News Archive

"“I think the magnitude was not something we anticipated, but we did anticipate that there would be more than a trivial number of people who would have some use of prescription medications,” said Brian Gifford, Oakland-based director of research and analytics for the independent research firm that helps companies link data with health programs to enhance productivity and business performance."
Anchorage Daily News Online Apr 24, 2019
How is Medicaid used in Alaska? Test your knowledge
"Health and productivity research group the Integrated Benefits Institute estimates that lost productivity due to illness costs U.S. employers about $530 billion annually."
"Use of prescription pain medications are associated with approximately 261 lost workdays per 1,000 workers per month, according to a new study released by the Integrated Benefits Institute"
Corporate Wellness Magazine Apr 19, 2019
What Does Employee Engagement mean to You?
"Another very sizeable consideration is the fact that ill-health related productivity loss is estimated to cost the U.S. economy in excess of $530 Billion annually, based upon 2018 data from the Integrated Benefits Institute, a San Francisco-based leader in benchmarking in the health and productivity market. Similarly, the lost productivity is the U.S. amounts to over 1.4 Billion days of absence or impaired performance annually."
"According to a study from the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI), about a third of the workforce uses prescription pain medications, most under the treatment of a physician. “Opioids, Pain and Absence” The Productivity Implications of Substance Use Among U.S. Workers” is their analysis on workplace costs related to problematic use of pain relievers."
Human Resource Executive Online Apr 18, 2019
How Widespread Is Pain-Med Usage in the Workplace?
"When it comes to addressing the opioids epidemic, the implications for employers often center on the risk of on-the-job accidents or difficulties in filling job vacancies in areas heavily affected by addiction and dependence. But according to the IBI study, “this may not only underrepresent the more pervasive productivity impact of lost work time, but also obscures the larger issues of chronic pain and substance use more generally.”"
"“The high rates of prescription pain medicines among employees indicates a much larger issue for employers than lost productivity,” says IBI researcher Erin Peterson, MPH, the report’s first author. “The significant number of sick day absences by employees who use pain relievers without problems likely doesn’t represent the full impact. As most people abusing opioids started with prescribed medications, this is a very large number of people at risk for developing problematic behaviors associated with pain relievers.”"
Business Insurance Online Apr 17, 2019
One-third of workers use pain relievers: Study
"One in three workers reported using pain relievers with the majority of those on prescriptions drugs and under 5% of workers reported abuse of pain relievers or dependence, according to a study released Wednesday by the Integrated Benefits Institute."
"“We’re in real market transition right now, and employers are finally driving this in a way they haven’t driven it before,” says Tom Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute"
Employers are not only looking for individual solutions; they’re turning to one another to increase their market power and to make meaningful changes for themselves and their employees. “We’re in real market transition right now, and employers are finally driving this in a way they haven’t driven it before,” says Tom Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute
"As price and upfront cost continue to dominate the headlines, a substantive policy conversation among all different healthcare stakeholders about what constitutes value is needed. Without such inclusive dialogue, the value narrative will continue to revolve solely around “whether to pay or not to pay” for a particular intervention."