The expensive part is not the sick days.
Absence is visible. The costly part is the one no calendar shows: people who are present but not able to perform. Decisions take longer, mistakes accumulate, projects lose momentum.
Exhaustion is usually treated as a matter of attitude. Often it is a matter of metabolism, nutrient supply and recovery — and therefore measurable.
A laboratory value shows where to look more closely — interpreting it belongs in expert hands.
That is exactly what the ORY experts are for: they interpret the values together with the person concerned and accompany them beyond the report — doctors and licensed practitioners from our network.
Four building blocks
Stress hormones across the day
Cortisol normally follows a clear rhythm — high in the morning, low in the evening. Under sustained strain this curve can flatten or shift. Measurable through four saliva samples in a single day.
Nutrients as cofactors
The body needs vitamins B6, B12 and B3 to produce messengers such as serotonin and dopamine at all. If they are missing, no amount of resolve helps — drive and concentration then are a supply problem, not a willpower problem.
Capacity to recover
Recovery is an active process. Lactate, pyruvate and carnitine show how well the mitochondria — the power plants of the cells — are working. Those who do not recover despite sleeping often have an issue here.
The obvious things first
An underactive thyroid, iron deficiency and anaemia feel almost identical to exhaustion — and can be ruled out cheaply. That belongs at the beginning, not the end.
We do not measure illness. We measure function.
Conventional laboratory diagnostics asks: is a value outside the reference range? That answers whether someone is ill — but not how well the body is working while it still manages.
Functional diagnostics starts earlier. It looks at what determines whether someone stays stable over years: whether there are enough nutrients to build messengers. Whether cells still produce energy cleanly. Whether the hormone rhythm has shifted. Whether silent inflammation is running along.
These are measurements, not diagnoses. But they show a development before it becomes a finding — and that is precisely the point of prevention.
Supply. What the body needs to do its work — vitamins, minerals, amino acids.
Energy production. How well cells actually turn what is available into performance.
Rhythm. Whether tension and recovery are still in step — measurable in the hormone curve across the day.
Signs of strain. Silent inflammation and metabolic traces that appear long before symptoms.
Work out what is being left behind in your organisation.
A model calculation, not a measurement. Every assumption is visible and can be changed — the result changes with it.
Grundlage der Vorschlagswerte: Arbeitskosten je geleisteter Arbeitsstunde nach Sector, German Federal Statistical Office, 2025 (whole economy: €45.00 per hour). Converted to an eight-hour day. “Skilled trades” is not a separate sector in official statistics; the construction figure is used.
Two routes, depending on the question
Participants take both samples at home. Results are usually available 7–21 days after the sample arrives and are discussed with a practitioner.
Cortisol-Tagesprofil
The stress hormone curve across one day. Shows whether the rhythm has flattened or shifted — the signal that tips earliest under sustained strain. Low threshold, good for a first broad round in the team.
Saliva samples spread across the day
Prevent 360
75 values from one capillary blood sample: nutrients, hormones and stress including the cortisol day profile, metabolism and lipids, inflammation, amino acids and neurotransmitters. All four building blocks above in a single analysis.
Capillary blood, 120 microlitres · 75 parameters
For other questions — thyroid, iron status, gut, sleep — further analyses are available.
All analysesHow it works, in four steps
Invite the team
You give access. Taking part is voluntary and without disadvantage — declining has no consequences either.
Questionnaire
A self-assessment in a few minutes, anonymous. It indicates where measurement makes sense — it is not a diagnosis.
Diagnostics
Sampling at home or at a practitioner, analysed in a medical laboratory. All conversations can take place online — nobody has to spend working time travelling.
Results conversation
A person goes through the values with the individual: what stands out, what it means, what makes sense next. By video or phone, on request also in person.
You learn where the team stands. Not how any individual is doing.
Health data is specially protected under Art. 9 GDPR. That is why the evaluation is built separately from the outset — not as an add-on, but as a design principle.
The result belongs to the individual. It reaches them directly through their own access.
The employer never receives individual results — only aggregated, above a minimum group size.
Participation is voluntary. Anyone who declines suffers no disadvantage.
What employers ask us most often
Do we as the employer receive our employees' laboratory values?
No. Health data is specially protected under Art. 9 GDPR. The result reaches the person examined directly through their own access, and the practitioner they choose. You receive only an aggregated evaluation above a minimum group size — and you do not even learn who took part.
Can a laboratory value prove burnout?
No. Laboratory values are indications, not proof. An altered cortisol day profile can have many causes — shift work, infections, medication, lack of sleep. Values are always assessed by a practitioner in the context of the symptoms and replace no medical examination.
What does it cost per person?
The cortisol day profile costs €155.00 per person; Prevent 360, with 75 values from capillary blood, costs €325.00 per person. Which scope makes sense depends on the situation — we clarify that in the consultation.
Is participation voluntary for employees?
Yes, and that is the condition under which the offer is permissible at all. Anyone who declines need not give reasons and suffers no disadvantage. We inform the workforce, not your HR department.
How long does it take to get results?
Usually 7 to 21 days from the sample arriving at the laboratory. Sampling happens at home; for blood tests we arrange a collection point. A results conversation with a practitioner is part of the package.
Where do the figures in the calculator come from?
The suggested values for the cost per absence day are based on labour costs per hour worked by sector, published by the German Federal Statistical Office for 2025, converted to an eight-hour day. All other assumptions are visible and adjustable in the form. The result is a model calculation, not a measurement.
What is the difference between the questionnaire and the laboratory analysis?
The questionnaire is a self-assessment: it measures how the strain feels and indicates whether measurement makes sense. It is not a diagnosis and not a validated instrument. The laboratory analysis measures what is measurable in the body — stress hormones, nutrients as cofactors, capacity to recover.
Let us talk about your team.
A conversation to clarify what a programme for your workforce could look like — scope, process, cost. No obligation.