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New CIGNA HealthCare Worksite Health and Wellness Program Combines Screening, Education and Coaching to Help Promote Better Health

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 February 2007, 12:00 CST

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Feb. 21, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consumers now have a convenient way to get important health screenings and personalized coaching to help them meet their health goals through a new worksite health and wellness program introduced by CIGNA HealthCare.

The new program helps employers to offer employees cost-effective and time-saving access to confidential screenings for cholesterol, glucose levels, blood pressure, height/weight/waist circumference and body mass index (BMI). Immediately following the screenings, employees can meet one-on-one with a health coach. The screenings and coaching meetings are provided at the worksite and employers can schedule them for day or night, weekdays or weekends. CIGNA HealthCare is offering the program in collaboration with Health Solutions, a national health risk identification and health improvement firm, based in Owings Mills, Maryland. The program became available on January 1, 2007.

The health coaching sessions are not only based on information gathered from the biometric screenings, but also on a short survey taken by participants. Health coaches then explain what the individual scores and overall results mean, and discuss the steps consumers can take to make healthy changes, including connecting employees to CIGNA HealthCare's health advocacy programs and other programs offered by the employer or available in the community.

"Most consumers already know that health risks such as having high blood pressure can lead to health problems in the future," said Dr. David Ferriss, CIGNA HealthCare's national medical director for clinical program development. "But what many people don't know is their own level of risk or what very specific steps they can take to reduce their risk. We've designed this program to make it convenient for employees to get screenings, to get immediate feedback and coaching on what the results may mean for the individual and to get specific and personalized information to help them take action."

Employers who implement the onsite health and wellness program receive an aggregate population report that indicates overall participation rates and aggregate information on overall scores. This information can be used to create wellness and disease management programs that address the most common health needs of a company.

One such company, Performance Food Group (PFG), piloted the onsite program last fall. "This program literally changed the lives of some of our associates," said Charlotte Perkins, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. "It provided a good baseline of their current health, and more importantly, it helped them understand how they could improve their health. And for several associates, the program uncovered potentially life-threatening conditions that they didn't even know they had.

"As an employer, the program helped us learn more about the specific health conditions most affecting our associates and allowed us to better target our resources. We were also able to use this information to develop our new Healthy Awards program that provides financial incentives to associates to encourage their participation in wellness, maternity management, disease management and fitness programs. Overall, the health assessment program has helped our associates take steps toward becoming more healthy and productive. And, a productive workforce is critical to our business' success."

The new onsite health and wellness screening program, which is also available to employer customers of CIGNA Behavioral Health and CareAllies, adds to the extensive and growing array of CIGNA HealthCare programs that promote the health and wellness of members including:

* CIGNA Health Advisor(SM) -- gives members ongoing access to a personal health coach, available by phone or email. * CIGNA Well Aware for Better Health(R) -- the nation's largest population-based disease management program, serving approximately one million members in programs that address 18 specific chronic disease conditions, for example, asthma, diabetes, depression, obesity, heart disease and low back pain. * CIGNA Lifestyle Management Programs -- behavior modification programs featuring ongoing coaching on weight management, tobacco cessation and stress management. * CIGNA HealthCare Healthy Rewards(R) -- one of the most robust amenity programs, offering discounts of up to 60 percent on a variety of health and wellness products and services designed to promote good health. Discounts include, but are not limited to weight management programs, fitness center memberships, anti-cavity products, chiropractic care, eyewear, contact lenses, guided imagery and mind-body techniques, health and wellness products, hearing care, laser vision correction, magazine subscriptions, massage therapy, natural supplements and tobacco cessation. The program is available to CIGNA's medical, dental and behavioral members. * myCIGNA.com -- CIGNA's personalized web portal that gives members access to an extensive suite of online education, decision support and health maintenance tools. Members can use these tools to assess their health, determine their risk for health problems, and receive customized information to help them take action to improve their overall health. About CIGNA HealthCare

CIGNA HealthCare, based in Bloomfield, CT, provides medical benefits plans, dental coverage, behavioral health coverage, pharmacy benefits and products and services that integrate and analyze information to support consumerism and health advocacy. "CIGNA HealthCare" refers to certain operations of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, which is an operating subsidiary of CIGNA Corporation . Products and services are provided by such operating subsidiaries, and not by CIGNA Corporation. For more information, visit http://www.cigna.com/.

CIGNA HealthCare

CONTACT: Amy Turkington, CIGNA HealthCare, +1-860-226-3489,amy.turkington@cigna.com

Web site: http://www.cigna.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/165050.html

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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