5 Ways Health Coaching Helps Your Business

Michael Galvan

Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension account for more than 86% of health care spending in the United States.1 Most of these diseases are highly preventable with a combination of a healthful diet, regular exercise and abstention from tobacco and alcohol use.

In order to combat this expensive and deadly trend, many employers are turning to health coaches to help reduce risk factors and promote workforce health.

Health coaches specialize in helping people build healthful habits and achieve personal wellness goals. When it comes to the workforce, health coaches can reduce claims costs associated with chronic conditions by helping employees improve their health.   

Here are five of the biggest ways that using health coaches can improve the wellness of your workforce.

1. A health coach can lower claim costs and premiums

Corporate health coaching has been showed to lower the costs associated with obesity by nearly $1400 a patient— Employing a health coach for your workforce may lower your claim and premium costs3 which means less money out of pocket for you.

2. Health coaching is focused on achievable goals

Health coaches use S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) tactics to help employees achieve their health and wellness goals. This helps ensure that employees take manageable steps toward positive changes, and can continually track their progress toward the end goal.

3. Health coaches are trained to motivate people to pursue healthy behaviors

They know what to say and do to get your employees excited about making better choices to promote health—and to keep them going on their wellness journey. Many employers use them as points of contact for employee questions about health programs, rewards, and fitness challenges.

4. Frequent health assessments

The wellness of an employee who uses a health coach needs to be continually tracked; this leads to more frequent health assessments. This type of data collection can better illustrate to an employer where their workforce is at relative to their wellness goals, and whether or not they progressing.

5. Higher productivity at work

Healthy, fit employees are often more energetic and better able to manage stress.. This can increase productivity and reduce presenteeism and absenteeism associated with high stress and frequent illness. 

For more information on health and wellness programs for your workforce please go to: http://bit.ly/ConcentraWellness

 

References
1.Multiple Chronic Conditions Chartbook. 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.