Prestigious award recognizes McKesson’s employee health and wellness program
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., September 16, 2015 – McKesson Corporation today announced it has been selected as a 2015 C. Everett Koop National Health Award recipient in recognition for the company’s employee health and wellness program. Awarded by The Health Project and named in honor of Dr. C. Everett Koop, the former Surgeon General of the United States, the Koop Award recognizes health enhancement programs and requires strong documentation of both health improvement and cost savings. The company will be presented with the award at the HERO Forum on September 30, 2015 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, Chicago, IL.
“McKesson’s commitment to better health starts with our workforce and we’ve been striving to improve the health of our employee team since 2007,” said Jorge Figueredo, EVP, human resources, McKesson Corporation. “Our health and wellness program successfully promotes the physical, mental, and social well-being of our employees and their families. Although the focus is on improving health, we’re pleased that the wellness initiatives have created opportunities to lower health care costs for our company, our employees and their families.”
“Successful organizations understand that employee health and well-being are enhanced when a culture of health is ingrained into the organization’s norms, values and beliefs,” said Dr. Ron Goetzel, president and CEO of The Health Project. “McKesson Corporation has adopted effective and sustainable health promotion programs that help employees and their families improve their health. At the same time, these programs save money and provide high value on investment.”
Offered to employees and spouses, McKesson’s health and wellness program is powered by Vitality and includes health risk assessments and screenings, educational tools, physical activities and prevention efforts. The program has had increased employee engagement each year since its inception in 2007 and has evolved from a payout for completed health assessments into a comprehensive health promotion program with an integrated incentive structure that rewards participants for healthy behaviors. Through Vitality employees engage in approximately 80 healthy activities each year.
Although the focus of the health and wellness program is on improving health, an independent research group from Harvard University (principal investigator: Andrea Feigl) estimated that McKesson’s return on investment (ROI) for the annual program was approximately 30 percent for each dollar invested over the analysis period while significantly enriching McKesson’s overall benefits offering and corporate culture.
“After completing my annual health risk assessment in early 2014, I learned that my blood pressure and cholesterol levels had crept into a near-danger zone,” said Jacob Paquette, Human Resources, McKesson. “I realized I needed to do something and got serious about using the tools the McKesson wellness program offered. I began completing online education courses and webinars in addition to logging my daily workouts and taking 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day with my Fitbit pedometer. Now, almost two years later, I’ve lost 20 pounds and my blood pressure and cholesterol are under control.”
Additional achievements from the program include:
- Over the three years of this analysis, engaged adult participants increased activity levels by 92%.
- Since April 2012, 4,892 McKesson employees and 493 spouses reported attending 159,994 Weight Watchers® meetings and reported a net weight loss of 24,759 pounds.
- Pedometers are the most frequently used fitness device, with nearly 23,000 employee and spouse members, and more than 6.3 million recorded activities between 2011 and 2014.
- Between 2011 and 2014, McKesson members took over 51 billion steps covering 25.6 million miles.
- Company-sponsored events such as philanthropy fundraising walks encourage and reward employees.
- In 2014, 44% of employees averaged 80.7 workouts per year. Spouses also demonstrated a robust commitment to physical activity; 29% of spouses averaged 82.6 workouts per year.
- Employees that were “medium engaged” or “highly engaged” in the program spent between $916 to $1,238 less on medical expenses per employee in 2014 compared to “low engaged” employees in 2012 and 2013. This led to an overall saving of $4.7 million in medical costs for McKesson.
- Between 2012 and 2014, a majority of members transitioned from the low engagers group to the medium or high engager groups. In 2012, there were 8,741 members in the low engager group. By 2014, this had decreased to 2,531. The high engager group doubled in size from 2,091 to 5,167.
- Employees self-reported that their on-the-job performance increased from 81.69% in 2012 to 85.34% in 2014. When this increase is converted into dollars using a conservative salary conversion method, total savings was nearly $7 million across both 2013 and 2014.
About McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 11th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. McKesson partners with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit www.McKesson.com.