance of attacking health costs cross a wide front.

You can begin a wellness program with a health risk appraisal and then, if appropriate, roll out a tobacco use cessation program or a losing weight program.

But ultimately you want to make certain that your wellness provider works combined with your EAP provider.

Here’s why –  It’s very common for an staff member to contact the EAP because the individuals feels depressed about his or her weight. What you want is for the EAP vendor to treat the employee’s depression and behavioral issues, plus you want the EAP to refer the staff member to the wellness program to deal with the root cause of the problem – obesity.

The same thing accompanies the relationship your health promotion program and your workers’ comp provider, STD and LTD providers, rehab individuals , and/or disease managers. You want all them talking to – and sharing data with – each other. If they’re not, it’s costing you money.

In general, the companys who achieve the greatest cost savings through their wellness programs are the ones who overlap wellness with behavioral and occupational health issues.