The value of the periodic executive health examination: experience at Bank One and summary of the literature.
The executive physical examination has been advocated in the United States for almost 100 years. A MEDLINE search of the literature found very few studies that document the potential impact of a worksite physical examination program on medical and disability costs. Bank One has performed executive physical examinations at its corporate headquarters' medical department since 1983. Approximately 65% of eligible executives voluntarily participate in the program annually. Medical claims and short term disability data were available for a total of 1773 executives who were eligible for a physical examination for a consecutive 3-year period. For three consecutive years after the initial physical examination, the Bank paid a total of $5361 for medical claims for periodic health examination participants (PHE) in contrast to $6426 paid for medical claims for non-periodic health examination participants (NPHE). PHE participants experienced an average 0.93 (or 2.78 for 3 years) short-term disability days absent per year in comparison with an average of 1.34 (or 4.02 for 3 years) short-term disability days absent for NPHE. The net return on investment for a worksite-based executive health examination which cost approximately $400 per executive whose total compensation (salary and benefits) is at least $125,000 is estimated to be 2.3:1, which compares favorably with other preventive health programs.
Bank One, 1 Bank One Plaza, Mail Code IL1-0006, Chicago, IL 60670-0006, USA. wayne_n_burtonmd@bankone.com
Wayne N
WN
Burton
Chin-Yu
CY
Chen
Daniel J
DJ
Conti
Alyssa B
AB
Schultz
Dee W
DW
Edington
D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services; D010808:Physical Examination; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace / Q000191:economics