Flourish® e-health platform "Activates" Individuals To Improve Self-Care And Reduce Costs

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --  Insignia Health, which works with more than 120 healthcare organizations and employers domestically and abroad to measure and improve patient activation, has launched the next-generation version of its Flourish^® e-health platform.

Flourish is anchored by Insignia's Patient Activation Measure (PAM^®), a globally-validated assessment tool that measures the underlying knowledge, skills and confidence integral to managing one's own health.  A decade of PAM research guides the individualized health activation programs in Flourish that develop a person's self-management abilities, which is proven to improve health outcomes and lower overall costs.

Too often, e-health programs simply offer guideline information based upon conditions, interests, or gaps identified in basic health risk assessments.  This approach fails to acknowledge an individual's own capability to understand and apply that information.

"Online and mobile health programs cannot thrive with an old-school approach that pushes individuals to achieve guideline behaviors in a 'one-size-fits-all manner,' regardless of how well they are designed," said Chris Delaney, founder and CEO of Insignia Health.  He adds, "No two people will process and apply health information the same way.  Flourish recognizes these unique differences to carefully develop and foster new, sustainable health behaviors."  

User-centered design and proven game mechanics guide Flourish users through a system of challenges and action steps that match their self-management ability.  A variety of learning styles are supported through articles, tip sheets, videos, quizzes, journaling opportunities, and health tracking activities, all of which are tailored to each person's level of activation.  As challenges are completed and milestones achieved, users receive both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Flourish currently supports wellness and disease prevention, as well as select conditions including asthma, chronic pain, depression, diabetes/pre-diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and multiple sclerosis.

Oregon's Health CO-OP, a new non-profit health insurance company, is an early adopter of the latest Flourish platform.  "Flourish gives our members the opportunity to truly personalize their e-health support and education to improve their health and vitality," explains Ralph Prows, M.D., President and CEO of Oregon's Health CO-OP.  He adds, "Thirty percent of our adult members have already engaged with Flourish since our first policies went into effect in January. This provides us with a very strong foundation for our population health initiatives."

Flourish also features a health coach portal that can be integrated with the consumer program, allowing coaches to recommend challenges and educational materials, send and receive messages, and provide goal-setting guidance based upon each person's level of activation and health conditions.  This portal extends coaching interactions beyond the typically short and infrequent clinic encounters and phone calls by utilizing an efficient online medium to connect with the individuals receiving support.

Insignia Health specializes in helping hospitals, health plans, pharmaceutical firms and other organizations assess and increase their patients' activation levels.  Insignia Health's clients use its proprietary suite of health activation assessments to measure each individual's self-management competencies and develop strategies to help those patients become more successful managers of their health and healthcare. The Patient Activation Measure® and a decade of health activation research form the cornerstone of Insignia Health's solutions, which have been proven to improve outcomes and lower costs.  

Find more information at www.insigniahealth.com or write to: [email protected].

SOURCE Insignia Health