CIGNA HealthCare is expanding its
CIGNA Health AdvisorSM health
coaching program to provide more members with access
to a personal health coach. Health coaches provide
ongoing guidance in interacting with the health
care system, individualized health education and
treatment decision support, and help in reaching
health and wellness goals.
"Consumers are being encouraged
to take a more active role in their health care,
but at the same time, the health care system can
be complex, information can be difficult to understand
and act on, and often the barriers to making the
positive behavior changes that improve health are
very real," said Dr. Allen Woolf, CIGNA HealthCare
senior vice president and national medical executive
for health advocacy. "Having a personal health
coach gives our members personalized support they
can turn to whether they're facing an immediate
health care need or just want to do more to stay
healthy and well."
Beginning with plans that take effect
on January 1, 2007, plan sponsors with 200 or more
employees can offer the health coaching program
as part of their employee benefits program. The
program had previously been available to groups
with 5,000 or more employees and/or those who offered
a CIGNA Choice Fund® consumer-driven
health care plan. More than one million CIGNA members
currently have access to the CIGNA Health Advisor
service. The expanded health coaching program will
also be available through CareAllies, which offers
plan sponsors consistent, consumer-focused health
management and coaching programs across their entire
workforce, regardless of their medical plan or
provider network.
As part of the program expansion,
members will be matched with a health advisor whose
expertise meets their individual needs and preferences,
drawn from a team of experienced health professionals
including trained nurses, nutritionists, behavioral
clinicians and health educators. Members can maintain
an ongoing relationship with their health coach,
who can be reached by phone or email.
One of the goals of the program is
early identification of possible health risks and
timely outreach to members to assist them with
behavior change and other steps they can take to
minimize their risk. The program is specifically
designed to help identify and close potential gaps
and omissions in care and promote participation
and use of available resources offered through
the employer's benefit plan.
The CIGNA HealthCare and CareAllies
nurse coaches can also provide consumers with information
and guidance to assist them in making decisions
about treatment for certain conditions, for example,
hip or knee replacements, back pain or coronary
artery disease, for which there may be several
different treatment options with the same anticipated
positive outcome. The nurses will also provide
access to online tools, brochures and educational
videotapes and DVDs developed by Health Dialog,
a leading provider of preference-sensitive health
coaching support programs.
"For some conditions, different
treatments can have the same outcomes, so it's
important for individuals to learn about and consider
how a specific treatment will affect the aspects
of their lives they care most about," Woolf
said. "Through this program, we can help encourage
discussion between an individual and his or her
doctor, and enable a consumer to reach a decision
that is medically appropriate and the one that
is most consistent with their preferences and values." Woolf
adds, "CIGNA is excited about our new relationship
with Health Dialog, and about the expanded relationship
with the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision
Making that this affiliation brings to our consumer-focused
health advocacy efforts."
"Educating consumers about their
health care options and choices is an important
part of addressing unwarranted variation in health
care, a problem Health Dialog has been working
to identify and address along with the Foundation
for Informed Medical Decision Making since our
inception," said George Bennett, Chairman
and CEO, Health Dialog. "We are extremely
pleased to be collaborating with CIGNA to help
address this issue."
Members can also speak to their health
coach about a broad range of topics, including
preventive care options, costs of care, how to
incorporate a doctor's recommendations into their
lifestyle, prescription medication compliance,
or getting started on a fitness or nutrition plan.
The CIGNA Health Advisor program
is part of CIGNA's extensive suite of integrated
health advocacy programs, each focused on helping
members achieve their health potential. Programs
help members maintain their health, reduce modifiable
risk or manage acute, catastrophic and/or chronic
health care conditions. CIGNA's health advocacy
programs help address not only the physical aspects
of health, but also support a member's emotional,
social and financial needs as well.
About CareAllies
CareAllies offers benefit plan sponsors and their
employees a proactive, consistent and consumer-focused
approach to health and wellness, regardless of
their medical plan or provider network. CareAllies'
proprietary health management and wellness program
suite helps employees improve their health and
productivity through patient support, motivation
and coaching, medical information and assistance
with management of clinical services. CareAllies
programs are administered through Intracorp,
a CIGNA HealthCare company. For more information,
visit http://www.careallies.com.
About Health Dialog
Health Dialog is a leading provider of care management
services, including disease management, and is
one of the fastest growing privately held firms
in the U.S. The firm helps physician groups,
health plans, and self-insured employers improve
healthcare quality while reducing overall costs.
Health Dialog's services include analytic services
and telephonic and other care management support
for individuals. The firm helps individuals become
more actively engaged in their healthcare and
have more effective relationships with their
physicians. For more information about Health
Dialog, please visit http://www.healthdialog.com.
