Leading wellness rewards program, Go365® from Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), shared results of a study that examined the impact of the program on more than 10,000 participants over five years in the areas of employee health, healthcare cost savings and productivity. The results show that over the five-year period employees were more likely to make healthier lifestyle choices and reduce risk for chronic conditions, and those that actively engaged had lower healthcare costs and usage, over time. Additionally, higher engagement in Go365 is linked to fewer Unhealthy Days1.
“Managing healthcare costs is a priority for employers who strive to offer competitive benefits while fostering a healthier, more productive workforce,” said Jeff Reid, senior vice president, Wellness Solutions for Humana. “Based on the strength of the findings of the Go365 study in showing that long-term employee participation in our wellness program results in a healthier, more productive work force and reduced healthcare costs, Go365 is a proven partner in realizing these positive outcomes.”
Go365 serves approximately five million members nationwide who can earn rewards for completing healthy activities such as Health Assessments, preventive screenings and fitness activities. Rewards include e-gift cards, fitness devices and apparel, product discounts and charitable donations.
The impact study assessed data from more than 10,000 Humana employees enrolled in the program over five years. The first two years were used as a baseline period for the study, and the last three years made up the analysis period.
Highlights of Humana’s Go365 five-year study include:
Lifestyle Risk Factors
Overall, there was an increase in members who ate healthier foods, exercised more and reduced stress and tobacco use.
- Members who exercised for at least 150 minutes each week rose by 25%
- Members who ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily rose by nearly 12%
- Members experiencing low stress increased by 5%
- Members were 2.3% more likely to be non-smokers
Clinical Risk Factors
Biometric data found notable improvements in lowering risk for heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and other conditions over five years, which is very promising for the aging workforce.
- 7% more men and nearly 3% more women had healthy ranges of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) “good” cholesterol
- Members were likelier to have somewhat healthier ranges of blood glucose, blood pressure and triglycerides
Healthcare Claims Costs and Usage
High-engaged members had lower healthcare cost increases than members with low or medium engagement, which is promising considering the aging population and general inflation in the cost of healthcare. Higher engagement in Go365 is also linked with fewer emergency room visits and hospital admissions.
- In year 5, high-engaged members paid a per member per month average of $116 (or 22%) less in healthcare than low-engaged members
- High-engaged members had 35% fewer emergency room visits and 30% fewer hospital admissions than low-engaged members
- Medium-to-high engaged members had 11% more preventive doctor’s office visits than low-engaged members
Productivity
Better productivity, as measured by Unhealthy Days, was found among high-engaged members
- High-engaged members reported 55% fewer Unhealthy Days than low-engaged members
In summary, the study shows a link between long-term engagement in Go365 with employee health, productivity and cost savings with more highly engaged employees exhibiting the best results.
The complete report and study results are available here. For more information about the study, the Go365 program, or generally how to improve employee health, cost savings, and productivity at your organization, go to go365.com/for-business.
About Go365
Go365® is a wellness and rewards program. Go365 is deeply rooted in behavioral economics and actuarial science, and serves more than 5 million members nationwide. By integrating rewards with health, Go365 provides tools and support to help members live healthier lives and reduce healthcare costs.
For more information Go365, please visit the company’s website at Go365.com. You can also find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Go365Now/, Twitter: @Go365Now, Tumblr: https://Go365Now.tumblr.com/,YouTube: www.youtube.com/Go365Now; Facebook Medicare: www.facebook.com/Go365forMedicare.
About Humana
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is committed to helping our millions of medical and specialty members achieve their best health. Our successful history in care delivery and health plan administration is helping us create a new kind of integrated care with the power to improve health and well-being and lower costs. Our efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large.
To accomplish that, we support physicians and other health care professionals as they work to deliver the right care in the right place for their patients, our members. Our range of clinical capabilities, resources and tools – such as in-home care, behavioral health, pharmacy services, data analytics and wellness solutions – combine to produce a simplified experience that makes health care easier to navigate and more effective.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls
- Calendar of events
- Corporate Governance information
1 Unhealthy Days are a metric of population health and quality of life used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which can reflect productivity, absenteeism, and presenteeism (when employees are physically present at work but not working at full performance) https://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/methods.htm.
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Contacts:
Humana Corporate Communications
502-580-3990
mhill1@humana.com
