Wellstar Saves $4.30 for Every Dollar It Invests Into Helping Employees with Spring Health

We’ve shown in the past that comprehensive mental health benefits lead to significant improvements in the lives of members and their families. Now, new data from our partnership with Wellstar Health System also demonstrates just how much investing in Spring Health services advances the financial health of an organization as well.

For every dollar that Wellstar invested in Spring Health’s employee assistance program (EAP), the Georgia-based healthcare system saved $4.30, according to a new analysis of the first year of implementation.

"These numbers reveal the extraordinary impact of Wellstar’s commitment to team member mental health,” says Daniel Abad, Wellstar’s Vice President for Total Rewards and Chief Team Member Engagement Officer. “The demonstrated return on investment reflected in the recent Spring Health findings serves as welcome affirmation of what matters most—the total wellbeing of each of our team members.”

Approximately half of Wellstar’s savings came from reductions in health plan costs, and the other half were derived from improvements in productivity and employee turnover. Detailed analysis on Wellstar’s own claims data revealed health plan savings extended well beyond mental health, as members utilizing Spring Health also benefited from significant improvements to physical health conditions.

That finding aligns with recent large-scale research showing that behavioral healthcare can significantly reduce overall healthcare costs.

In fact, by providing high-quality mental healthcare with Spring Health, Wellstar saw savings across the continuum of care for all levels of medical risk, including reduced emergency room and hospital admissions. 

That savings coincides with measurable improvements in mental well-being for Wellstar employees and a significant jump in EAP utilization at the organization. In fact, within 10 months of switching to Spring Health, Wellstar’s utilization jumped from 2% to 16%—a 600% increase over its previous EAP.

We’ve previously spotlighted our success with helping Wellstar’s nearly 24,000 employees access best-in-class mental health services. With Spring Health’s unique Precision Mental Healthcare approach delivering clinically proven, personalized care, 79% of members improved depression symptoms in an average of three sessions, and 74% have improved their anxiety in an average of three therapy sessions.

That compares to the typical results of world-class clinical trials that find 47% of participants improve their symptoms in an average of 12 appointments.

“The significant savings resulting from increased productivity, and reductions in healthcare costs and employee turnover are indeed good news. But it’s the individuals behind those wins—the team members whose lives have been made more satisfying and less stressful due to the care they receive from our Spring Health partners—who are the real heroes of this story,” Abad says. 

“By seeking support, they not only add meaning and balance to their own lives, but markedly improve their ability to care for and about the patients in their care."

And not only are Wellstar employees getting better, but they are getting accelerated access to care through Spring Health. The national average wait time for a new therapy appointment is 25 days. With Spring Health, Wellstar employees can schedule an appointment and see a provider in less than two days, for themselves and their dependents.

Earlier this year, Spring Health became the first and only comprehensive mental health solution to show net-positive ROI, certified by the Validation Institute, an independent and objective third-party organization dedicated to improving the quality and cost of healthcare. 

After a thorough review of Spring Health’s results and research, Validation Institute’s health economics experts certified that Spring Health customers lowered total health plan spend by $2,430 per participant within the first six months of engagement.

‍Learn more about how Spring Health’s mental healthcare solutions are providing industry-leading return on investment for our customers.