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Medica Introduces In-House Health Coaching

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 12:00 CDT

Medica today announced that it has developed a comprehensive, in-house health coaching program to help members manage their health. The program -- launching this fall -- will replace Medica's existing disease management program, which currently is run by health management vendors with Medica staff oversight.

Medica health coaches will work with each participating member in a proactive "whole-person" approach, as opposed to a single-condition approach. A health coach strives to build rapport by listening to a member's concerns and goals. Equipped with an understanding of the member's motivation and readiness to change, the health coach partners with the member to form a plan for treatment and self care.

Medica's health coaching program will help promote cost-effective use of healthcare dollars by identifying the highest risk members. Candidates for health coaching are identified by using medical, behavioral and pharmacy claims data in conjunction with sophisticated predictive modeling tools. Health coaching also coordinates with Medica's care management, wellness and behavioral health programs for an integrated health management approach. To further support identification of at-risk members, Medica will also use other types of data such as provider referrals, self referrals and health risk assessments. Individuals considered to be at risk have chronic diseases and multiple health conditions, and consume a disproportionate amount of healthcare resources -- more than $20,000 annually.

"Medica's health coaching program is innovative. It takes a proactive, member-centric approach aligned with the member's motivation to make health behavior changes," said Dr. Charles Fazio, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Health Management Administration. "We're very excited to add this program to our suite of total health management services."

Medica's in-house health coaching program is designed to work in coordination with the clinic-based chronic care program announced late last year. In that program, participating clinic systems focus on a specific chronic condition that matches with their patient base and the system's ability to deliver chronic care management for those conditions. More information about the clinic-based program is available online.

About Medica

Medica is a health insurance company headquartered in Minneapolis and active in the Upper Midwest. With nearly 1.4 million members, the non-profit company provides health care coverage in the employer, individual, Medicaid, Medicare and Medicare Part D markets in Minnesota and a growing number of counties in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.

Medica has the highest accreditation status, Excellent, from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA®) for its Minnesota Medicaid HMO plans and commercial health plans in Minnesota and North Dakota. Medica's vision is to become the community's health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service, and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.

Source: Business Wire

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