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According to the Mayo Clinic, an association exists between employees who attend workplace wellness centers and weight loss as well as health care savings.

Science Daily reports on a recent Mayo Clinic study: “As employees and employers face higher health care costs, work site wellness are becoming increasingly more important to help control the costs of health care and encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors among the workforce.”

The Mayo Clinic report is titled “Association of Worksite Wellness Center Attendance With Weight Loss and Health Care Cost Savings: Mayo Clinic's Experience.”

Said lead researcher Bijan Borah, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery in Science Daily: “A well-planned comprehensive wellness center can engage and retain members which can ultimately lead to important savings in health care costs and reductions in body mass index (BMI).”

According to Beyond.com, “the study analyzed data from 3,199 members who were enrolled for at least three consecutive years at the DAHLC (Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center). Data was collected from the wellness facility's attendance databases, health care claims records and electronic health records. Attendance rates of members were categorized from one to 60 visits all the way to 360 visits in the three-year period. Members who attended the DAHLC at least 360 times in the study period were 72 percent more likely to experience weight loss than members who attended between one and 60 times. Members who visited between 181 and 360 times were 46 percent more likely to experience weight loss.”

As for cost, Beyond.com writes that “the mean annual health are cost for members with one to 60 visits was calculated at $13,267. By contrast, the mean annual cost for subjects with 61 to 180 visits, 181 to 360 visits and more than 360 visits was significantly lower, at $9,538, $9,332 and $8,293 respectively.”

Says Dr. Borah: “The significant association between health care costs and the frequency of wellness center visits, implying an average cost difference of $4,974 between the top and bottom quartiles of the DAHLC users, is too strong to ignore. While the use of DAHLC is unlikely the only mediator of either weight control or health care costs, workplaces that are able to offer comprehensive wellness facilities may be capable of achieving similar gains irrespective of individuals' activity pursuits at the facility.”