On December 5^th, Atlanta Regional Health Forum and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta convened with business and governmental employers to share successful stories from three different employer wellness initiatives. We had 51 people from public and private employers, academia, hospitals, health care providers, and wellness program experts. The presentations included examples and information for reduced cost to the employer and increased productivity among employees. Improved employee health outcomes included several individual stories of dramatic life saving health improvements. The meeting sparked an interest among participants and was successful at recruiting partners to join ARHF in raising awareness and promoting proven interventions. The Power Point presentations are available below.

Promoting healthy lifestyles benefits our community and can improve a company’s bottom line. Chronic illness costs the U S approximately $1.1 trillion in lost work productivity. Atlanta Regional Health Forum is pleased to have adopted Employee Wellness as our current theme. We believe that prevention through the employer will significantly improve health outcomes, curtail chronic diseases and will significantly reduce health care benefit costs.

Presenters:

David Connell, Georgia Power Co. - Their Southern LifeStyle Wellness Program identified 53% of employees as having one or more chronic health condition. During the first year of implementation, inpatient admission for asthma decreased 67%, CHF decreased 57% and depression decreased 100%. Return on investment for the same year was 2.4:1.

Terri Foreman, TI Automotive- One TI automotive plant in Georgia was losing money and was scheduled to be closed. Instead, they initiated an aggressive employee wellness program that reduced health benefit costs and increased productivity to the point that the plant changed red ink to black and is currently in operation. TI used the Georgia plant experience to begin employee wellness in its plants around the globe.

Meg Kelsey, City of LaGrange, GA- Over the last few years, the city of LaGrange had seen a significant rise in Employee Health Claims. The Fit for Life campaign was initiated to reduce these costs. Within a year of implementation, there was a 19% drop in Medical Claims, and productivity improved dramatically as measured by reduced use of sick leave. The program has increased employee involvement in the planning and implementation to the extent that employee morale has been improved.

The attendees provided feedback by scoring the presenters, offered suggestions that included positive points of the plan, identified existing allies, concerns and foreseen potential problems.