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Return on investment for employee assistance programs: Conceptual model and outcomes from 166,116 employee cases at CuraLinc Healthcare

Pawlowski, David
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Date
2025-05-15
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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications
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Peer Reviewed
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Article
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Abstract

This study updates the return on investment (ROI) calculator created in 2019 for CuraLinc Healthcare to estimate financial savings for purchasers of the employee assistance program (EAP) benefit. It incorporates current default figures for costs and outcomes with more advanced logic. Over 100 applied research studies are reviewed to support the logic and cost inputs for each component of the estimation model. The empirical foundation used national data from 166,116 employee users of counseling and coaching services between 2017 and 2024. The methodology, sample, measures, and primary results are presented. Among those cases initially at clinical risk status on outcomes a large majority of the cases who started EAP use at-risk on the specific measure later successfully recovered to no longer be at clinical risk at the 30-day follow-up: 79% of cases recovered from mental health disorder (combined anxiety and depression); 67% of cases recovered from hazardous alcohol use; and 61% of cases recovered from work productivity problem (combined absenteeism and presenteeism) with their average hours of lost work productivity changed from 57.3 to 16.4 hours per month. These longitudinal results were all statistically significant (p < .001) and large size statistical effects. A case study example illustrates the model using a fictitious company with 20,000 employees, typical program use (5% counselor case rate; 3% organizational services user rate), financial conditions ($20 per employee per year fee for the EAP benefit; annual wages of $65,458 per employee), and clinical and work outcomes for EAP users. The result showed over $5 in return for each $1 invested in the EAP benefit (ROI = $5.39:1). Two components involve health care insurance claims paid by employers. The offset of outpatient mental health treatment visits and prevention of long-term treatment costs for mental health and alcohol/drug risks provided a $3.24:1 ROI. Another two components involve human capital outcomes—restored employee work productivity (from reduced absenteeism and presenteeism) and avoided employee turnover—which together provided a $2.01:1 ROI. The final component recognizes the use of organizational services from the EAP for workplace trainings, managerial consultations, and crisis event responses (delivery-only cost value at $0.13:1 ROI). These workplace level activities are crucial as they promote awareness of the service and drive overall program utilization, generating savings in the other four components. The logic model adheres to the four "C"s of proper ROI development: Comprehensive, Credible, Conservative, and Customizable. The calculator can customize the results based on financial factors (investment in EAP, employee compensation and health care claims costs), usage levels for EAP services, and how the EAP user profile mix for gender, age, clinical issues and the industry type all moderate the clinical and work outcomes. Comparison to past research indicates this approach is more conservative than how other EAPs measure ROI. A simplified version of the calculator is available at: https://curalinc.com/dashboard/

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Table of Contents
Description
12 Tables and 7 Figures. 31-page detailed research study.
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Sponsors
CuraLinc Healthcare & Attridge Consulting, Inc.
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Attribution 4.0 International
Citation
Attridge, M., & Pawlowski, D. (2025). Return on investment for employee assistance programs: Conceptual model and outcomes from 166,116 employee cases at CuraLinc Healthcare. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 15(5), 103-135. https://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0525/ijsrp-p16113.pdf
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