At the beginning of 2000, while working for a textile company in North Carolina, we began to see our medical claims dramatically increase.  Being self-insured, those increases were impacting our ability to compete in a market as competitive as textiles. These increases were projected to grow at a rate of ten to twelve percent annually, meaning our medical benefit costs would double within four to six years.

Faced with those figures we needed a strategy to manage our illness burden.  By analyzing our claims data and using that data to redesign our medical plan, starting a dialog with our employees and their families, redirecting our internal assets, developing tools and internal systems to help implement our strategy, and a couple of years of trial and error, we did just that.  Once we understood the scope of the work ahead of us, we were better prepared to manage our illness burden.

The tools and systems we developed not only enabled us to manage our medical costs, which have been below trend every year since 2001, but have actually reduced them. This past year, our medical costs were 5% lower than they were in 2001. Over a 4 year period, our return on investment has been impressive:  for every dollar invested in “Wellness”, we saved three and a half dollars in medical costs. But, while the bottom line is vital to any business, its employees are the life of the company.  By implementing our wellness program, several potentially terminal health problems have been discovered and treated successfully.  Our employees are healthier, happier, and out of work less.  As a result, our costs are down and our productivity is up.
 
Taking the knowledge learned from the last 5 years, the textile company decided to diversify and Pinpoint Wellness Systems was born. We have since been able to pass along our knowledge and experience to assist other employers in their journey to creating their own success stories.