SITUATION

Engaging individuals in changing behavior and improving health is seen as one of the biggest challenges that payers face today as healthcare costs continue to skyrocket. Organizations are actively seeking proactive ways to keep participants engaged and to encourage the completion of actions and programs that support ongoing health improvement and cost reduction.

EMI Health, formerly Educators Mutual Insurance Association of Utah, has been serving the insurance needs of Utah’s employers for 75 years by maximizing health benefits while keeping premiums at a minimum. The company was recently rebranded as EMI Health in order to reflect a broader scope of services and membership and an emphasis on health. Based on this new focus on their members’ health, EMI Health realized that they needed to change their mindset, and that of their clients, to walk the walk. Where they had initially wanted to “have” a Wellness Program, EMI Health now recognizes that they need to “be” a Wellness Program.

SOLUTION

With a clear picture of what they wanted to accomplish, EMI Health decided to build their own Wellness Program, using the online tools and resources of WorldDoc to help drive the engagement of their members. EMI Health developed a year-long Wellness Program with a four-pronged approach:

u Health Screening and Health Risk Assessment

§ Health screening, including a blood draw

§ Online Health Risk Assessment (HRA) within WorldDoc

§ Designed to identify personal health risks and lifestyle changes that can reduce those risks

vFour Health Challenges

§ Six-week challenges, encompassing five daily activities

§ Online tracking of the activities

§ Emails, Facebook postings, tweets, and blogs with related tips and reminders to track activities

§ Employer-provided incentives for successful completion of each challenge

§ Designed to engage members and help them establish simple healthy habits

wPreventive Exam

§ Preventive visit with a primary care physician

§ Designed to encourage physician input on health-related goals and to facilitate early detection of any abnormalities

xHealth Coaching

§ Access to a personal health coach throughout the Wellness Program via telephone or email

§ “Sign up for Coaching” button within the WorldDoc HRA

§ Manage and track members through the WorldDoc Coaching module

§ Designed to educate and motivate members based on their individual needs

EMI Health has personalized the Wellness Program for both the client and the member. They encourage their employer clients to actively participate in the program, by providing support, encouragement, and incentives to the employees. They tailor to the needs of the individual members by providing personalized information and coaching support for making healthy lifestyle changes. Members can stay in touch with the Wellness Program in their preferred manner, through the EMI Health Wellness Web, Facebook, Twitter, email, or telephone.

RESULTS

EMI Health has seen impressive results in the 18 months since they first developed and implemented their Wellness Program:

§ The number of individuals in the initial participating employer group defined as healthy, based on the HRA guidelines, has increased from 57 to 60 percent.

§ Participation of employees and spouses in the initial employer group increased from 40 to 70 percent by the fourth challenge.

§ Participation for all groups increases with each challenge, as the program gains momentum.

§ Approximately 10 percent of participants voluntarily opt into coaching.

§ Currently 125 participants are tracked and managed through the WorldDoc Coaching module, and that number continues to grow.

ABOUT EMI HEALTH

EMI Health offers comprehensive insurance benefit plans and services to government agencies, commercial businesses, and public and higher education throughout the Intermountain Region. Nearly 500 diverse employer groups, encompassing more than 110,000 members, currently take advantage of EMI Health’s exceptional coverage. EMI Health is pleased to offer a Wellness Program that gives employers the opportunity to contribute to their employees' health and well-being and decrease healthcare costs, while enjoying the added benefit of increased employee engagement and workplace morale. For more information about EMI Health, visit www.emihealth.com.

ABOUT WORLDDOC

WorldDoc’s web-based, integrated health and wellness systems engage and empower individuals to evaluate symptoms, understand their health issues, assess health risks and take steps to decrease those risks. WorldDoc integrates an individual’s health risk assessment (HRA), medical and pharmacy claims, laboratory test results and biometric data to provide a comprehensive care management solution that includes care gap identification, personalized goals and targeted communications relevant to their health status, thus increasing engagement, usability and adoption of the member portal and programs.

Our solutions expand participation in health management in order to help change behaviors, identify and close care gaps to achieve systematic improvement in population health status and outcomes.

For further details, please contact EMI Health:

Ben Slaugh, Vice President, Wellness

ben.slaugh@emihealth.com