Healthy Profits

By Laird Harrison

At 5:30 P.M., as he often does around this time, Bob Martin, 47, is standing on his head. Martin has just finished another frenzied day as a patent attorney at Hewlett-Packard's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters, but instead of plunging into rush-hour traffic, he has descended one flight of stairs to the company's yoga studio. Soft music flutes through the room as half a dozen practitioners, high heels and neckties stowed in nearby lockers, bend and breathe to their instructor's directions. "It's wonderful," Martin says, rolling back to his feet. "I come down here and I let everything that's been happening during the day drop away."

Like more and more American workers, Martin has come to depend on his employer to keep him healthy and, to some degree, sane. On days when he doesn't bicycle to work, the father of two jogs on a treadmill in the HP fitness center. He studies meditation and stress reduction, gets flu shots, has his blood and body fat checked, and gets advice from company crisis counselors--all at work and for little or no cost.

From Silicon Valley to Motown, from assembly line to PC workstation, corporate employers are taking charge of their workers' health as never before. Company doctors have splinted the broken bones of factory workers for generations, and personnel managers long ago began offering vaccinations. What's new is that employers in every industry are injecting themselves into issues that seem to have as much to do with lifestyle choices as with traditional medicine. In a U.S. Health and Human Services survey this year, 95% of U.S. companies with more than 50 employees said they had taken action to improve workers' health, up from 81% in 1992. Those efforts can now include a battery of physical examinations, diet advice, even acupuncture.

The efforts are a hit with employees. In booming high-tech fields, where companies are looking for every edge in the competition for recruits, a glistening, state-of-the-art fitness center can clinch a contract. Few employees are worried their bosses will use health data against them, says United Auto Workers spokesman Reg McGhee. In fact, his union has even agreed to pay part of the cost of on-the-job health promotions.

Even more than aiming to attract talent, executives say they're focused on the bottom line. "Our investment is in keeping health-care costs down," says D'Ann Whitehead, preventive-health-services manager at Chevron. A study by the MEDSTAT Group consulting firm found that over the past eight years, Chevron had held medical expenses flat and slashed worker sick days by using everything from massage to smoking restrictions.

As boomers sag toward retirement, many employers also see such programs as a way to eke a few more years of productivity from their graying work force. To cut back on sprains and strains on its bottling lines, Coors has introduced stretch breaks, hired ergonomics experts to redesign machines, built on-site gyms and even corporate health clinics, where employees and their families can be treated for any routine medical problem, work related or not.

Some employers have tried shifting the responsibility for preventive medicine to their health plans. The Pacific Business Group on Health, an employers' consortium, has offered to pay higher premiums if its plans administer more mammograms. But most companies are recognizing that they can do more by approaching their employees directly, says Stephanie Pronk, a health-promotion expert for William M. Mercer consulting company. "If I see my doctor for five or 10 minutes a couple of times a year, there's not a lot of opportunity to work with me. The worksite has the person captive eight to 10 hours a day."

So far, employers have stopped short of ordering mandatory massages. But many firms encourage workers, for example, to have their cholesterol checked on company time. The U.S. division of drugmaker Hoffmann-La Roche gives each employee $100 for joining a fitness club. Workers who buy one low-fat or vegetarian meal in the company cafeteria get another one free. Through incentives, the company has persuaded 93% of employees to undergo on-site checkups.

As a result, there's another payoff: a healthy dose of gratitude. Vince Mattaliano, 53, a communications manager at Roche, carries more than 200 lbs. on his 5-ft. 6-in. frame. After measuring his blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, weight and height last year, company doctors wrote him a free prescription for Roche's weight-loss drug Xenical. Company nutritionists worked out a diet that allows Mattaliano to eat his favorite dishes while cutting out 400 calories a day. Fitness instructors designed his workout routine in the company gym.

So far so good. Mattaliano has lost 18 lbs., and after 32 years on the job, definitely has no plans to send out his resume. "This company is always there for me," he says.