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Health Integrated and Humana Health Plan Partner to Improve Health Care for Medicare Advantage Members

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 April 2008, 09:00 CDT

NEW ORLEANS, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Humana Health Plan announced today that it has partnered with Health Integrated, Inc., a pioneer in health management, to assist Humana members in Louisiana and Tennessee with managing chronic medical conditions. Health Integrated's Synergy Personal Health Management(R) program is being provided as an additional health care benefit to Humana Medicare Advantage members.

Through the Synergy program, Humana members are empowered to better manage their health and improve their quality of life through coaching, education, support and tools in collaboration with their physician's plan of care.

This unique program emphasizes principles of behavior change; addresses the individual's complete health profile across medical conditions; and helps members most effectively use the health care system. Synergy is being offered at no additional charge to eligible Humana Medicare Advantage members in Louisiana and Tennessee.

"Humana is dedicated to providing innovative health solutions for our members," said Humana Senior Products South Region President George Renaudin. "This effort empowers our members who suffer from chronic conditions to take a more active part in managing their health in collaboration with their doctors."

The Synergy program includes a specially trained clinician (Care Coach), who develops a personalized coaching plan built around an individual's specific needs. The Care Coach assists the individual in setting health- related goals (such as greater motivation for self-care, better knowledge of their condition, better communication skills, better coping skills) and provides tools to help the individual achieve those goals.

The coach helps the individual identify any barriers that may be preventing them from feeling their best and encourages them to clearly communicate with their physicians and follow their treatment plans. Humana will offer this program to plan members who meet specific requirements.

"We have already seen the Synergy program be effective in helping members better communicate with their physicians, set goals and begin taking the necessary steps to better health, as well as helping members to be more adherent to their medication and treatment plans," said Dr. Larry Cortez, Humana Senior Products South Region Chief Medical Officer. "Humana members are also receiving important targeted health education materials and are making lifestyle changes for the better."

"The Synergy program will help Humana members become more knowledgeable about their own health, more motivated to follow prescribed treatments and more able to establish and achieve goals to better health," said Dr. Sam Toney, Vice Chairman and Chief Medical Officer at Health Integrated. "Through education and support we can better ensure that patients follow their treatment more closely, improve their overall health and are more productive in the workplace and their daily lives."

About Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Inc.

Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana is one of the largest health benefits plans in the New Orleans market and the third largest in the state of Louisiana with approximately 150,000 commercial medical members, and nearly 75,000 Medicare Advantage members in Louisiana and Tennessee.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 11.5 million medical members. Humana is a full-service benefits solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.

Over its 47-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's Web site at http://www.humana.com/.

About Health Integrated

Health Integrated, Inc. pioneers health and condition management programs, resulting in better mental and physical health for individuals across the care continuum. Driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture, Health Integrated combines behavioral health and modification expertise with advanced analytic and mass personalization technology to deliver tailored outcomes-driven behavioral, medical and disease management solutions for health plans, employers and government organizations. As a result, health care economics, quality of life, productivity and clinical outcomes are all improved. Founded in 1996, Tampa, FL-based Health Integrated is URAC Accredited for Disease Management, Case Management and Health Utilization Management programs. The company has also received National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient and Practitioner Oriented Accreditation for its award-winning Depression Care Coaching Program. For more information, visit http://www.healthintegrated.com/.

CONTACTS: Mitch Lubitz, Humana Corporate Communications 813-287-6180 or mlubitz@humana.com Mike Miniati, Health Integrated 800-323-0286 or mminiati@healthintegrated.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com/.

Health Integrated, Inc.

CONTACT: Mitch Lubitz of Humana Corporate Communications, +1-813-287-6180, mlubitz@humana.com; or Mike Miniati of Health Integrated, +1-800-323-0286, mminiati@healthintegrated.com

Web site: http://www.healthintegrated.com/http://www.humana.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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