Survey finds allergies cost employers most
Allergies cause staff to lose 3.2 days a month
Ever wonder if you’re allocating your disease management resources effectively? The findings of a new study of Florida employers may surprise you.
The study found that allergies cost employers nearly $1.4 million per 1,000 employees annually in lost productivity alone, more than any other medical condition. The recently released Healthy People/Productive Community survey was conducted by two Tampa-based companies, the Employers Health Coalition and the Employ ers Purchasing Alliance.
The eye-opening data gathered from more than 3,500 employees of eight large Tampa-based employers has those employers looking to their health plans and local providers for help with allergy management.
Sneeze productivity goodbye
Surveys often measure health plan member satisfaction or track medical claims. The Healthy People survey relied on employees to report what ails them and how much they are affected by those ailments, says Frank Brocato, MSHA, DMin, pres ident and CEO of the Employers Health Coalition. The survey is a second-generation tool, which followed an earlier measurement that identified the most prevalent disease among employers, he adds.
Allergies topped all other conditions in costs due to lost productivity. Nearly 28% of employees surveyed reported suffering from allergies. Those employees reported losing an average of 3.2 days every four weeks due to lowered productivity caused by allergy symptoms, and another one-tenth of a day every four weeks for sick days associated with allergy. That means if the average employee earns $15 per hour, companies are losing $1.4 million per 1,000 employees annually due to allergy alone. (See box at right for the study’s cost calculation formula.)
Other allergy survey findings include the following:
• Depression costs employers $880,152 annually in lost productivity and affects roughly 9.1% of employees surveyed.
• Hypertension costs employers $520,884 annually in lost productivity and affects roughly 15.9% of employees surveyed.
• Other, nonallergy-related respiratory con ditions cost employers $398,580 annually in lost productivity and affect 7.3% of employees surveyed.
• Asthma costs employers $275,808 annually in lost productivity and affects 5.2% of employees surveyed. (See story on the asthma/allergy connection, p. 97.)
• Diabetes costs employers $187,200 annually in lost productivity and affects 5% of employees surveyed.
• Heart disease costs employers $148,512 in lost productivity annually and affects 3.4% of employees surveyed.
• Hepatitis costs employers $36,504 annually in lost productivity and affects 1.3% of employees surveyed.
• High-risk pregnancy costs employers $46,644 in lost productivity annually and affects 2.3% of employees surveyed.
• Breast cancer costs employers $25,272 annually in lost productivity and affects 0.6% of employees surveyed.
[Editor’s note: For additional information on the survey, contact the Employers Health Coalition, 1111 N. Westshore Blvd., Suite 608, Tampa, FL 33607-4702. Telephone: (813) 281-5665. Fax: (813) 286-2730.]
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