Prevalence Rates
From 2010 to 2011, the average health improvement for all patients with risk factors and chronic conditions was 32 percent overall. A full 78 percent of employees who tested positive for chronic hypertension now have blood pressure readings within the normal range.
Engagement
For BAE Systems’ employees who screened positive for a high-risk chronic condition or who already had an existing chronic condition, Marathon Health achieved a 98 percent engagement rate.
Employee Satisfaction
The most recent annual survey indicated that 96% were satisfied or very satisfied with their Marathon Health experience. This comment sums up Marathon Health’s mission to make its clinicians available and engage with employees: “The accessibility of the onsite health clinic is one of the best things that this company has done in a long time.”
(BAE Systems employee response to Marathon Health Satisfaction Survey, April, 2011)
The Health and Wellness Guru
Michael Puck knows a thing or two about workplace health and wellness. In fact, his innovative solutions are laid out in his book “Health Care Cost Management – The High Road” and he is a sought-after speaker on the workplace wellness circuit.
Puck is the director of integrated health for BAE Systems, Inc, a defense and security company with 45,000 U.S-based employees. Puck, who was born in Europe, came to the United States to work at the BAE Systems Kingsport, TN facility. He brought an outsider’s perspective on how to address problems with the employer-based health insurance system.
He had an idea how to solve the problems he found and he used the Kingsport facility as a pilot location. Puck implemented a progressive health promotion program that drives healthcare cost down and increases employee productivity. From 2005 – 2010, the Kingsport facility has managed to keep their healthcare costs flat. Puck’s job was to further improve the health promotion program by expanding the onsite clinic with primary care services.
So in 2010, when BAE Systems was looking for a new vendor to open its onsite clinic and perform primary care in addition to health coaching and biometric screenings, Puck found a like-minded partner in Marathon Health.
In just 16 months, Marathon Health was able to help BAE Systems save more than $1.2 million in cost avoidance through redirected care and other measures. That accounts for an ROI figure of nearly 2:1 in a little over a year. Those savings were achieved by identifying and working with employees targeted as high risk for a chronic condition or who had an existing chronic condition.
“To have a 2:1 return on investment in one year is quite impressive,” said Puck. “We are able to document that return through Marathon Health’s reporting platform. Previously there was no reporting, or it took too long. Now we have the data we need.”
