Some HR/benefit executives shake their heads, wondering why their disease management and wellness programs are not resonating with workers.

Wendy Lynch, executive director of the Health As Human Capital Foundation, told attendees yesterday at the Employer Health and Human Capital Congress that companies experiencing lackluster participation in health programs need to reexamine their corporate culture.

"Health care costs are not a separate problem within an organization, but they are --to a great extent-- a symptom of a larger phenomenon," explained Lynch at the Washington, D.C. event, which focuses on health care issues and corporate performance.

She compared companies to rivers, meaning organizations can have good or bad "currents." Basically, currents are incentives that include shared rewards and responsibilities, asset growth and ownership of decisions.

"I recently went to an employer, and they said 'we have done cardiovascular management, diabetes management and multiple sclerosis management. Which [disease] should we do next?' I said, 'Stop with the hooks. Tell me about your currents,'" she said.

Until employers realize that there is a strong link between employee engagement and corporate culture, companies will continue to blame disease management and wellness vendors for the programs' failure.

"We have to understand how to apply incentives for employees in a much bigger sense. If you are looking at a health problem without understanding how the currents are working, then what will happen is you will review your medical expenses and say, 'We need more programs,'" said Lynch, whose foundation focuses on economic research and human capital.

She added that looking at health outcomes without understanding the environment in which they have been created hinders employers from creating wellness and DM programs that encourage workers to work hard and reward them for their success.