Keeping employees healthy, happy and safe is one of the most important tasks for any employer. Not doing so could directly lead to higher workers compensation insurance costs, as well as other healthcare expenditures that could further complicate the financial well-being of a company.
Therefore, employers should take every step possible to ensure that staff members are healthy while on the job. Recently, a new report was released that shed some light on medical spending patterns across the country, and the rise in expenses was coupled with increased visits to healthcare professionals.
Healthcare spending, visits increase
According to a report by healthcare information company IMS Health Holdings Inc., more Americans have been using healthcare services and spending more on prescription drugs over the past year, Reuters reported.
The study indicated that medicinal spending ticked up 3.2 percent across the country in 2013, reaching $329.2 billion, the media outlet noted. Possible contributing factors include the cost of new medicines, price increases and the growing use of healthcare services. The use of cheaper generic drugs has been on the rise as well, up to 86 percent of all prescriptions during that time.
"The recession was officially over a long time ago, but what has taken a much longer time is for the [healthcare services] demand to recover," Michael Kleinrock, director of research development for IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "In late fall of 2012, we started to see a beginning of the recovery in terms of new therapy starts."
Employers can take steps to improve health
Given the rise in healthcare spending, it may be wise for employers to focus on healthy employee behaviors to help keep these costs, and those associated with workers compensation insurance, down. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to do this.
For starters, some companies are offering onsite yoga, Pilates and other exercise classes, according to Entrepreneur magazine. Twitter is one such firm, and the San Francisco-based staff members also have the option to take free massage and acupuncture sessions.
Amy Obana, Twitter's HR and Wellness program manager, told the news source that the company's attitude and energy are extremely important for the corporate culture, and in order to avoid fatigue the company offers these fitness programs to help employees.
In addition, other companies are providing workers the option to use weight rooms, take group classes and perform active living challenges. All of these steps could be exactly what is needed to keep the staff safe, healthy and happy.
