Majority of Organizations Adopting Wellness Programs, But Most Plans Lack Vision Benefits
New York, NY (PRWEB) August 21, 2015 -- SourceMedia Research and VSP Global®, the nation’s largest healthcare organization by membership, report that 60% of employers now offer employee wellness benefits, but less than 20% of those plans include vision care – including eye screening, which can provide early detection of costly chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.
Earlier this year, SourceMedia surveyed readers of its Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser brands on the adoption of employee wellness benefit programs and the plans’ features. Respondents included 360 employers (with 50 or more employees) and 26 benefit advisers, brokers, agents and consultants.
“Employers at the top of the wellness adoption curve – the 18% who offer a wellness program with vision – are eye health advocates that tend to be largely driven by employee productivity and health outcomes. These organizations are typically in the healthcare, education, and manufacturing sectors,” said Dana Jackson, SourceMedia Research’s Executive Director. “Conversely, those at the low end of the curve are more focused on the program costs and have clear barriers to wellness adoption.”
The SourceMedia Research/VSP findings are published in two white papers, “Vision: An Effective Tool for Wellness,” which is written for employers and “Vision: A Key Solution for Your Clients’ Wellness Needs,” which is aimed at advisers.
Other key findings from the research:
- Employers and benefit advisers both emphasize that executive management buy-in is the key to the successful adoption of wellness programs.
- More than two out of three employers offering wellness with vision indicate that vision is an important component of wellness.
- Employers say vision is a “low-cost” option and can provide improved employee health and wellness outcomes.
- More than 65% of benefit advisers cite “improved client relationships” as the top reason to offer wellness programs to their clients.
Survey findings also strongly indicate that vision benefits are often overlooked as a way to jumpstart a wellness program.
“Vision exams can play a critical role in employers’ wellness programs regardless of their stage of adoption,” says Joseph Rossi, Market Manager, Client & Broker Marketing, at VSP Vision Care. “In fact, vision is the lowest hanging fruit in terms of improving employee wellness on several fronts, including ROI, health outcomes, and basic costs.”
In addition to the white papers, SourceMedia and VSP will host a series of web seminars, educational videos, and additional white papers further discussing the findings and the merits of vision as a high-value, low-cost employee benefit and critical component of an effective workplace wellness program.
ABOUT VSP GLOBAL
VSP Global® unites industry-leading businesses to bring the highest quality eye care and eyewear products and services to help people see across the globe. VSP Global businesses include not-for-profit VSP® Vision Care, the largest vision care company with more than 75 million members and a network of 32,000 eye doctors in the U.S., Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland; Marchon® Eyewear Inc., one of the three largest global manufacturers, designers and distributors of quality fashion and technologically advanced eyewear and sunwear; Eyefinity®, the largest EHR and premier practice management software company for the eye care industry; VSP Optics Group, industry leaders in new lens technologies, production processes, service and logistics; and VSP Retail, delivering a memorable consumer experience through a variety of channels that meet the diverse needs of VSP customers. VSP Global businesses operate in 100 countries on 6 continents.
ABOUT SOURCEMEDIA RESEARCH
SourceMedia Research, a unit of SourceMedia, provides research solutions for marketers, agencies and others targeting business sectors such as employee benefits, investment advisor / wealth management, accounting, insurance, banking, payments, and mortgages. SourceMedia Research specializes in reaching senior and C-level decision-makers in these sectors, leveraging its deep market knowledge and large proprietary opt-in databases and panels.
ABOUT SOURCEMEDIA
SourceMedia, an Observer Capital company, is a diversified business-to-business digital media, marketing services, research and event company serving senior professionals in the financial, technology and healthcare sectors. Brands include American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Financial Planning, On Wall Street, Mergers & Acquisitions, Accounting Today, Bank Investment Consultant, Health Data Management and Employee Benefit News.
Jeannie Nguyen, SourceMedia, Inc., http://www.sourcemedia.com, 212-803-8324, [email protected]
Share this article