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"The Big Picture" Newsletter
March 2007 Issue
New CIGNA HealthCare
Worksite Health and Wellness Program Combines
Screening, Education and Coaching to Help
Promote Better Health
Consumers
now have a convenient way to get important
health screenings and personalized coaching
to help them meet their health goals through
a new worksite health and wellness program
introduced by CIGNA HealthCare.
The new program helps employers
offer employees cost-effective and time-saving
access to confidential screenings for cholesterol,
glucose levels, blood pressure, height/weight/waist
circumference and body mass index (BMI).
Immediately following the screenings, employees
can meet one-on-one with a health coach.
The screenings and coaching meetings are
provided at the worksite and employers can
schedule them for day or night, weekdays
or weekends. CIGNA HealthCare is offering
the program in collaboration with Health
Solutions, a national health risk identification
and health improvement firm, based in Owings
Mills, Maryland. The program became available
on January 1, 2007.
The health coaching sessions
are not only based on information gathered
from the biometric screenings, but also on
a short survey taken by participants. Health
coaches then explain what the individual
scores and overall results mean, and discuss
the steps consumers can take to make healthy
changes, including connecting employees to
CIGNA HealthCare's health advocacy programs
and other programs offered by the employer
or available in the community.
"Most consumers already
know that health risks such as having high
blood pressure can lead to health problems
in the future," said Dr. David Ferriss,
CIGNA HealthCare's national medical director
for clinical program development. "But
what many people don't know is their own
level of risk or what very specific steps
they can take to reduce their risk. We've
designed this program to make it convenient
for employees to get screenings, to get immediate
feedback and coaching on what the results
may mean for the individual and to get specific
and personalized information to help them
take action."
Employers who implement the
onsite health and wellness program receive
an aggregate population report that indicates
overall participation rates and aggregate
information on overall scores. This information
can be used to create wellness and disease
management programs that address the most
common health needs of a company.
One such company, Performance
Food Group (PFG), piloted the onsite program
last fall. "This
program literally changed the lives of some
of our associates," said Charlotte Perkins,
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources
Officer. "It provided a good baseline
of their current health, and more importantly,
it helped them understand how they could
improve their health. And for several associates,
the program uncovered potentially life-threatening
conditions that they didn't even know they
had.
"As an employer, the
program helped us learn more about the specific
health conditions most affecting our associates
and allowed us to better target our resources.
We were also able to use this information
to develop our new Healthy Awards program
that provides financial incentives to associates
to encourage their participation in wellness,
maternity management, disease management
and fitness programs. Overall, the health
assessment program has helped our associates
take steps toward becoming more healthy and
productive. And, a productive workforce is
critical to our business' success."
The new onsite health and
wellness screening program, which is also
available to employer customers of CIGNA
Behavioral Health and CareAllies, adds to
the extensive and growing array of CIGNA
HealthCare programs that promote the health
and wellness of members including:
- CIGNA Health AdvisorSM --
gives members ongoing access to a personal
health coach, available by phone or email.
- CIGNA Well Aware for Better
Health® --
the nation's largest population-based disease
management program, serving approximately
one million members in programs that address
18 specific chronic disease conditions,
for example, asthma, diabetes, depression,
obesity, heart disease and low back pain.
- CIGNA Lifestyle Management Programs --
behavior modification programs featuring
ongoing coaching on weight management,
tobacco cessation and stress management.
- CIGNA Healthy Rewards® --
one of the most robust amenity programs,
offering discounts of up to 60 percent
on a variety of health and wellness products
and services designed to promote good health.
Discounts include, but are not limited
to, weight management programs, fitness
center memberships, anti-cavity products,
chiropractic care, eyewear, contact lenses,
guided imagery and mind-body techniques,
health and wellness products, hearing care,
laser vision correction, magazine subscriptions,
massage therapy, natural supplements and
tobacco cessation. The program is available
to CIGNA's medical, dental and behavioral
members.
- myCIGNA.com --
CIGNA's personalized web portal that gives
members access to an extensive suite of
online education, decision support and
health maintenance tools. Members can use
these tools to assess their health, determine
their risk for health problems, and receive
customized information to help them take
action to improve their overall health.
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