There’s a popular saying in the workplace wellness industry, "You can't change what you don't measure." Why is it so popular? Because it’s true! Health Risk Assessments (also referred to as Health Risk Appraisals or HRAs) help to provide that measurement by evaluating the current health and future disease risk of each employee within an organization.

When this health risk appraisal data is compiled, it gives the company an overview of the top health risks their employees face as a whole. From there, a company can provide the necessary health promotion and wellness initiatives to accurately target the most prevalent risks. Think of the health risk assessment data as the roadmap for how future wellness dollars are to be invested.

Today’s workplace wellness programs are "results-based", involving data collection via a health risk appraisal, participation reporting, and time-over-time measurements in an effort to justify the program to upper-management. This makes it absolutely crucial that data is collected early and often to consistently evaluate the wellness program at regular intervals throughout the year.

At a minimum, health risk assessments should be performed annually to track the reduction of health risks and to calculate cost-savings derived from the workplace wellness efforts. If a company is considering implementing a workplace wellness program, they should be sure that it starts by collecting data with a health risk assessment. For those companies that have already begun offering various health promotion initiatives, but have not yet performed a health risk assessment, there is no better time than now to start measuring the success of the wellness program.

Another great benefit of health risk assessments is that they work as the perfect educational tool to provide employees with the initial awareness of their health risks. A comprehensive health risk appraisal will provide the employee with a robust report that will not only explain their health risks, but will also provide guidance for reducing those risks.

When evaluating wellness providers and their health risk appraisal, here are a few key things to consider:

Is the health risk assessment offered online and in paper/pencil formats?

Does it comply with HIPAA and GINA?

Will you own the health risk appraisal data if you ever choose to change vendors?

Are robust reports provided for both individuals and management?

Is the health risk appraisal NCQA certified?

Is it offered in multiple languages to meet the needs of a diverse workforce?

The overall goal of workplace wellness programs today is change; to change the trend of increasing health risks and to change the trend of rising health care costs. But remember, "You can’t change what you don’t measure."