Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Health Coach Integration: Enabling a
Transition to Independence

Manasquan, N.J., USA, October 17, 2006 – The role of the coach is to educate, counsel and condition players, instilling them with the knowledge and confidence that they will need in order to perform well on the field. The training is essential, but it is purposeless without the big game, where the players will, finally, have to fend for themselves. Comparably, moving patients across the continuum from health coaching to other self-management initiatives should be a seamless effort, and a determined one from the outset, if a program's effectiveness is to be maximized.

To facilitate this integration, the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN) is sponsoring “Integrating Health Coaching into a Comprehensive Health Management Effort,” an interactive audio conference on November 15, 2006. Participants in the 90-minute audio conference will be given an inside look at how health coaching programs can best be integrated into an overall health management strategy. For more information, please visit the HIN site.

“Health coaches are finding tremendous success, improving patients' quality of life while simultaneously reducing costs,” said Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer. “But the eventual goal of independence should always be in sight. The system must be capable of habituating the patient to self-reliance.”

During this 90-minute audio conference, Dr. Susan Butterworth, director of health services at Oregon Health & Science University, and Rose Ganter, senior director of health promotion with UPMC Health Plan, will share strategies on how to effectively integrate coaching into a health management program. Participants will get details on how to:

• Move patients in and out of health coaching as part of an overall health management strategy;
• Evaluate a patient's need for health coaching versus other forms of health management;
• Recruit and engage members in health coaching and health management programs;
• Create a coordinated approach when part of a health management program is outsourced; and
• Integrate data from all sources – claims, health risk assessments and prescription drugs – to make appropriate referrals for health management programs.

To register and obtain additional details about the audio conference, please visit the HIN site.

The 90-minute live audio conference, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on November 15, 2006, includes a 30-minute question-and-answer period for participants. A recorded version on CD-ROM with a printed transcript will be available in early December, and an “On-Demand” audio conference re-broadcast can be accessed beginning November 17, 2006.

This audio conference has been designed to address the interests of CEOs, medical directors, disease management directors, managers and coordinators, health plan executives, care management nurses, business development and strategic planning directors, state Medicaid directors and quality improvement executives.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network – HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.

###

Contact: Anthony Spinelli
Voice: (888) 446-3530
Fax: (732) 292-3073
E-mail: aspinelli@hin.com
Web site: www.hin.com