McKesson

Summary

As an American pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare information technology company, it is unsurprising that the McKesson Corporation understands the importance of good healthcare. McKesson received the 2015 C. Everett Koop National Health Award for its comprehensive wellness program, which offers employees multiple services, including:^[1]

-comprehensive health benefits and assessments (designed separately for adults, children, mental wellbeing, and physical activity)

-an online “hub” that includes a social platform

-financially supported lifestyle programs for nutrition, with 10% discounts on selected healthy foods from a selected national grocer

-weight management with free Weight Watchers memberships

-smoking cessation

-physical activity that provides a free pedometer and health club subsidies

-targeted chronic condition management and medication adherence programs

McKesson also engages its employees by using social media for communication, on-site events through employee Wellness Champs, competitions, and challenges.

As a part of its rewards program, McKesson partners with Vitality. For participating in McKesson programs or other “healthy activities,” employees and families can earn (and spend) Vitality Points for gift cards and other rewards. Employees with the McKesson medical plan can even save on their medical premiums with Vitality Points.^[2]

Analysis

McKesson fosters a culture of health and addresses lifestyle and disease management. McKesson’s culture of health includes the use of employee Wellness Champs, an online social platform, and various worksite competitions and challenges throughout the year that encourages participation. In addition, McKesson’s use of social media for wellness communication is not as common in workplaces – especially if an online “hub” already exists. However, based on the increasing use of social media by adults (69% in 2016 compared to just 5% in 2005^[3]), McKesson manages to reach its employees in various ways. In its evaluations from the Koop award, critics mentioned “personalized communication” and customizing for diversity as significant “pros” to McKesson’s program.

McKesson’s efforts to engage its employees via a culture of health may be why it enjoys steady and relatively high participation rates. The most recent 2014 data reports that 65.9% of employees and family members complete the health assessment, and that 83.1% complete at least one of the program’s activities.^[4] Furthermore, activity levels of participants increased from an average of 21 activities per year in 2011 to 106 in 2014.^[5]

Regarding disease management, it is encouraging that McKesson has specific programs that target chronic disease management and medication adherence. Unfortunately, these programs don’t seem to be a focus of McKesson, and the company did not report any data on chronic condition management/medication adherence program outcomes. However, any inclusion of disease management is notable as many companies overlook it as a central aspect of workplace wellness.

The major drawback to McKesson’s program is that it generates only mixed results. Although McKesson reports better job performance by 3.6% from 2012 to 2014 and promising outcomes in lifestyle metrics (e.g., physical activity, stress management, alcohol and tobacco use, and better nutrition),^[6] the biometric data, especially metrics important for diabetes, did not significantly improve. Although employee blood pressure dropped (16.7% SBP and 17.1% DBP), their glucose levels, BMI, and cholesterol increased by 8.8%, 6.5%, and 13.1%, respectively.^[7] The increase in BMI conflicts with the reported net weight loss of 24,759 pounds since 2012 and 159,994 attended Weight Watchers meetings.^[8] In cost effectiveness, McKesson obtained an independent assessment that reports a positive return-on-investment.

Overall, McKesson features a strong program design but has mixed outcomes. Inclusion of more dedicated diabetes, obesity, or cardiovascular disease management programs, as well as additional educational resources and initiatives, could help produce better health outcomes.