INFLUENCE OF A MOBILE WORKSITE HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAM ON HEALTH-CARE COSTS

The continued rising cost of health care has prompted some businesses to invest in mobile worksite health promotion programs, which screen e mployees for health risk and pursue risk reduction through counseling, health education, and referral to medical treatment. The purpose of t his study was to examine the influence of a mobile worksite health pro motion program on health care costs. We conducted a five-year retrospe ctive study on 1,325 city employees insured by the City of Mesa, Arizo na. Of these, 340 had participated in the CIGNA Health-plan mobile wor ksite health promotion program for two years. The participants were ag e-matched and sex-matched with 340 control subjects who were also empl oyed and insured by the city. We analyzed participant and control grou p health care costs for two years before and two years after program i nitiation. Repeated measures analysis of variance (2 x 2 MANOVA) indic ated a significant decrease in health care costs in both groups (P <.0 063). The control group had a 7% decrease, while the participant group decreased 16%. Further analysis showed specific reductions in general sickness, outpatient and inpatient claims, and total claims use. Cost s for substance abuse/psychological treatment and for emergency care d id not decrease. Benefit-to-cost ratio for the entire program resulted in a $3.6 savings for every dollar spent. Mobile worksite health prom otion programs can be effective in reducing employee health care expen ditures among both program participants and nonparticipants.