IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hrv/faseco/5345879.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Workplace Wellness Programs Can Generate Savings

Author

Listed:
  • Baicker, Katherine
  • Cutler, David M.
  • Song, Zirui

Abstract

With health care expenditures soaring, there is increasing interest in workplace-based disease prevention and health promotion as a means of improving health while lowering costs. We conduct a critical meta-analysis of the literature on costs and savings associated such programs, focusing on studies with particularly rigorous methods and examining effects on health care costs and absenteeism. We find that medical costs fall about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs, and absentee day costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent. This average return on investment suggests that the wider adoption of such programs could prove beneficial for budgets and productivity as well as health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Baicker, Katherine & Cutler, David M. & Song, Zirui, 2010. "Workplace Wellness Programs Can Generate Savings," Scholarly Articles 5345879, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hrv:faseco:5345879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/5345879/Workplace%20Wellness%20Programs.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), 2000. "Handbook of Health Economics," Handbook of Health Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Costa-Fonta & Montserrat Font-Vilalta, "undated". "The limits on the Design of Long-Term Care Insurance Schemes in Spain stas," Studies on the Spanish Economy 201, FEDEA.
    2. Grönqvist, Hans & Niknami, Susan, 2014. "Alcohol availability and crime: Lessons from liberalized weekend sales restrictions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 77-84.
    3. Baltagi, Badi H. & Yen, Yin-Fang, 2014. "Hospital treatment rates and spillover effects: Does ownership matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 193-202.
    4. G�ng�r KARAKAYA, 2009. "Long-Term Care: Regional Disparities In Belgium," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 4(1(7)_ Spr).
    5. Kai Hong & Peter A. Savelyev & Kegon T. K. Tan, 2020. "Understanding the Mechanisms Linking College Education with Longevity," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 371-400.
    6. David Cantarero & Marta Pascual, 2005. "Regional Differences In Health In Spain - An Empirical Analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa05p551, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Nell, Martin & Rosenbrock, Stephan, 2007. "Wettbewerb in kapitalgedeckten Krankenversicherungssystemen: Ein konsistenter Ansatz zur Übertragung von individuellen Alterungsrückstellungen in der Privaten Krankenversicherung," Working Papers on Risk and Insurance 19, University of Hamburg, Institute for Risk and Insurance.
    8. Natallia Gray & Gabriel Picone, 2018. "Evidence of Large-Scale Social Interactions in Mammography in the United States," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 46(4), pages 441-457, December.
    9. Erik Schokkaert & Jonas Steel & Carine Van de Voorde, 2017. "Out-of-Pocket Payments and Subjective Unmet Need of Healthcare," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 545-555, October.
    10. Masayoshi Hayashi, 2011. "The effects of medical factors on transfer deficits in Public Assistance in Japan: a quantile regression analysis," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 287-307, December.
    11. Øien Henning, 2013. "Do Local Governments Respond to (Perverse) Financial Incentives in Long-Term Care Funding Schemes?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(2), pages 525-549, August.
    12. Majo, Maria Cristina & van Soest, Arthur, 2012. "Income and health care utilization among the 50+ in Europe and the US," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 28(4), pages 3-22.
    13. James M. Malcomson, 2005. "Supplier Discretion Over Provision: Theory and an Application to Medical Care," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(2), pages 412-429, Summer.
    14. Anikó Bíró, 2014. "Supplementary private health insurance and health care utilization of people aged 50+," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 501-524, March.
    15. Abe Dunn & Eli Liebman & Adam Hale Shapiro, 2016. "Decomposing Medical Care Expenditure Growth," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs, pages 81-111, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Martin Gaynor, "undated". "What Do We Know About Competition and Quality in Health Care Markets?," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E62, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    17. Tim Lohse & Peter Lutz & Christian Thomann, 2013. "Redistributional consequences of early childhood intervention," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(3), pages 373-381, June.
    18. Lakdawalla, Darius N. & Seabury, Seth A., 2012. "The welfare effects of medical malpractice liability," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 356-369.
    19. Jeffrey Clemens & Joshua D. Gottlieb & Jeffrey Hicks, 2021. "How Would Medicare for All Affect Health System Capacity? Evidence from Medicare for Some," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 225-262.
    20. Guillem López & David McDaid & Joan Costa-Font, 2006. "Health care management autonomy: Evidence from the Catalonian hospital sector in a decentralised Spain," Working Papers, Research Center on Health and Economics 993, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hrv:faseco:5345879. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Office for Scholarly Communication (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deharus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.