BOSTON, Mass. – January 24, 2012 – With the annual national cost of obesity totaling close to $150 billion, depression causing 200 million lost work days each year, and smoking costing more than $193 billion1 the time to focus on engaging people in wellness programs is now. Many payors, providers, and employer groups have wellness programs in place, but a program is only as good as its ability to identify and then engage the people who need it most.
To show how an effective wellness program should be designed, Health Dialog today released a whitepaper, “Spreading the Well: How to Maximize Participation in Wellness Programs Through Smarter Identification.” The paper, authored by Health Dialog’s Peter Goldbach, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Paul Rosenthal, MA, Senior Director, Consumer Segmentation, and Marc Agger, MPH, Senior Scientist, Analytic Development, explains how identification and engagement must be conducted in order for participants to achieve real results in medical outcomes and lower costs.
“Wellness programs are an invaluable support tool for all individuals, ranging from people who are sick or display red-flag risk factors for chronic disease to those healthy individuals trying to live a healthier lifestyle,” said Dr. Goldbach. “Smart identification and engagement that maximizes participation in wellness, and matches people with the right support, is paramount to ‘spreading the well’ and making a positive impact on our national health.”
The white paper from Health Dialog highlights tangible benefits achieved through the company’s WELLNESS Dialog™ program, which includes the industry’s only wellness-focused predictive models – the WELLNESS Segmenter™ tool – and the state-of-the-art COMMUNITY Grid™ technology, which uses social, demographic, and purchasing pattern data to ensure messages are customized for each individual and delivered in a way most appropriate for them, whether through mail, telephonic coaching, or online support.
About Health Dialog:
Health Dialog Services Corporation is a leading provider of healthcare analytics and decision support. The firm is a private, wholly-owned subsidiary of Bupa, a global provider of healthcare services. Health Dialog helps healthcare payors improve healthcare quality while reducing overall costs. Company offerings include health coaching for medical decisions, chronic conditions, and wellness; population analytic solutions; and consulting services. Health Dialog helps individuals participate in their own healthcare decisions, develop more effective relationships with their physicians, and live healthier, happier lives. For more information, visit
www.healthdialog.com.
Media Inquiries:
Kiran Ganda
Health Dialog
kganda@healthdialog.com
617.406.5239