Below is a compilation of research gathered from a variety of sources. See the reference list at the end of this section for specific sources.
Expensive Problems:
Productivity
$$ In one study of employees, those with severe psychological problems had 76% more absenteeism than their average fellow employee.
$$ 33 million is the estimated cost of drugs alone in reduced productivity to businesses.
$$ In another study of employees, those with alcohol abuse problems had 59% more sick leave hours and 200% more time off due to suspensions than their average fellow employee.
$$ In that same study, employees with other drug abuse problems had 46% more sick leave hours, 757% more time off due to suspensions and 85% more time off for personal leave.
$$ Employees with psychological problems were found to have 22% more sick leave hours and 140% more time off due to suspensions.
$$ "Employers who cut (mental health and substance abuse benefits) to the bone see increased absenteeism".
$$ Over a period of less than a year, researchers measured an increase of 28% in visits to physicians of a large group of medical patients who were known to have personal problems.
$$ Alcohol dependent people (before treatment)have a much greater impact on health care costs than comparable non-alcohol dependent people.
$$ Families of alcoholics showed 12 times greater in-patient medical admissions than matched non-alcoholic control families.
$$ As psychological stress increases, physician utilization (non-mental health oriented) increases.
$$ "...a substantial proportion of primary care patients suffer from mental disorder...(and) patients with mental disorders are higher utilizers of medical care services."
Accidents, Worker's Compensation and Similar Expenses
$$ Personal and emotional problems are estimated to contribute to 75-85 % of all industrial accidents.
$$ Psychological problems contribute to more than 60% of long-term employee disability cases.
$$ Since l985 (and continuing) there has been a dramatic increase in workers compensation cases for psychological reasons.
$$ In one study of employees, those with alcohol abuse problems had 39% more occupational injuries than their average fellow employee.
$$ In that same study employees with other drug abuse problems had 180% more occupational injuries than their average fellow employee.
$$ Employees with psychological problems had 36% more occupational injuries than their average fellow employee.
Miscellaneous Problems
$$ more than l0% of employed males (ages 18-35) recently used cocaine at least once a month.
$$ 95% of companies that assess drug or alcohol abuse report a problem in this area.
$$ 12% of 114 million employed Americans have alcohol problems, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, l989.
Effective Solutions:
$$ A study of 429 EAP participants with alcohol problems found that after treatment, the percentage of those with no absenteeism during the previous month improved 290%.
$$ A study of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration following 18,000 employees found that after alcohol treatment, 70% of them were back on the job.
$$ 46% reduction in lost work days was reported in another study regarding naval servicemen who underwent alcohol treatment.
$$ Psychological care results in reduced absenteeism and better productivity.
$$ 52% reduction of absenteeism documented in one study of EAPs.
$$ Studies show that for a large group of medical patients psychotherapy decreased their number of visits to physicians by 47% while a matched control group's visits increased 28%.
$$ Three years after psychotherapy average medical costs for patients had dropped from pre-treatment levels of $493.00 per month to $137/mo.
$$ Medical/surgical utilization costs were reduced after psychotherapy on a monthly basis by 57% in another study.
$$ After psychotherapy, medical costs for patients were reduced 26-69%.
$$ After psychotherapy, the number of sick days for patients were reduced 38-47%.
$$ Another study documented a decrease of 30% in non-mental health physician's visits during the year following as compared to the year prior to treatment.
$$ A very sophisticated review of the effect of psychotherapy on medical benefits utilization concluded "the evidence is that providing psychotherapy and psychologically informed care can be cost-effective...".
$$ Psychological care can result in reduced use of hospitalization benefits.
$$ "...Good mental health retards mid-life deterioration in physical health".
$$ With alcoholics, 3.5 years after treatment their ambulatory care use of medical services was reduced by 30 to 20% In just 6 months, the reduction was l0%.
$$ After treatment, family members of alcoholics reduced their rate of ambulatory care to the average for non-alcoholic families, down from 2.8 times that of non-alcoholic families.
$$ "Spouses of alcoholics showed.a precipitous drop" in in-patient care utilization 6 months after their mates began treatment".
$$ The level of inpatient care plunged for families of alcoholics after treatment, remaining much lower than pre-treatment level for at least 3 years. (3 years after treatment, the average alcoholic family utilized in-patient care 1/3 more than members of non-alcoholic families as compared to 18 times more often in pre-treatment.)
An Effective EAP
References
"EAP Cost-benefit Analysis: Exploring Assumptions" EAP Coordinator
Summer/Fall 1989 Vol No.2
National Institute On Drug Abuse, "NIDA Capsules" U.S. department of
Health and Human Services June 1988 CAP27
"EAP Cost-benefit Analysis: Exploring Assumptions" EAP Coordinator
Summer/Fall 1989 Vol No.2
The Wall Street Journal "Penny-wise? Cutting worker mental health
benefits may be pound-foolish" Feb. 19,1991
Turkington, Carol "Help for the Worried Well" Psychology Today August 1987
"Alcoholism and Total Health Care Utilization" Journal of the American
Medical Association Sept 19, 1986, Vo. 256, #11
Results of a study of over 337,000 health benefits beneficiaries ,Alcohol
health & Research World, Winter 1984-85, Vol 9, #2
"The Effect of Psychological Distress on Physician Utilization: A
Prospective Study" Journal of Health & Social Behavior 1976, 17, 353-4
"Mental Disorder and primary Medical Care: An Analytical Review of the
Literature" NIMH Monograph Series P, No.5, DHEW Publication No.(ADM)
78-661, Washington, DC Government Printing Office, 1979. This statement
resulted from a review of 354 research reports from 17 years of study.
John Jones Ph.D., "A Cost For Every Stress" EAP digest November/December 1984
Harvard Business Review March/April 1985
"EAP Cost-benefit Analysis: Exploring Assumptions" EAP Coordinator
Summer/Fall 1989 Vol No.2
"NIDA Capsules" National Institute On Drug Abuse, US department of
Health and Human Services June 1988 CAP27
"NIDA Capsules" National Institute On Drug Abuse, US department of
Health and Human Services June 1988 CAP27
"Mental Health Services and Medical Utilization" Schlesinger et. al. in
Vandenbos (ed.) Psychotherapy Practice, Research, Policy Sage, Beverly
Hills 1980 p.83 and also reported in National Institute of Mental Health contracts
reports.
"Cost-effectiveness of EAP: Testing Assumptions" Groenveld, Shain et. al.
Employee Assistance Quarterly, Vol 1(1) Fall 1985
Turkington, Carol "Help for the Worried Well" Psychology Today August 1987
Journal Of Occupational Medicine June 1970 that reported on a study of
Kennecott Copper Corporation employees.
Turkington, Carol "EAPS: Healthier employees, lower cost spur growth of
programs" APA Monitor August 1985 Journal Of Occupational Medicine June 1970 that reported on a study of Kennecott Copper Corporation employees.
Follette,W. & Cummings,N. "Psychiatric Sercices and Mental Health
Utilization in a Prepaid Health Plan Setting" Medical Care, 1967, Vol 5
Turkington, Carol "Help for the Worried Well" Psychology Today August 1987
Holder, Harold & Blose, James "Longitudinal Analysis of Health Care
Utilization and Costs for Enrollees Under the Aetna Federal Employee Health
Benefits Plan Who Receive Mental Health Treatment"
Report for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland, Contract No. ADM 281 83 0011 (NIMH Component), July 1985
Jameson, M.A., Shuman, L.J. & Young, W.W., "The Effects of Outpatient
Psychiatric Utilization on the Costs of Providing Third Party
Coverage", Medical Care, l978, 16, 383-399
Jones, K., & Vschi, T., "Impact of Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health
Treatment on Medical Care Utilization. A Review of the Literature". Medical
Care, l980, 17 (Supplement)
Goldberg, I., Krants, G., & Locke, B., "Effect of a Short-term Outpatient
Psychiatric Therapy Benefit on the Utilization of Medical Services in a
Prepaid Group Practice Medical Program", Medical Care, l970, 8, 419-28.
Mumford, Schlesinger & Glass "Reducing Medical Costs through Mental Health
Treatment" in Linking Health and Mental Health, Vol 2, Sage, Beverly, 1981
Results of a Compcare Corporation study of 68 corporate and government
programs reported in Turkington, Carol "EAPs: Healthier employees, lower cost
spur growth of programs".
Results of a study of 204 men reported by Vaillant, G.E. in "The Natural
History of Male Psychological Health: Effects of Mental Health on Physical
Health", The New England Journal of Medicine 1979.
"Alcoholism Treatment and Total Health Care Utilization", Journal of
American Medical Association, Sept 19 '86, Vol 256, #11
Ryan, Keith "Cost and Utilization of Alcoholism Treatment Under Health
Insurance" in Alcohol World: Health & Research National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Winter 1984/85, Vol 9 Number 2
Harvard Business Review, March/April 1985Medical Benefits Expenses
$$ As many as 2/3 of patient visits to doctors have an underlying psychological and physiological cause.
Treatment Is Effective
$$ The best and most rigorous research available presently estimates that after a person has undergone the kind of therapy provided by a CPS EAP they can expect to be better off than 93% of those with similar problems who didn't undergo psychotherapy.
Improve Employee Productivity
$$ In a survey of CPS EAP participants, 61 percent of the participants reported improved productivity, 52 percent noted a significant decrease in the number of mistakes made, 37 percent reported an improvement in their attendance and 44 percent reported improved performance reviews.
Reduce Medical Benefits Utilization
$$ Declines of 88% in in-patient utilization of services after psychotherapy have been documented in one study comparing in-patient utilization one year before vis-a-vis 2 years after psychotherapy.
Alcohol Treatment and Medical Benefits Utilization
$$ "The costs for medical care (for members of alcoholic families) dropped over the course of the study (after treatment) from a staggering $74.57 per month to $12.18. Higher health care costs for alcohol dependent people decline dramatically after treatment."
Reduce Worker's Compensation Liability
$$ The Harvard Business Review suggests that in order to reduce liability for workers, EAPs should be instituted to offer documented training to managers in observing stress and also because the more a company has done to provide help to an employee, the better they do in court regarding worker's compensation cases.
Why a CPS EAP
Because in order to reap the benefits described above, an EAP must meet the prerequisites described below:
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