PMID: 29087632Nov 1, 2017Paper

Boosting workplace wellness programs with financial incentives

The American Journal of Managed Care
Alison CuellarKevin G Volpp

Abstract

Using a large natural experiment among 39 employers, we examined the effect of adding financial incentives to workplace wellness programs. The 39 study employers used the same national insurer to administer their wellness programs, allowing us to observe preventive and health-promoting behaviors before and after financial incentives were implemented. Fifteen treatment employers introduced financial incentives into their wellness programs over 3 years, providing variation in the start dates, whereas 24 employers did not introduce financial incentives. These incentives were attached to specific health actions, including annual preventive visits, biometric screening, and selected screening services for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Using multivariate regression, we examined employees and their adult dependents who had insurance coverage for at least 12 months and were offered a wellness program. Outcomes include utilization of annual preventive visits, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol testing, fasting blood sugar (FBS) testing, and breast, cervical, and colon cancer screens. Financial incentives increased annual preventive visits by 7.7 percentage points, cholesterol testing by 7.9 percentage points, and FBS testing by 7...Continue Reading

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