THE HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT (HRA)

Wellness Is Profitable

It's possible to measure the overall health of your organization using health risk assessments as benchmarks for the aggregate health level of your employees. The results of the assessment will determine what interventions are most appropriate for your employees and which provide the highest return on investment (ROI). The initial HRA also becomes a benchmark against which you can judge the degree of improvement in the health of your workforce after a wellness program has been in place for a period of time.  Sometimes, it also takes hard, cold numbers to motivate someone to make a lifestyle change.  Hypothetical age projection is just one of the benefits of certain health risk assessments (HRAs,) which is the first step on your employees’ journeys toward overall wellness.  These tools prompt participants to list vital information which may include blood pressure, weight, BMI, cholesterol and stress levels.  The real test comes when dedicated wellness program participants take their health to the next level by nudging these scores into healthy ranges.

For dedicated individuals, that can mean turning back the hands of time.  For employers, it can mean fewer claims and less absenteeism.

Here’s how HRA utilization works.  Taking the data from either an online or paper assessment, employers or contracted wellness companies may suggest certain resources targeted to each participant’s needs.  For example, through some wellness plans, an employee who lists that she smokes three packs each day may automatically receive smoking cessation information via email.

Employers may choose to conduct on-site health fairs to collect HRA data, ensuring that numbers are up-to-date and accurate.  This commitment can result in an obvious return on investment.  By starting a wellness program after employees have been tested, the results are specific and measurable.

Health is an insurance policy that lapses if individuals do not “pay in” with regular exercise and healthy habits.  The HRA is an initial road map that displays roadblocks to wellness, while a well-managed wellness program teaches participants how to surpass them.

Link to sample HRAs:

Wellsource Personal Wellness Profile

Protocol Driven Healthcare, Inc.