CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and Healthways Expand Partnership, Add Comprehensive Population Health Management Services

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) and Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY), have expanded their long-term relationship with a five-year contract that adds Healthways’ disease management and well-being initiatives to the CareFirst Total Care and Cost Improvement (TCCI) initiative. Under the agreement, CareFirst eligible members in Maryland, Washington, DC and portions of Northern Virginia will have access to Healthways’ population health management solutions. In addition, Healthways will continue to support CareFirst’s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program.

Through the TCCI program, CareFirst offers members an array of targeted health programs and interventions across the full continuum of member health needs. With the new agreement, well-being improvement will become an integral part of the program, giving members access to a comprehensive set of interventions designed to keep healthy people healthy, reduce healthcare risks and optimize care for those with chronic conditions.

“Healthways supports CareFirst’s unique approach of improving the quality of its members’ healthcare experience while effectively managing costs and delivering greater value to those paying for healthcare services,” said Chet Burrell, president and chief executive officer of CareFirst. “Healthways has played an important role in the successful implementation of our TCCI program over the past several years. By adding disease and well-being improvement to our existing offerings, we expect to continue to see significant improvement in both quality and cost.”

Since 2006, Healthways has provided services to help CareFirst members manage chronic conditions and since 2011 has helped primary care physicians coordinate care through CareFirst’s PCMH program, which has garnered national attention for its success in slowing healthcare cost growth and improving quality. When compared with members under the care of non-PCMH physicians, in 2013, CareFirst members seeing PCMH providers had 6.4 percent fewer hospital admissions, 11.1 percent fewer days in the hospital and 8.1 percent fewer hospital readmissions for all causes.

Healthways will expand the support it offers by delivering to members critical information on their health and well-being and by offering them resources and innovative technologies to improve their well-being, including the following:

• Gallup-Healthways Well-Being 5™, a scientific survey and an engaging reporting experience used to help individuals measure their well-being and track their progress with well-being improvement activities. Insights into the well-being of a population can help an organization pinpoint the intervention activities that will have the greatest impact.
• Well-Being Connect®, an online and mobile behavior change application that encompasses a wide range of tips, tools and techniques to help address lifestyle risks such as smoking, depression, excess weight and stress.
• Daily Challenge®, an evidence-based social well-being intervention integrating behavior change and social networking science with gaming principles to drive engagement and meaningful individual behavior change.
• Health Risk Coaching, personalized services to help individuals understand and mitigate their lifestyle risks.
• QuitNet®, an intensive, integrated, multi-modal tobacco cessation solution.
• Innergy®, a two-year program for sustained weight loss developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine. Innergy focuses on three critical phases of weight loss – active weight loss, maintenance and independence – to ensure long-lasting behavior change. The program recognizes that one size does not fit all and provides a personalized, long-term plan for weight loss.
• Healthways Financial Well-Being™, Powered by Dave Ramsey, empowers individuals to take control of their personal finances by blending the proven approach of New York Times best-selling author and national radio show host Dave Ramsey with Healthways’ intuitive technology, science-based methodology and well-being expertise.
• Walkadoo®, a wireless “pedometer powered” daily physical activity program. Rather than simply encouraging individuals to count their steps, the program suggests realistic step goals that adjust and evolve as the software learns more about an individual’s activity patterns. Walkadoo takes the traditional notion of graphing step data and transforms it into an engaging social experience that supports people to be more physically active.

“This new agreement underscores our shared vision to improve population health by addressing the root causes of poor health, not just its related symptoms or effects. Innovators such as CareFirst understand the need to look beyond just the physical element for these causes to factors such as feeling safe in your community, having supportive social relationships and feeling financially secure,” said Ben R. Leedle, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Healthways. “CareFirst continues to transform the delivery of healthcare to its members through its groundbreaking TCCI program, creating a truly integrated model that enables care coordination between all key stakeholders. Our comprehensive well-being solutions, which offer an unprecedented level of insight into member health and well-being, will further support CareFirst members and their physicians and yield an even greater impact on both quality and costs.”

About CareFirst

In its 77th year of service, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit health care company which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to nearly 3.4 million individuals and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2013, CareFirst contributed nearly $57 million to community programs designed to increase the accessibility, affordability, safety and quality of health care throughout its market areas. To learn more about CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, visit our website at www.carefirst.com or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

About Healthways

Healthways is the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier world one person at a time, the Company uses the science of behavior change to produce and measure positive change in well-being for our customers, which include employers, integrated health systems, hospitals, physicians, health plans, communities and government entities. We provide highly specific and personalized support for each individual and their team of experts to optimize each participant’s health and productivity and to reduce health-related costs. Results are achieved by addressing longitudinal health risks and care needs of everyone in a given population. The Company has scaled its proprietary technology infrastructure and delivery capabilities developed over 30 years and now serves approximately 68 million people on four continents. Learn more at www.healthways.com.