From Acute Care to Business Performance: Connecting Health to the Top Line at American Express

Employers face a central strategic decision in managing health benefits today. Particularly since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, companies have a wide variety of options – including exiting the health care system altogether and paying the requisite fines. The path that employers follow turns on a central question: is workforce health a cost or is it of broader strategic value to the business? This case study follows the journey of American Express. The company started with a clinical, acute-care approach at their on-site clinics, expanded to a broader health and productivity approach, and finally embraced a health and human capital strategy that links health to key top-line business metrics.