Press Releases: Mid-Atlantic States
April 7, 2009
Eliza Corporation and Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group Receive URAC Award for Helping Individuals Make Better Health Care Decisions
Award Recognizes Multimodal "Thrive Healthy Living" Outreach as an Innovative, Consumer-Focused Chronic Disease Prevention and Management Program
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Eliza Corporation and Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group received the Gold award in the Consumer Health Improvement category at the URAC 2009 Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards Gala.
URAC, the nation's first accrediting body for Pharmacy Quality Management, announced the winners at the 2009 Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards Gala on April 1 – 2 in Orlando, Fla. The awards recognize innovative leadership and successful programs in consumer-focused health care management.
The award-winning “Thrive Healthy Living” program was a collaboration between Eliza Corporation and Kaiser Permanente with the goal of increasing participation in lifestyle management programs, including the HealthMedia® Breathe™ smoking cessation program, HealthMedia® Balance™ weight management program, and HealthMedia® Relax™ stress management program. As a result of the outreach, member participation in weight management and stress management programs more than doubled, and participation in smoking cessation programs increased fourfold.
"This year's winners are recognized for their leadership in driving innovation for the health care industry," said Alan P. Spielman, president and CEO of URAC. "These companies have made a difference in the lives of consumers by implementing leading-edge programs with results that matter."
“At Kaiser Permanente, we're committed to making lives better,” says Amy Compton-Phillips, MD, physician director, population care management, at Kaiser Permanente. “Being recognized by URAC for our efforts to reach this goal helps spread the word that health behavior change is in fact possible.”
“We are honored to be recognized by URAC for this multi-modal lifestyle management program,” says Alexandra Drane, president and co-founder of Eliza Corporation. “Everyone knows that it’s in our best interest to stop smoking, eat healthier, and better manage our stress levels — and we also know that’s easier said than done. Through this outreach, we’re engaging people in conversation and connecting them with resources that make it easier to achieve their health and wellness goals.”
Seventy submissions were evaluated by a prestigious 27-member panel of independent judges including experts in program evaluation, care coordination, health information technology, employer and purchaser decision-making and patient safety. Honors were awarded in six categories: Health Plans and Health Networks, Health Management, Health Information/Decision Support, Pharmacy Quality Management, Consumer Decision-Making, and Consumer Health Improvement.
About URAC
URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and certification programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC strives to ensure that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org
About Eliza Corporation
Every day, Eliza's tailored interactions—including automated phone calls—connect millions of people with timely, personally relevant information that drives healthier behavior. Each Eliza program is powered by our patented speech recognition technology, rich web and multi-media delivery platform, proven communications methodologies, and sophisticated data analytics. Our integrated communication strategies consistently yield the best outcomes in the industry in terms of improved engagement, health and wellness measures, and financial savings.
Eliza's clients include the nation's leading health plans, disease management firms, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers and employers. The results of our programs have been recognized by organizations including the Centers for Prevention and Disease Control, the BlueCross BlueShield Association, The Consumer Directed Health Care Congress and Harvard Medical School. For more information, please visit www.elizacorp.com or call 978-921-2700.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente provides and coordinates complete health care services for almost 500,000 members in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. With local headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, Kaiser Permanente currently has 30 medical office buildings. It is a is a total health organization composed of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, P.C., an independent medical group that features approximately 900 physicians who provide or arrange care for patients throughout the area. Visit kp.org for more information.
