Texas Health Resources and Healthways Unveil New Model For Improving the Health of People and Communities

Belief that people with higher well-being contribute more to families, communities, and job performance drives model of physician-directed health team

ARLINGTON, Texas, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Poor health costs Dallas-Fort Worth communities $17 billion each year in lost productivity. Health behaviors influence 50 to 70% of health, but only 4% of the nation's health care dollars are spent on behaviors.

"Texas Health Resources believes that healthy people are happier, contribute more to their families, communities and jobs, and have less financial impact on the health care system," said Douglas D. Hawthorne, FACHE, CEO of Dallas-based Texas Health Resources, the largest health care system in North Texas in terms of patients served.

Hawthorne made the remarks during the announcement of a new collaboration with Healthways, one of the pioneers in using evidence-based tools and methods to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Texas Health Resources and Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) today announced a strategic agreement with a 10-year commitment to dramatically change the way health care is accessed by and delivered to the people of North Texas. Together, the two companies will place physicians and their patients at the core of a collaborative model to optimize clinical care and enable individuals to become active participants in their well-being rather than simply consumers of health care services.

Hawthorne continued, "Together, we're developing a new model for health services in North Texas that we believe will help fulfill our mission to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve.  Focusing on Well-Being, we think this could become a model for other communities across the nation.

"Successfully launching a proactive well-being improvement model begins at the point of highest trust and influence with individuals of any population," added Hawthorne. "That means working with physicians and other providers to reinforce and strengthen the relationship they have with their patients."

"The cost of health care in this country continues to rise at an alarming rate," noted Healthways CEO Ben Leedle. "Regardless of what happens in Washington, D.C., Healthways is going to work with health systems like Texas Health to tackle this problem. Texas Health is an acknowledged leader and innovator among the nation's largest health systems. Recognizing their excellence and commitment to improving the health of people in the communities they serve, it should be no surprise that they have chosen to continue to lead and not follow. We are excited to join them in this bold step to improve well-being and lower health-related costs for the people of North Texas."

This collaboration with Texas Health is the first time that Healthways has partnered with a large integrated health system, although they have large relationships with health plans and employers. The science behind their tools and methods has been proven in collaboration with health plans, employers and communities in other parts of the country. Now the two organizations are taking the new model of improving Well-Being in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the country.

"The current model of health care in this country is unsustainable," Hawthorne said. "We are leading the way to a new model of health services based on a physician-directed-care team approach designed to keep people healthy and out of hospitals except when they are acutely sick or injured. This is another step in our transformation from a hospital system to a health system with physicians in clinical leadership roles collaborating hand-in-hand with experienced operations professionals."

Dr. Mark Fleschler, a physician certified in internal and geriatric medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, participated in the announcement. "One of the challenges we have as physicians is connecting with our patients in a meaningful way between office visits," said Dr. Fleschler. "We need tools that help us strengthen the patient-physician relationship. We need better ways to give patients useful information and provide timely coaching so they can take a more active role in improving their own health."

Working with physicians, Texas Health and Healthways will provide a broad set of technology and management tools, along with a dedicated, highly-trained workforce of population health experts. As a result, physicians will benefit from a far greater ability to guide their patients' health and keep pace with their constantly evolving patient populations. The tools and data-driven processes that Healthways brings to the table can enable physicians to identify patterns of needs among their population of patients and, at the same time, provide valuable information to tailor services for the needs of each individual patient.  

When fully developed, the anticipated results of this unprecedented agreement include:

• an increase in the percentage of healthy people
• a reduction in per capita health-related risk
• lower incidence and prevalence of chronic illness
• fewer complications from known chronic disease
• lower morbidity
• lower utilization of health care services
• fewer hospital readmissions
• lower medical cost
• increased productivity and performance
• extended life expectancy.

About Texas Health Resources
Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the United States. The health system includes 24 acute care and short-stay hospitals that are owned, operated, joint-ventured or affiliated with Texas Health Resources.  It includes the Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial and Texas Health Harris Methodist hospitals, a large physician group, outpatient facilities, and home health, preventive and fitness services, and an organization for medical research and education.

For more information about Texas Health Resources, call 1-877-THR-WELL, or visit www.texashealth.org.

About Healthways
Healthways is the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier world one person at a time, the Company uses the science of behavior change to produce and measure positive change in well-being for our customers, which include employers, integrated health systems, hospitals, physicians, health plans, communities, and government entities. We provide highly specific and personalized support for each individual and their team of experts to optimize each participant's health and productivity and to reduce health-related costs. Results are achieved by addressing longitudinal health risks and care needs of everyone in a given population. The Company has scaled its proprietary technology infrastructure and delivery capabilities developed over 30 years and now serves approximately 40 million people on four continents. Learn more at www.healthways.com.

SOURCE Texas Health Resources