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Research Projects

Our Projects

The Institute conducts research projects for health care purchasers and employers as well as clients in managed care, government, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors.   

Projects include consultations and technical assistance to support design, implementation and evaluation of effective health and wellbeing programs. 

Our Methods 

Our research is focused on evaluation of health, productivity, and financial outcome measures. In some studies, all employees at a given site receiving an intervention are compared to all employees at a comparison site where intervention programs are not yet made available. In others, participants and non-participants at the same site are compared. Multivariate statistics and other econometric methods are applied to control for confounding variables and reduce self-selection bias. Evaluations of workplace programs have typically involved the aggregation and analysis of health risk assessment (HRA), biometric, medical insurance claims, absence, disability, workers’ compensation, and productivity data. 

In addition to outcomes-based evaluations, the Institute has expertise in program structure and process evaluation, organizational assessment development and validation, and landscape surveillance studies. 

Results are prepared in diverse formats, including narrative reports and slide presentations. Our team has earned a national reputation as the leader in performing objective and rigorous evaluations of health and productivity management programs.  Institute studies are often published in peer-reviewed journals and cited as “best practice” examples of how to perform rigorous “real world” evaluation studies. 

Explore Projects by Type 

Meet Three Extraordinary Workplace Wellness Programs

At these employers, the data makes it clear that wellness programs are paying off.