New Landmark Study Offers Dramatic Proof that Interactive Health Solutions' Wellness Programs Lower Employer Medical Costs and Increase Employee Productivity

CHICAGO, Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A new landmark study of Interactive Health Solutions, Inc. contains remarkable data proving the company's workplace wellness programs improve employee health while significantly lowering employer costs and increasing productivity.

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Zoe Consulting, Inc., winner of the C. Everett Koop award, conducted the independent analysis using multiple years of medical claim data. Two comparable population groups were evaluated. The study group included Interactive Health Solutions clients; the control group consisted of companies that did not use Interactive Health Solutions. The study analyzed healthcare spending, workers' compensation claims and short-term disability claims.

Impact on Health and Employer Medical Costs
The study concluded the Interactive Health Solutions performance-based health and wellness programs had a significant, positive impact on reducing medical claims, and therefore, medical spend for employers. The following statistics are averages over a four-year period:

• 6.1 percent average annual medical cost trend reduction
• 7.7 percent reduction in Per Member Per Month (PMPM) in the final year of the study
• 13.5 percent average annual medical cost trend reduction for members with core conditions
• 85 percent of members maintained or reduced their health risk level

Core conditions include asthma, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes and hypertension. Many of the core condition health effects can be controlled or mitigated through early detection and compliance with prescribed therapies. The Interactive Health Solutions program focuses on identifying populations at risk for or exhibiting these illnesses. Upon identification, the Interactive Health Solutions medical team immediately intervenes and creates a personalized wellness course to better health.

Impact on Employee Productivity
The study found that Interactive Health Solutions program participants spent fewer days away from work under workers' compensation and short-term disability:

• Participants returned to work up to nine days sooner from workers' compensation
• Participants returned to work 17 days sooner from short term disability

"We are pleased to report from our independent analysis that Interactive Health Solutions' scientific and highly personalized approach to wellness impacts the populations they serve," said Robin Foust, President of Zoe Consulting, Inc. "This study should serve as a beacon for the entire industry."

Interactive Health Solutions offers a unique program based on leveraging clinical data from health evaluations to measure, motivate and reward individuals for improving their personal health. The performance-based initiative is tailored to meet the needs of individuals based on their specific health status and rewards participants who achieve their personal wellness goals.  In addition to having a dramatic influence on individual health and controlling health care costs, this landmark study proves Interactive Health Solutions improves employee productivity and builds a stronger, more competitive organization.

"Employers are continuously searching for responsible ways to reduce health care spending, which has grown to over 25 percent of total labor expense," said Joseph A. O'Brien, President and CEO of Interactive Health Solutions. "We have a long history of pioneering game-changing wellness programs. The analysis conducted by Zoe Consulting confirms our wellness programs deliver meaningful results for individuals and their employers."

For additional information on the study results, including methodology, visit: www.interactivehealthsolutions.com/provenresults

About Interactive Health Solutions
Interactive Health Solutions is the market leader and innovator in performance-based health management solutions for employers. Performance-based health programs are designed to engage employees in the management of their health through early detection and identification of risk factors. Interactive Health Solutions creates a culture of health within their clients by encouraging them to focus on proactive health care versus reactive health care. Through the collection of biometric data and a health risk assessment, Interactive Health Solutions applies a proven, scientific methodology to detect health risk at the earliest possible stage and immediately intervene to engage identified individuals with a personalized course of action. Clinical data is leveraged to measure, motivate, and reward each individual as they begin a journey on the pathway to better health. Interactive Health creates a pathway to better health that is personalized based on an individual's health status. Test results from the health evaluation are also used to connect the individual's physician to the performance-based program. Each program seamlessly integrates an employee's health data with the tools and resources needed to achieve or maintain their personal health goal.  Interactive Health Solutions takes a scientific approach to wellness and has a 20-year track record of building the Healthiest Companies in America.

About Zoe Consulting, Inc.
Zoe Consulting, Inc. is a top-tier, nationally recognized research firm with extensive experience, expertise, and custom reporting tools in the health and productivity management field. They deliver unbiased third party analysis that can provide a path to optimal health and financial outcomes.

Zoe Consulting Highlights

1. A two-time C. Everett Koop award winner for outcomes achieved in maternity and disease management
2. Received Leadership awards in worksite wellness and health and human performance
3. Uses academic and validated methodologies to ensure that audit results are sound and defensible
4. Maintains a rigorous peer-review process, including physicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, technology, and data analysts
5. Provides population health reports that integrate all relevant health, financial, and/or productivity data for the best in population health and productivity analytics and reporting
6. Offers secure information infrastructure to house data and electronically support coordination of care through stratification, identification and referrals to service providers along the care continuum
7. Provides a Health Information Exchange and Enterprise with a Reportal^℠ that provides solutions that meet the needs of Accountable Care Organizations, High Performing Networks, Medical Home Networks and other local models of care
8. Publishes studies in leading managed care and health management journals, including best practices in program evaluation

Contact
Tricia Johnson
Director of Marketing, Interactive Health Solutions
847-754-2652
[email protected]

Katie Whitmore
CBD Marketing
312-661-1050
[email protected]

SOURCE Interactive Health Solutions