With U-M providing health benefits to more than 38,000 faculty and staff members, many of whom spend the majority of their waking hours on campus, the workplace is a natural venue for investments in health. U-M’s health benefits are one of the most rapidly increasing costs for our organization, now essentially equal to our state appropriation. In 2009, U-M spent approximately $300 million on total medical and pharmaceutical costs for faculty, staff, dependents and retirees or about $6,500 per year for each benefits-eligible employee and retiree. These numbers do not include employee and retiree contributions to health benefits.

Our goal has always been to create a culture of health where people thrive and, in part, this means shifting the university’s health care investment toward prevention. Studies show that worksite wellness programs can positively affect employees’ attitudes toward their health and their work and that even small changes in a community’s health risks can produce significant changes in costs.¹

What is the potential return on investment?
We expect that U-M's health care costs could drop by $1.50 for every dollar spent on employee wellness programs. Recent research by Harvard University economists appeared in the peer reviewed journal Health Affairs suggesting that some employers may be able to reduce health care costs by as much as $3.27 and the costs of absentee days by $2.73 for each dollar spent.<sup>2

1</sup>Ozminkowski RJ, Dunn RL, Goetzel RZ, Cantor RI, Murnane J, Harrison M.  A return on investment evaluation of the Citibank, N.A., health management program.  Am J. Health Promot. 1999;14(1):31-43.

²Baicker, K, Cutler D, Song Z. Workplace wellness programs can generate savings. Health Affairs. 2010;29(2):304-311

As we embark on the third year of our MHealthy strategic plan, the following priority areas will be addressed to continue to move us toward our goals:

1) Increase engagement/participation to impact population health and related costs. National experience tells us that more than 70 percent engagement of faculty and staff is necessary to positively impact population health and costs and that this can be accomplished through leadership commitment and support, incentives for participation, and developing cultural norms and support systems.

2) Address our population’s top health risk factor and claims cost areas.  We are implementing a number of strategies to address the health risk factors of being overweight, lack of physical activity and depression in our population. In addition, Joseph Himle, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and School of Social Work, and Christopher Peterson, Professor of Psychology, College of LS&A, co-chair a taskforce addressing stress in our population, which is one of the top reported risk factors from the 2009 Wellness Assessment data. A back care task force co-chaired by Tony Chiodo, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Dan Chapman, M.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Medical School, and a physician in Occupational Health Services, will recommend programs ranging from managing acute back pain to preventing disability.

3) Improve cultural and environmental conditions that support faculty and staff in sustaining healthier lifestyles. MHealthy staff will work with you to implement strategies in your units to create healthy workplace cultures, as this will be key to sustaining our efforts. We are working closely with university facility planners, RecSports and other partners to explore opportunities for improved fitness center access and availability. We also will continue to provide tobacco treatment services that support the university’s Smoke-Free Campus Initiative and we will work with our food service partners to ensure that healthy options are available in our dining, catering, vending and convenience stores. 

4) Refine our evaluation plan and activities to measure progress toward goals. We now have reasonable comparison data on the U-M population to help prioritize our activities in the coming years.  We will be measuring our progress and making improvements along the way. Your personal commitment to our MHealthy goals is important to our success.

U-M's health related costs could drop by $1.50 for every dollar spent on employee wellness programs.