Anne Baum, left and Chrissy Hixon, of Capital BlueCross, helps promote employee wellness across the Lehigh Valley.

It’s not something most companies meditate about. It’s not even something many think about beyond a category in the ledger book.

It’s the sick day – and it’s not something to sneeze at.

Like a thief in the night that continues to rob businesses of creativity and productivity, employees who are sick, ill or “not on top of their game” simply cannot contribute to advancing the organization’s agenda if they take the day off.

Or consider this. Even if an employee does “load the wagon” and show up to work with a cold, runny nose or sore back, they sometimes aren’t all that effective and can wind up just going through the motions.

Capital BlueCross is a company that recognizes employee health management as a business strategy that is also just the right thing to do. Their motto is “Good Health is Good Business.” They’ve been a progressive catalyst for advancing proactive preventive medicine long before it became fashionable.

Capital BlueCross has been a leading advocate and consultant for worksite wellness through the Lehigh Valley for years. The company strongly believes that employers who establish a culture of health can ultimately reap many benefits, including a more energetic workforce, less absenteeism, improved productivity and a downward pressure on health care costs.

And there are statistics to back up that statement.

The top five common health conditions – headache/pain, cold/flu, fatigue/depression, digestive problems and arthritis – cost employers more than $180 billion annually, according to a study by AdvancePCS, a health improvement company.

“Part of the measure of an efficiently-run organization is our ability to receive productive output from our staff on a daily basis,” said Matthew Tuerk, LVEDC vice president of administration and investor relations.

Capital BlueCross has provided Lehigh Valley companies with the advantage of having timely resources to help their employees get healthy and stay healthy.

It’s important for people to know their biometric numbers. Those numbers include blood work, body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose levels.

“Capital BlueCross has done an awesome job of focusing in on this issue of employee wellness and how it proves beneficial for companies across the Lehigh Valley,” said Don Cunningham, LVEDC president and CEO.

Capital BlueCross’ corporate philosophy has focused on helping employers, their employees and family members to develop a healthy lifestyle and maintain good health.