"The expert systems technology we've developed enables our entire product line to sit in a class unlike any other. Other than HealthMedia, no wellness products on the market can emulate a personal health counseling program that has the ability to reach a large number of people at the lowest possible cost," stated Ted Dacko, HealthMedia's CEO and president. "Our depth of tailoring, scope, and behavioral change capabilities of our products combined with our team’s expertise in health, science, and technology delivers a world-class solution to the market."

HealthMedia's initial product suite consists of five programs specifically designed to improve wellness through the use of high fidelity tailoring, based on the research of Dr. Victor Strecher, HealthMedia’s chief science officer. Each product meets at the intersection of technology, sophisticated data analysis and quantitative biostatistics. Four other focused health improvement programs, HealthMedia® Nourish(TM), HealthMedia® Breathe(TM), HealthMedia® Balance(TM) and HealthMedia® Relax(TM), complement Succeed(TM), the suite's Health Behavior Assessment product. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota recently implemented Succeed to help gain insight into the wellness of a specific managed care population, those with ischemic heart disease and/or diabetes. Future plans include the exploration of additional HealthMedia programs.

The suite of lifestyle management programs are all powered by HealthMedia's proprietary Expert Tailored Counseling (ETC) technology engine. The platform enables the delivery of comprehensive, multi-stage, wellness programs uniquely tailored for each individual participant that can be accessed either online or via print. It also results in highly effective products that are deeply tailored to each participant’s needs, convenient and easy-to-use, and available at a low cost for the sponsoring organization. Additionally, the sponsoring organization can chose to receive an aggregate view of staff wellness through a Population Insight Report (PIR) that is a part of every HealthMedia lifestyle management program.

"HealthMedia has truly opened up new options for employers and other groups looking for cost-effective programs to help them improve their populations' health behaviors," states Stephanie Pronk, Senior Consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading benefits consulting firm in Minneapolis, MN. "These programs nicely supplement existing wellness initiatives to help ease the burden of budgetary constraints."

About HealthMedia's Lifestyle Management Product Suite

HealthMedia offers a flexible, integrated suite of lifestyle management programs that result in positive health behavior change. The programs can be used independently, in conjunction with one another, or with existing health care and wellness initiatives. When taken in concert with one another, the product suite’s unique design allows true inter-program synergy; each program addresses other health behaviors that contribute to the specific program's behavior improvement success. This ultimately maximizes return on investment for both participant as well as the program sponsor.

The health behavior assessment in the suite, Succeed, acts as a virtual triage, evaluating necessary behavioral steps toward positive change and making recommendations on the progressive steps toward that goal. This identification of necessary change and next steps provides the foundation for HealthMedia's Focused Health Improvement Programs. The Focused Health Improvement Programs (FHIPs) lead the participant through the stages of behavioral change and are specifically tailored to each individual’s needs. Further, the FHIPs provide needed support with deeply tailored action plans throughout potential behavioral relapse cycles, when the participant needs the most follow-up help.

HealthMedia® Succeed(TM), a health behavior assessment, evaluates health-related behaviors such as nutrition, weight, physical activity, stress and injury prevention as well as participant readiness, willingness and barriers to change. It communicates the importance of necessary behavior modifications and provides action plans to guide these changes. Succeed also functions as a triage tool and further identifies appropriate focused health intervention programs for the organization to consider sponsoring.

HealthMedia® Nourish(TM), a focused health improvement program, simplifies the complex task of healthy eating decisions, and helps modify unhealthy eating behaviors. It analyzes detailed information regarding an individual's eating patterns, health history, and psychosocial attitudes concerning nutrition and systematically offers an integrated approach to nutrition and the relationship between good health, good nutrition, and healthy attitudes about food. Nourish also provides participants smart and creative strategies to improve eating habits over time, both in terms of food selection and methods for handling challenging situations. It then provides ongoing support to help maintain positive choices and manage relapses.

HealthMedia® Breathe(TM), a smoking cessation focused health improvement program, targets smokers interested in quitting, and is built on a foundation of research, science, counseling techniques and technology. Breathe identifies the participant’s motivation for quitting, the barriers to quitting and the concerns they have when they try to quit. It educates the participant about related behaviors (alcohol intake, stress, physical activity and weight management) that impact smoking cessation success. Breathe also teaches the participant about the seven key characteristics that predict success: ability to cope with stress, resolve and motivation, use of a tailored program, prior quitting experiences, participant confidence, willingness/ability to exercise and, finally, support from family and friends. The Breathe program, as with all FHIPs, addresses the relapse cycle with three follow-up tailored action plans delivered precisely when the participant most needs them.

HealthMedia® Balance(TM), is a weight management focused health improvement program that provides tailored action plans based on a comprehensive assessment of nutritional behavior, physical activity patterns, and relevant psychosocial constructs. The program design facilitates stage progression toward the achievement and maintenance of recommended Body Mass Index (BMI) levels through the incorporation of nutritional strategies, physical activity recommendations, and weight management techniques.

HealthMedia® Relax(TM), (coming soon) a focused health improvement program that assesses the respondent's sources of stress and his or her preferences for stress reduction techniques, such as relaxation, time management, and physical activity. The respondent will receive a 4-stage, deeply tailored action plan on techniques and information, approaches to changing behavior and attitudes regarding stress and it's management, and relapse prevention methods.