The impact of our award-winning HealthyU employee wellness program is clear. Our employees are getting healthier. Plus, research cited in Forbes Magazine shows worksite wellness programs support employee engagement and improved engagement as well as having “a positive effect on recruitment, retention, and overall company culture.” Those factors are all good business for any business.

At our request, BC/BS statisticians studied the results of the cohort of the 426 NMC employees who participated in our Health Risk Appraisal in both 2017 and 2018. We are thrilled to see improvement from year to year in that group, as the percentage of those who were scored as “low risk” went up and the percentage of those at “moderate risk” or “high risk” came down!  That is fantastic! Long term, a reduction in overall risk reduces the incidence of costly conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

This improvement is a key strategy in reducing overall healthcare costs. By reducing risks, we reduce the demand for higher intensity medical interventions. We can see that within our own NMC workforce, as the average annual per-person cost for those at low risk is nearly $1,000 less on a yearly basis than it is for those at moderate/high risk. Coaching people to stay healthy and helping others to reduce their risk directly benefits individuals, families, employers, and the state as a whole.

NMC has been a tireless advocate for prevention, healthy habits, and positive lifestyle choices to improve personal health. It has such an impact. Our workforce is a good sampling of our greater community and we know that if we have proving results at NMC, these same gains are possible with every workforce in the region. We are proud of the work the Lifestyle Team is doing with individuals at NMC through HealthyU and at other worksites such as Vermont Precision Tools. For more information on how NMC’s Lifestyle Team can help you with healthier habits in your workforce, call them at 524-1227.