As a society, we know how important it is to be healthy. When we’re not, the costs are staggering. According to Gallup, the cost of employee absenteeism related to chronic conditions and obesity is expected to reach $153.4 billion this year alone. According to Onlife Health, Inc., people who are fit are also four to five times more productive than those who are unfit.
Regular physical activity may be the closest thing to a “magic bullet” when it comes to our health, but the most recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more than half of all adults fail to meet the recommended weekly guideline: more than 150 minutes of moderate activity like brisk walking and more than two sessions of strength training. As a result, and within a relatively short amount of time, many American businesses have become increasingly interested in offering workplace wellness initiatives to help employees lead healthier and more active lifestyles.
“When employees are happier and healthier, they are better organizational citizens,” said Catherine Bass, Ph.D., M.S., director of analytics and reporting at Onlife, a comprehensive wellness solutions company that works with health plans and large employers nationwide. “Not only are they more effective problem solvers, which improves intellectual capital and retention, but they are better able to manage their illnesses through greater medication compliance and improved awareness of their conditions.”
Many companies quickly turn to walking challenges and yoga classes as popular health-driven workplace activities, but “wellness” doesn’t mean the same to everyone. While some members may focus on physical activity or nutrition, others are more concerned with stress management or even their financial health.
As a society, we know how important it is to be healthy. When we’re not, the costs are staggering. According to Gallup, the cost of employee absenteeism related to chronic conditions and obesity is expected to reach $153.4 billion this year alone. According to Onlife Health, Inc., people who are fit are also four to five times more productive than those who are unfit.
Regular physical activity may be the closest thing to a “magic bullet” when it comes to our health, but the most recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more than half of all adults fail to meet the recommended weekly guideline: more than 150 minutes of moderate activity like brisk walking and more than two sessions of strength training. As a result, and within a relatively short amount of time, many American businesses have become increasingly interested in offering workplace wellness initiatives to help employees lead healthier and more active lifestyles.
“When employees are happier and healthier, they are better organizational citizens,” said Catherine Bass, Ph.D., M.S., director of analytics and reporting at Onlife, a comprehensive wellness solutions company that works with health plans and large employers nationwide. “Not only are they more effective problem solvers, which improves intellectual capital and retention, but they are better able to manage their illnesses through greater medication compliance and improved awareness of their conditions.”
Many companies quickly turn to walking challenges and yoga classes as popular health-driven workplace activities, but “wellness” doesn’t mean the same to everyone. While some members may focus on physical activity or nutrition, others are more concerned with stress management or even their financial health.
“A lot of components need to be considered when you’re putting a wellness or well-being program into place because challenges won’t and can’t reach their full potential without some ability to track the success of those activities,” explained Abbey Griffin, M.S., R.D., LDN, director of product development at Onlife. “Companies and employees alike need to understand the long-term strategy, and not just see it as, ‘Okay, this month it’s Diabetes Awareness Month, so this is our immediate focus.’”
Use the Right Tools at the Right Time
By 2018, U.S. employers will integrate more than 13 million wearable health and fitness tracking devices into their employee wellness programs. For employers who successfully integrate fitness trackers into their workplace wellness programs, it’s a win-win. Apps and wearables can help employees meet individual goals while helping their employers achieve corporate health goals as well as reducing health insurance claims and related premiums.
It’s important for companies to embrace the positive impact wellness challenges play in getting people moving, no matter their fitness level. One way to accomplish this is to help members utilize the right tracking tools at the right time, tools employees likely already use. In fact, according to technology consultants Endeavors Partners, one in 10 Americans over the age of 18 owns an activity tracker.
“Many of our members have employees who already use their own devices but who are looking for a consistent program that can help them utilize these digital healthcare tools at a higher level,” said Griffin. “By creating challenges that encourage greater activity, we’re not just measuring what’s been done but rather encouraging people to continue what they’re already doing.”
Partners in Success.
Integrating data from wearable devices is no easy feat and is hard to manage alone. Years ago, at the request of a single client, Onlife integrated a basic pedometer into its member platform. This required time and effort not just to build the integration to the device, but also to manage the ongoing maintenance. When other clients began requesting Onlife to integrate data from other activity trackers, they looked for a better solution.
Onlife chose Validic, a company that offers a digital technology platform enabling convenient, easy access to digital health data from disparate devices. With one simple connection to Validic, companies like Onlife can access activity and health data from more than 300 fitness wearables, in-home clinical devices and nutritional and health apps. With access to this data, Onlife was able to power their programs with better insights into employee health and well-being.
Validic's innovative platform integrates data seamlessly into Onlife's existing wellness programs. It allows members to connect their favorite fitness devices or mobile applications while continuously syncing their data with Onlife's member-facing wellness portal. Onlife members can log in to the Onlife web and native mobile applications to view a comprehensive listing of compatible devices and apps, sync their preferred tracker and view progress over time as displayed on the participant's activity dashboard. This data is then infused into Onlife’s coaching, incentive and challenge platforms to inform both members and coaches on progress as well as drive ongoing communication to motivate and encourage members to be physically active.
“Validic took the burden off of our internal resources, allowing us to focus on our core competencies,” said Griffin. “What set Validic apart was their ability to help truly expand our ecosystem of devices. Validic already has hundreds of direct connections to devices, and if there’s one they don’t have that you need, they’ll go out and get it on the customers’ behalf. For example, over the last 12 months, our members increasingly asked for data tracking and integration with Apple Health and its products. Validic worked with us to put a relationship in place, and together we came up with a creative solution that saved us valuable time and resources.”
Through the partnership with Validic, Onlife can now measure the impact that big and small changes have on the daily lives of employees. Additionally, by Onlife offering bring-your-own-device (BYOD) wellness programs, employers can potentially save money because they don’t have to purchase and supply the wearables as technology changes and new devices become available.
“Having various ways for members to engage with your wellness platform increases the proportion of members who will interact with the program,” stressed Bass. “Adding device integration into our offerings resulted in a 23.7 percent increase in new member engagement.”
Value of Investment
Validic’s mHealth interoperability platform is a unique technological solution with a quick deployment time of a few hours. According to a report by industry research firm Frost & Sullivan, Validic’s platform is 90 percent cheaper than a healthcare company trying to build a comparable mHealth solution internally. It’s a great value to companies like Onlife that are looking to accelerate their digital health business strategies.
Tracking and analyzing “value” of results isn’t what it used to be. Instead of measuring return on investment (ROI) in dollar figures, companies have increasingly begun to focus on the intangible values of their wellness programs. While companies like Onlife will still need to provide their clients with quantitative information – something it can track through Validic’s digital platform – the tide has shifted as more and more organizations begin to take a longer-term view of the healthcare landscape. This shift represents a move toward appreciating the value of investment (VOI).
When used in conjunction with Onlife's health coaching platform, tracking devices help both the wellness program participant and the health coach better understand and identify unhealthy patterns and overcome barriers to improving overall health. In addition, being able to see clear progress over time helps keep people motivated.
“We’ve long found that employees who participate in a wellness challenge almost always cost the company less in the long run than those who do not participate,” said Bass. “Where the actual rubber meets the road is when an organization has enough people participating to offset the cost of the program. That’s the real value.”
Getting Started
The wellness industry is crowded and changing rapidly. For wellness companies to remain competitive, it’s clear they need to continue evolving their offerings, integrating other sources of employee information like those data sets from digital health devices and apps, and additionally, demonstrate the impact it has on employee health, insurance claims and the bottom line.
Fortunately, companies don’t have to face this alone. Validic’s digital health platform is enabling the easy integration of data from hundreds of digital health devices and apps. Are you ready to integrate digital health data into your wellness solutions? Contact Validic at hello@validic.com or visit validic.com to get started.
