Only 33% of Consumers Enrolled in Blue Cross/Blue Shield Plans Engage in Their Wellness Program at Least Once Per Week: HealthMine Survey

DALLAS, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-one percent of large employers and 49 percent of small employers offer wellness programs to their employees (Kaiser Family Foundation). But only a third (33 percent) of consumers with Blues plans who are enrolled in these programs engage in them at least once per week. Despite growing adoption of wellness programs, less than half of those who participate say their wellness program helped them improve mental health/emotional wellbeing (22%), lose weight (27%), or eat healthier (46%). Most wellness programs are still heavily focused on lifestyle management rather than disease prevention and management. The findings are based on a survey of 404 Blues- insured consumers enrolled in wellness programs. The results are now available in the 2016 HealthMine Blues Consumer Wellness Report: Trends and Attitudes Towards Sponsored Wellness Programs.

Here are the key findings from HealthMine's report:

Top Findings

Offerings: The most common wellness program offerings today, according to participants, are Health Risk Assessments (58%) fitness subsidies or challenges (51%) and nutrition/healthy eating (51%). Onsite events (20%), medication adherence (16%), and financial wellbeing (12%) and are the least common wellness program offerings.

Smoking: Two thirds of consumers say their wellness program does not medically test for smoking. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of wellness programs do not include smoking cessation, according to participants, although 29% admitted to smoking within the last two years.

Cancer: Cancer screenings are absent from 74% of wellness programs, participants report. Eighty-two percent (82%) of wellness program members say they do not get incentives to complete cancer screenings.

Chronic Disease: Forty-five percent (45%) of consumers in wellness programs report being diagnosed with a chronic condition. Only 13% of all respondents say their wellness program helps them manage their disease.

Engagement: Only 33% of consumers report engaging in their wellness program at least once per week. Nearly one third (30%) of consumers engage in their programs just two times per year or less. Sixty-eight percent (68%) say that better incentives would help them engage more often, and 42% report that "feeling better" would motivate them to participate more regularly.

Incentives: Less than half of wellness programs offer incentives for key preventive health actions, according to consumers. For example, 82% do not offer incentives for cancer screenings, and 57% do not offer incentives for fitness/weight loss programs. Forty percent (40%) of consumers haven't earned all of their available incentives nor completed all of their recommended health actions in the past year.

Healthcare Consumerism: Seventy-five percent (75%) of program participants still don't price shop for healthcare services. Only 25% of wellness programs include a price comparison tool, according to respondents.

Impact: Fifty-seven percent (57%) of program participants said their wellness program helped them lower their healthcare costs. Nearly a quarter (23%) of program participants said their wellness program did not help them improve their health. Thirty-five percent (35%) said their wellness program helped them take fewer sick days and 28% said their program helped them be more productive at work.

Brennan Collins, vice president of product at HealthMine said, "When you think about the cost that goes into chronic care management, it's a big ticket item." He continued, "Through clinical data, a health plan can identify which members have these chronic conditions, connect with them and get them the personalized care they need. But there's a huge gap based on what we're seeing. In healthcare, one size fits none."

The full 2016 HealthMine Blues Consumer Wellness Report can be accessed here.

About the Survey
The HealthMine Blues Wellness Program Survey queried 404 Blues-insured consumers who are enrolled in a wellness program. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in May 2016. Data was collected via an opt-in panel. The margin of error is 4%. Survey Sampling International (SSI) has been the Worldwide Leader in Survey Sampling and Data Collection Solutions, across every mode, for 37 Years.

About HealthMine
HealthMine uses clinical data to close gaps in care, one person at a time. The HealthMine Personal Clinical Engagement solution automatically collects and analyzes clinical and lifestyle data from multiple sources to create a health profile for each member. Serving as an early warning system, our solution identifies health risks and chronic conditions and automatically triggers alerts. The HealthMine solution delivers health recommendations to members' smartphones in near-real time so they can take action immediately. With HealthMine, plan sponsors can engage and sustain all members in personalized health and disease management activities. HealthMine has more than 1 million users and has saved health plan sponsors more than $100 million in healthcare costs. HealthMine is on the web at www.healthmine.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150102/166687LOGO

SOURCE HealthMine

Related Links

http://www.healthmine.com