FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHOENIX — August 2026 — The first State of Wellness Operations benchmark places the wellness industry’s operational maturity at 54.6 out of 100, establishing a baseline for an aspect of the wellness business that has historically been difficult to measure: the operation behind service delivery.
The score comes from the Wellness Operations Maturity Index (WOMI), developed through the State of Wellness Operations 2026 research initiative. The index looks beyond participation, utilization and program outcomes to examine how wellness organizations actually manage the work required to deliver their services.
“There are many ways to measure the wellness experience, but very few ways to understand the operational health of the businesses creating that experience. We created WOMI because we wanted a way to measure what providers experience every day: how much of the business runs through repeatable processes and how much still depends on people manually holding everything together.”
The inaugural benchmark is based on research involving 50 wellness organizations. The findings show an industry that has widely adopted technology, but where the presence of technology does not necessarily translate into connected operations. Sixty-four percent of organizations reported using five or more software tools, 66% rely on custom workarounds, and 92% reported meaningful dependence on one or two key individuals. More than one-third, 36%, identified operational complexity as their biggest challenge to growth.
Those findings helped shape the thinking behind WOMI. A wellness organization may use scheduling software, a CRM, payment tools, forms, calendars, project management systems and communication platforms, yet still require someone to move information between them, remember exceptions and make sure the next step happens.
“The question isn’t whether a business uses technology. The more useful question is whether the way the business operates makes the work easier to repeat, delegate and grow. Those are very different things.”
The 54.6 benchmark is intended to be a starting point, not a grade. Establishing the first industry baseline creates an opportunity to track how wellness operations change over time and to explore differences among organizations at different stages of growth, across service models and with varying levels of operational complexity.
Future editions of State of Wellness Operations will build on the benchmark, creating a longer-term view of whether the operational side of the wellness industry is becoming more mature and what practices appear to contribute to that progress.
For individual wellness organizations, WOMI also provides a different lens through which to consider growth. Revenue, client count, event volume and team size can show that a company is expanding, but they do not necessarily indicate whether the organization has the capacity to absorb that growth.
An organization can be successful and busy while still relying on manual coordination behind the scenes. It can add employees while remaining dependent on knowledge held by its founder. It can add software while continuing to operate through workarounds. WOMI is intended to make those differences easier to see.
“The goal isn’t to tell a wellness business that it is operating the right way or the wrong way. It’s to give us a common way to talk about operational maturity and, over time, understand what actually helps organizations create more capacity.”
The State of Wellness Operations research examines the work that surrounds wellness delivery, from client requests, proposals and scheduling to staffing, participant management, communications, payments and follow-up. Much of that work is invisible to the client or participant, but it influences how consistently an organization can deliver as its business becomes more complex.
“Clients experience the wellness service. Providers experience everything it takes to make that service happen. WOMI gives us a way to start measuring that second part.”
What’s Your WOMI?
Wellness providers can also estimate their own Wellness Operations Maturity Index and compare it with the inaugural 54.6 industry benchmark.
The free WOMI Self-Assessment uses seven questions to provide an estimated score and comparison with the 2026 benchmark. The assessment is anonymous and responses are not saved.
Take the WOMI Self-Assessment →
About the Wellness Operations Maturity Index
The Wellness Operations Maturity Index (WOMI) was developed through the State of Wellness Operations research initiative to provide a consistent measure of operational maturity among wellness organizations. The inaugural 2026 industry benchmark is 54.6 out of 100, based on research involving 50 organizations. WOMI is intended to establish a baseline that can be tracked and expanded as additional research is conducted.
About State of Wellness Operations 2026
State of Wellness Operations 2026 examines the systems, processes, technology and operational practices behind wellness service delivery. The research explores how wellness organizations manage their work, where operational complexity develops and how operational maturity may affect their ability to grow and deliver consistently.
About WellOps
WellOps is an operations platform built for wellness providers delivering corporate and workplace wellness services. It helps providers manage the work surrounding their own client relationships, including requests, proposals, events, teams, participant scheduling, forms, communications, invoicing, marketing and follow-up.
WellOps is not a marketplace or provider directory.
Media Contact
Corinne Romero — Founder, WellOps; Lead Researcher, State of Wellness Operations 2026. wellopsapp.com · hello@wellopsapp.com