ValueOptions® Partners with LifeWIRE®

NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ValueOptions^®, the nation's largest independent behavioral health and wellness company, and LifeWIRE^® announced today a joint teaming agreement to create a mobile monitoring, intervention and counseling program.

As a part of this agreement, ValueOptions will leverage LifeWIRE's automated communication platform, applying client-specific modifications to more effectively conduct outreach and engage members in identifying and addressing potential health issues. The platform enables ValueOptions to stay connected with more members and to monitor and better assess their ongoing resiliency status. LifeWIRE's proprietary automated texting platform builds upon and integrates with ValueOptions' existing outreach and engagement tools to offer more timely and tailored confidential communications that target individual wellness needs.

The LifeWIRE platform is a patent-pending mobile, two-way interactive e-health & behavior management solution.  Individuals use, or providers and case managers direct, the solution via custom text messaging, e-mail or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) based interactions which track, monitor and engage users to improve health status or achieve other important health goals. LifeWIRE is a HIPAA-compliant solution that uses a member's own cell phone, along with a web-enabled interface, to create mobile interactions, schedule appointments, monitor progress and analyze results.

"We are very excited to work with ValueOptions, coupling our innovative interactive communication platform with ValueOptions leadership in behavior and wellness management," said Howard Rosen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LifeWIRE.

Rosen continues, "Leveraging the ability to interactively text in an automated and tailored fashion on any cell phone broadens the outreach and deepens the engagement ValueOptions uses to deliver timely behavioral health and wellness interventions."

ValueOptions will use LifeWIRE to reach and stay connected with members least likely to ask for help and who otherwise might fall through the cracks of more traditional engagement approaches.

"LifeWIRE's interactive capabilities, integrated with our own member-facing technologies, allow us to connect with and engage members in an unobtrusive fashion to help better assess physical and behavioral health needs and refer them to an appropriate treatment setting before a potentially serious incident occurs," said Bob Esposito, ValueOptions' Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "With LifeWIRE, ValueOptions delivers a richer and more robust capability to meet the wide-ranging and individual needs of all members in a confidential, more personalized and convenient fashion."

About ValueOptions^®

ValueOptions^®, the nation's largest independent behavioral health and wellness company, manages publicly funded and employer benefit programs that cover more than 30 million individuals nationwide. Maintaining a national network of more than 127,000 provider locations, we partner with national and regional health plans to deliver superior behavioral health care management for their members. When working directly with employers, we are an industry leader, managing mental health and substance abuse services, employee assistance programs and a wide variety of wellness benefits for organizations of all sizes – including more than 10 percent of the Fortune 500. We also serve both military and civilian employees of the federal government with innovative programs that positively impact daily life. And, we hold public sector contracts in 14 states, providing care management services and an array of cutting-edge, community-based programs to Medicaid-eligible populations. At ValueOptions, we help our clients build a Culture of Health. We help members move down the path to wellness and embrace recovery and resiliency in their daily lives. We help people live their lives to the fullest potential. Visit www.valueoptions.com for more information.

About LifeWIRE® Corp

LifeWIRE® Corp is a mobile communications and health information solution provider. Through its patent-pending interactive platform, LifeWIRE provides a patient-friendly, wireless solution which incorporates remote management and monitoring that facilitate proactive management of disease conditions and promotes wellness through virtually any mobile system in the world.  LifeWIRE was recently chosen as one of the Top 30 mHealth Innovators by the mHealth Alliance and selected a Computerworld Honors 2011 Laureate for its work with wounded warriors suffering from PTSD and mTBI. For more information, visit: www.lifewiregroup.com

SOURCE ValueOptions