By Terri Rhodes, MBA, CPDM, CCMP

CEO
DMEC

To see the bigger picture and understand the total cost of absence, employers need a wide-angle lens to find the best strategies for managing health and productivity. Many employers focus on medical spending, seeing it as their greatest opportunity to reduce cost. Virtually every dollar spent for medical or pharmacy is counted and measured. Employers look for ways to control costs by promoting healthy behaviors that reduce health risk and increase wellness. Absence is much less visible. However, when we apply a wide-angle lens to investigate the total cost of absence, we find most employers do not have a measurable, data-driven absence management program. There are a few reasons this happens.

• The full costs associated with absence and lost productivity are less tangible.
• Most employers do not understand that the cost of absence and lost productivity can exceed the medical spend.
• Absences are seen as having no cost, as many absences are included in payroll expenses.

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