SAN DIEGO, Jan. 29, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthyroads, a subsidiary of national health and wellness company American Specialty Health (ASH), announced substantial growth and performance in 2008, including the achievement of significant milestones in membership growth, accreditation, clinical outcomes, published studies, awards, and product development. Healthyroads is a wellness and prevention company that provides lifestyle health coaching, online wellness tools, health risk assessments, healthy incentive programs, wireless technology solutions, and worksite wellness programs to assist members with weight management, stress management, improving nutrition, increasing activity, healthy living, and/or tobacco cessation. Health plans, disease management companies, and employer groups contract with Healthyroads to provide wellness and prevention services to their eligible members. Healthyroads 2008 accomplishments include:
1. Membership Growth: From the end of 2007 to the beginning of 2009,
Healthyroads has roughly quadrupled its eligible membership,
increasing from 860,000 members at the end of 2007 to 1.8 million
members in 2008 to 3.3 million members on January 1, 2009. "What is
most extraordinary about this growth is that during a difficult
economy, many employers and health plans have chosen to invest in
wellness and prevention to improve employee health and reduce future
medical claims trends. It demonstrates that wellness and prevention
are a key, mainstream part of our health care delivery system,"
according to George DeVries, chairman and CEO of Healthyroads and ASH.
2. Accreditation: Healthyroads was one of the first five companies to
receive Comprehensive Wellness Program accreditation this past fall
from URAC. This wellness accreditation demonstrates Healthyroads'
commitment to meeting high standards and being accountable to an
external accreditation process.
3. Clinical Outcomes: Healthyroads Coaching(r) has achieved significant
clinical outcomes as follows:
* Of those who lost weight in the weight management program, the
average weight loss per member was 16 pounds.
* Approximately 92 percent of all Healthyroads Coaching(r)
participants reduced their health risk through improvement in their
eating habits, activity levels, and/or stress management.
* The six-month abstinence rate of members engaged in the
Healthyroads Tobacco Cessation program is 38 percent.
* Members who quit tobacco gained less than 1 pound in the year
following their quit date.
4. Member Satisfaction: Participant satisfaction in the Healthyroads
Coaching(r) program indicates that:
* 92 percent were satisfied with program services
* 95 percent were satisfied with the quality of the coaching
experience
* 90 percent indicated the program helped them meet health
improvement goals
* 91 percent would recommend the program to family or friends
5. Published Study: This past September, the Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine published "Using an ROI Estimation Model
to Evaluate Outcomes from an Obesity Management Worksite Health
Promotion Program" which demonstrated a credible and practical
measurement method and a positive return-on-investment on the fees
paid by payors for the Healthyroads Coaching(r) program. This study
was co-authored by representatives from Thomson Healthcare and
Healthyroads.
6. Staff Development: Healthyroads has grown from 40 full-time health
coaches in late 2007 to over 150 full-time health coaches as of
January 1, 2009. And Healthyroads' parent company, ASH, was named
one of America's 100 best health care companies to work for by Modern
Healthcare magazine last fall.
7. Awards: In 2008, Healthyroads earned 14 awards for excellence in
member communication, including a Platinum award for Healthyroads.com
from the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. Additionally, ASH earned a
Gold "Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles" award from the National
Business Group on Health, a Silver California Fit Business award, and
was named one of American's 15 Fittest Companies by Men's Fitness
magazine.
8. Healthyroads Enhances Information Systems: Last January, Healthyroads
introduced a new Electronic Coaching Record which allows better
tracking methodologies and the ability to provide timely data
exchanges with clients and interface with Electronic Medical Records.
9. Strong Operational Performance: Healthyroads maintained strong
operational performance throughout 2008, despite its rapid growth,
achieving 100 percent of its performance metrics.
10. Healthyroads Expands Fully-Integrated Wellness & Prevention
Platform: In 2008, the company continued to expand its fully
integrated wellness and prevention platform, which now includes:
health risk assessments, online wellness tools, lifestyle health
coaching, healthy incentives, wireless technology solutions, as
well as worksite wellness programs such as biometric screening,
health classes, and health challenges. All programs automatically
include wellness consulting, worksite health promotion and guidebook,
How to Build a Fit Company (tm), to support the implementation and
ongoing promotion of the Healthyroads programs and encourage
a "culture of health" in the workplace.
Health plans, disease management companies and employer groups may pick and choose from the different Healthyroads Wellness(r) and Prevention programs to customize and create their own Wellness and Prevention program for their members. They may offer just one, several, or all of Healthyroads Wellness and Prevention programs.
"Our significant growth in 2008 reflects not only the increasing importance of wellness and prevention programs to health plans and employers, but it also represents the confidence that health plans and employers have in Healthyroads products, services, and quality," said ASH chairman and chief executive officer George DeVries. "Disease management and managed care programs have effectively responded to patients' need for health services. But employer groups and payors are demanding more...they are demanding wellness and prevention tools that will go 'upstream' and provide support for healthy members as well as those who are at high risk because of obesity, poor nutrition, lack of activity, high stress, and/or tobacco use. Healthyroads provides effective tools to help the healthy stay healthy and for people who are at risk because of poor health habits."
Founded in 2002, Healthyroads is the Wellness and Prevention subsidiary of American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH). ASH provides specialty network management programs, fitness programs, and wellness and prevention programs to health plans, insurance carriers, disease management companies, employer groups, and trust funds nationwide. Based in San Diego and founded in 1987, ASH has over 680 employees and has over 15 million members eligible for its programs. For more information, visit ASH online at ASHCompanies.com or call 800.848.3555.