Worksite Wellness: The Role of Wearable Fitness Technology

Currently, 1 in 10 Americans above the age of 18 own some sort of fitness tracking device and that number will only grow. Several companies intent on trying to keep their healthcare costs down have already integrated these devices into their workplace culture.

Do you have a fitness tracker? If not, you might soon be in the minority. Attached to arms, secured on waistbands or wrapped around wrists, wearable fitness tracking devices are infiltrating the business place to measure anything from the number of steps to sleep patterns. Several companies intent on trying to keep their healthcare costs down have already integrated these devices into their workplace culture.

Over 20 million fitness trackers will be sold this year and as many as 13 million of these gadgets are predicted to become part of worksite wellness strategies by 2018, according to ABI Research (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/wearables-devices/). The idea is to prompt employees to take more of an active role in their health, but also to let employers who offer them healthcare coverage to set specific goals and reward those who achieve them.

Employers have their own opportunity for an incentive besides a healthier and more productive workforce, too. As part of the Affordable Care Act, companies can differentiate among participants up to 30 percent of the cost of annual insurance premiums when a specific outcome is achieved (or not) within a worksite wellness program.

For example, BP implemented this concept. The company purchased 25,000 fitness trackers for interested employees who are challenged to measure the number of steps they take each day. Employees who log 1 million steps earn half of the 1,000 points needed each year to qualify for lower co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. (http://www.fitbit.com/fitbit-wellness#customers)

More than 23,000 employees and their eligible dependents volunteered for the program last year. One participant walked more than the 1 million needed steps, the proof being their wireless wearable device that monitored their movements and the 70 pounds and 10 pant sizes this participant ultimately shed.

Currently, 1 in 10 Americans above the age of 18 own some sort of fitness tracking device and that number will only grow. When it comes to integrating these devices as part of a worksite wellness program, the key is to get employees to keep using them. And that remains in the way the program is designed and whether it can evolve as the technology evolves.

CONCLUSION:

Wearable fitness technology will continue to be an increasingly integral component in employer sponsored wellness programs. The devices can be used as proof of compliance with and/or success in employee incentive programs. The challenge employers will face is integrating these devices as part of a worksite wellness program.

Ready to give wearable technology a try? Below are some links to help you get started learning what is out there and comparison between the different devices available.

Best wearable tech of 2015 (CNET):  http://www.cnet.com/topics/wearable-tech/best-wearable-tech/

Sarah Szul - Wellness Team Leader