This week McKesson Corporation received the 2015 C. Everett Koop National Health Award in recognition for its employee health and wellness program powered by Vitality. This prestigious award recognizes organizations with outstanding health enhancement programs that have documented health and cost savings.
Offered to employees and spouses, McKesson’s “You. Even better.” program powered by Vitality includes health risk assessments and screenings, educational tools, physical activities and prevention efforts. The program has had increased employee engagement each year since its inception in 2007 and has evolved from a payout for completed health assessments into a comprehensive health promotion program with an integrated incentive structure that rewards participants for healthy behaviors.
In partnership with Vitality, McKesson successfully bent the trend in the all-important disease categories of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, realizing significant financial impact.
Highlights of the McKesson Vitality program include:
- Over the three years of this analysis, engaged adult participants increased activity levels by 92%.
- Since April 2012, 4,892 McKesson employees and 493 spouses reported attending 159,994 Weight Watchers® meetings and reported a net weight loss of 24,759 pounds.
- Pedometers are the most frequently used fitness device, with nearly 23,000 employee and spouse members, and more than 6.3 million recorded activities between 2011 and 2014.
- Between 2011 and 2014, McKesson members took over 51 billion steps covering 25.6 million miles.
- Employees that were medium engaged or highly engaged in the program spent between $916 to $1,238 less on medical expenses per employee in 2014 compared to low engaged employees in 2012 and 2013. This led to an overall saving of $4.7 million in medical costs for McKesson.
- Employees self-reported that their on-the-job performance increased from 81.69% in 2012 to 85.34% in 2014. When this increase is converted into dollars using a conservative salary conversion method, total savings was nearly $7 million across both 2013 and 2014.
This recognition of McKesson not only speaks volumes about their committed leadership behind a science and evidence-based wellness program, but also the efficacy of the Vitality program. We congratulate them on this momentous achievement!
