Exercise is Medicine® Partners With IHP Online System for Physicians to Prescribe Exercise

SALT LAKE CITY, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Interactive Health Group of PCE Fitness, and Exercise is Medicine®, a multi-organizational initiative coordinated by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) (www.exerciseismedicine.org), are revolutionizing the way physicians prescribe exercise to their patients.  An innovative online system, developed by the Interactive Health Group (www.interactivehealthpartner.com), will link healthcare providers, patients and exercise professionals and make physical activity a standard part of disease prevention and treatment.

To support Exercise is Medicine®, the Interactive Health Group is adding an exercise prescription module to its existing solution platform, making it simpler and more efficient for physicians to prescribe exercise and refer patients to exercise professionals when appropriate.

"We've seen the power of exercise to prevent and treat chronic diseases," said James Whitehead, CEO of the American College of Sports Medicine. "This tool, being developed with the Interactive Health Group, takes us a giant step toward making physical activity a part of every patient's healthcare plan. A physician can quickly access research-based recommendations to write a customized exercise prescription for every patient. This is transformative."

A survey conducted by the ACSM found that nearly two thirds of patients would be more interested in exercising to stay healthy if advised by their doctor and given additional resources.  Four out of ten physicians talk to their patients about the importance of exercise but don't always offer suggestions on the best ways to be physically active.  And twenty-five percent of patients look to their doctor first for advice on exercise and physical activity.

With this partnership, physicians will have an efficient system, accessible from their patient care computer, to risk stratify patients, assess level of physical activity, provide personalized medically appropriate exercise prescriptions, and refer patients to exercise professionals.  Patients not needing a referral to exercise in a medically supervised program receive a personal account to self-manage their health and fitness, using tools to track vital stats, select carefully designed exercise programs, log exercise results and track outcomes.

The online system, now undergoing testing and expected to launch later this year, supports Exercise is Medicine goals to:

1. Create broad awareness that exercise is indeed medicine
2. Make "level of physical activity" a standard vital sign question in each patient visit
3. Help physicians and other healthcare providers become consistently effective in counseling and referring patients as to their physical activity needs
4. Produce an expectation among the public and patients that their healthcare providers should and will ask about and prescribe exercise.

The Interactive Health Group is pleased to partner with Exercise is Medicine and provide physicians an efficient, automated system so they can effectively counsel their patients and refer them to professionals as appropriate.

This release was issued on behalf of the above organization by Send2Press(R), a unit of Neotrope(R). http://www.Send2Press.com

SOURCE PCE Health and Fitness