Cleveland Clinic uses wellness initiative to cut costs

2/16/2012

As healthcare costs rise, more organizations are turning to employee wellness programs to help get their workers in shape and lower the amount of money spent on insurance to cover obesity and smoking-related conditions. For example, The Plain Dealer, an Ohio news source, recently reported on how The Cleveland Clinic has told workers to shape up or face a 21 percent increase in their insurance premiums.

"We want people to embrace health, not be punished," said Paul Terpeluk, M.D., medical director of the Clinic's Employee Health Services, quoted by the news source. "This isn't a stick, it's a carrot. We are not forcing people to do anything, but as a healthcare institution, we do feel this is the right thing to do."

In 2010, the Clinic started a wellness program called "Healthy Choice," and more than half of the healthcare facility's 29,000 employees joined.

A study published in the December 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review found that a comprehensive, strategically designed investment in employees’ social, mental and physical health pays off in the long run, and companies can expect more than $2.50 back for every dollar spent on worker wellness.  

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