A new study found that wellness programs done at the workplace helps in maintaining employee's overall health and aids in saving money allotted for health care costs and hospital admissions.

Researchers from the RAND Corp. led by Dr. Soeren Mattke studied the Healthy Living wellness program by PepsiCo which was given to their employees in a span of seven years. The wellness program includes components such as on-site wellness events and health risk assessments. They also provided help and resources for lifestyle and disease management and a hotline that dispenses health advice from a registered nurse.

Over 67,000 employees were able to avail of the disease and lifestyle management programs. These employees were able to save at least $160 each on health care cost each month. The hospital admissions of those who received disease and lifestyle management care also decreased by 66 percent.

Dr. Soeren Mattke said in a news release, "While workplace wellness programs have the potential to reduce health risks and cut health care spending, employers and policymakers should not take for granted that the lifestyle management components of the programs can reduce costs or lead to savings overall,"

"The PepsiCo program provides a substantial return for the investment made in helping employees manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease," he added. "But the lifestyle-management component of the program, while delivering benefits, did not provide more savings than it cost to offer."

Health and wellness programs in the workplace are becoming more popular especially in the United States. The Affordable Care Act by the federal government was designed to increase awareness about these wellness programs with the goal to reduce health care costs for employees.

According to the news release, 50 percent of the U.S employers with at least 50 employees and 90 percent of those with at least 50,000 offered wellness programs at the workplace in 2012.

The study was published in the January issue of Health Affairs.