Abstract
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether an outside health and wellness services operation partnering with a business organization can influence and improve the health attitudes and behaviors of its employees and increase productivity, which results in reduced health-care costs and increased revenues. An in-depth analysis of a US start-up company was performed that operates in the health and wellness industry, servicing six clients. Surveys of employees were conducted in three of the company's clients; each client company belongs to a different industry. This study increases awareness of the partnership of health and wellness services operations and business organizations, and the impact of that kind of business interaction has on employee attitudes and behaviors. Each company has situational considerations, which will allow for wide applicability across the spectrum of industry types. This article also details the revenue and cost ramifications of partnering with a health and wellness organization by specifically examining one company with 10 000 employees. Over a 5-year period, an overall increase in educated employee health choices proved to benefit both the company bottom line and provided substantial premium savings for employees. The proposed decision framework can be used as a tool by a business organization to assess viability of their long-term partnership with a health and wellness service operation.