Helping employees be their best includes supporting them across a spectrum of health needs, one of the most important being preventive care. Simple measures like yearly checkups and screenings are a powerful way for organizations to assist employees in caring for their health — and catch emerging issues early.
By encouraging your workforce to invest in their overall well-being, you could see improved employee health outcomes, increased presenteeism, and reduced long-term care costs.
What Do You Call Preventive Care?
Any service that can intercept or reduce the risk of disease is often referred to as preventive care. This includes yearly physicals, immunizations, annual eye exams, hearing tests, routine blood work, and sexual health screenings. Based on age or certain risk factors, doctors may also recommend more advanced screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies to catch certain conditions as early as possible.
Public health experts reference preventive care in three different ways:
- Primary prevention refers to public health guidance around disease prevention, like quitting smoking to prevent lung cancer. Many workplace wellness programs are also considered primary prevention.
- Secondary prevention takes place under a doctor’s guidance to stop an existing disease from worsening, such as following a nutritionist-recommended heart-healthy diet to lose weight.
- Tertiary prevention focuses on reducing the impact of an existing condition or risk factors that may otherwise progress into severe diseases, like getting regular colonoscopies given a family history of colon cancer.
Public health spending often focuses on the first two types of preventive care, making a return on investment (ROI) harder to calculate. However, anytime a person can offset a condition, treat a health concern, or stay on top of preventive care measures, that’s a win-win for both employers and employees.
Tertiary prevention is specific — it focuses on specific condition management or a definitive clinical diagnosis — meaning ROI can be slightly more measurable.
Offset Health Risks And Cut Costs With Early Interventions
Chronic conditions are a huge driver of healthcare costs, which speaks to why tertiary prevention is key. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 90% of the $4.1 trillion in annual medical spending goes toward chronic and mental health conditions. For example, diabetes drives about 1 in 4 U.S. dollars spent on healthcare. There is a tremendous opportunity to cut costs of care by changing the way people address chronic conditions.
It’s also known that 4 out of the 5 leading causes of death in the U.S. can either be prevented or more easily managed if caught early. This includes conditions like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory disease. Regular screenings and preventive care could significantly cut back on emergency room visits and acute chronic care management — which ultimately translates to lower care costs for employers.
Reduce Employee Absenteeism While Boosting Productivity
When employees engage in preventive exams, annual physicals, eye exams, and other screenings, they can more confidently navigate the healthcare system. And if they are facing a chronic condition, tertiary preventive care can mean fewer major medical interventions, all leading to fewer missed workdays and increased productivity.
This is especially important as work absenteeism due to medical needs continues to rise. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted the number of people missing work due to health needs more than doubled over a year, from 3.7 million in January 2021 to 7.8 million in January 2022.
And yet, preventive care remains underutilized. While it’s proven that preventive care reduces the risk of diseases, disabilities, and death, millions of people in the United States do not get their recommended preventive healthcare services. It’s become a focus for our government with initiatives like Healthy People 2030, which sets data-driven national objectives to improve health and well-being over the next decade. And for employers offering employee coverage, it’s worth noting the growing expectations around whole-health support, including preventive care.
ROI considerations around health coverage should not consider preventive care in a silo. By creating a culture that incentivizes workers to maintain and even improve their health and overall well-being, employers can reap the rewards of better attendance and higher productivity.