Mayo Clinic Health Solutions Launches New Online Health Management Tool for Businesses

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Today, more than ever, health is impacting every organization's bottom line. Poor health costs companies millions of dollars a year in lost productivity and medical bills. To help organizations lower these costs, Mayo Clinic Health Solutions has launched a new personal health management portal for businesses and other organizations — Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth.

"Empowering people to live healthier results in better control over health costs for everybody," says Philip Hagen, M.D, medical director, Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth. "Our work with hundreds of companies teaches us that for consumer empowerment strategies to be effective and embraced widely, they need to include education, motivation, tools and support."

Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth combines smart Web technology with proven behavior change approaches to engage employees with the tools and resources they need to live healthier. These elements are offered in an interactive online format designed to: focus on health rather than disease; give reliable answers to health questions; show people how to determine and understand their health risks; and provide tools for sustainable lifestyle changes to lower health risks.

Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment (HRA) The cornerstone of the EmbodyHealth application is the Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment (HRA). This tool focuses on the 11 key risk factors found to have the most impact on health. The HRA also serves as a cue to action for identifying health risks and connects people with relevant programs and information. A comprehensive HRA report package provided also allows organizations to track and analyze health trends throughout their population. This information helps identify risk trends and develop needs-based health programming, measuring results over time to see the real impact of health programs organization wide.

Engaging People in Health Management Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth supports a new paradigm in online health applications — shifting from the old model of a passive, information-based Web site to a highly personalized health improvement application. This new approach engages users through:

Smart Web technology: Using a variety of tools, including interactive Flash tools, quizzes and slide shows, Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth proactively engages people to take charge of their health. The Behavior Change Sidebar features a goal-setting tool, health appointment calendar and an incentive system to encourage ongoing usage. All tools are proven to help people make long-term health changes.

Personalized content: Once users take the HRA, Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth delivers content tailored to their unique health risks and strengths, as well as their medical history, ensuring that users easily find the information pertinent to them.

Integrated incentives: Companies can customize the incentive program to reward participants for a single action, such as completing the HRA, or for several predetermined milestones.

Health reference library: The library contains reliable health information from A to Z, including details on more than 500 diseases and conditions and a drug and herb database. Supporting the Needs of Organizations Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth also provides organizations with an easy-to-use, broadly accessible health promotion platform that can be customized and branded. This feature helps integrate an organization's full range of health initiatives to increase awareness of and participation in these programs.

Mayo Clinic Health Solutions offers organizations a suite of population health management programs that include: the Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth portal of online personal health management tools, the Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment, Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth newsletter, Mayo Clinic EmbodyHealth Guide to Self-Care book, Ask Mayo Clinic nurse line and Mayo Clinic Tobacco Quitline, and telephonic lifestyle coaching. Mayo Clinic Health Solutions also works with employers to develop and administer custom health care benefit programs that include Consumer Directed Health Plans and third-party administrative and pharmacy benefit management products. For more information call 800-430-9699 (toll free) or visit Mayo Clinic Health Solutions (www.mayoclinic.com, opens in new window).

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