Sharecare, the digital health company helping people manage all
their health in one place, today announced that the Georgia
Department of Community Health (DCH) is launching a new incentive
program to reward State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) members who
engage in healthy behaviors through its award-winning comprehensive
health and wellness engagement platform. Additionally, as one of
Sharecare’s premier partners, Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will
contribute funds to increase annual incentives for eligible SHBP
members in 2019.
“Supporting employees in their pursuit of health and wellness is
the right thing to do and it’s good for business,” said
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. “As Georgians work
toward physical goals, we understand that a healthy workforce
provides a strong foundation for a healthy economy. Over the last
year, Sharecare has helped to rally stakeholders across Georgia’s
public and private sectors in a shared commitment to improve the
health of our citizens and our workforce. By bringing together
health plan providers, hospitals, businesses of all sizes, academic
institutions, community leaders and others, Sharecare is making
Georgia healthier. I appreciate the efforts of Sharecare’s
leadership in working with the Department of Community Health to
make Georgia the healthiest place to call home.”
“As one of the State Health Benefit Plan’s primary partners,
Sharecare is empowering our teachers, state employees and their
families to live healthier, happier, more productive lives,” said
Frank W. Berry, Commissioner for the Georgia Department of
Community Health. “As Commissioner, I am committed to
working with innovative leaders like Sharecare to bridge the gaps
in care that exist for so many Georgians, whether they live in our
city centers or our most rural communities.”
On January 1, 2018, SHBP began enrolling its members into
Sharecare in an effort to encourage them to engage in their health
and empower them to make and sustain positive behavior change.
Effective January 1, 2019, the new Sharecare incentive rewards SHBP
members who engage in healthy behaviors1 with a $150 Walmart gift
card, to which Walmart will contribute an additional $75 for
members to use on prescription medications and vision products.
This unique collaboration increases the cash value reward incentive
that can be earned by each SHBP member using Sharecare to $225 per
year, and builds on the legacy established by Gov. Deal’s Healthier
Georgia initiative and Walmart’s commitment to making health and
wellness products more affordable and accessible.
Access and cost pose some of the most significant barriers to
well-being in Georgia and the U.S., particularly in terms of vision
care, medication adherence and nutrition. In fact, vision care is
one of the most common medical needs among Americans with 70
percent of the U.S. workforce requiring vision correction and one
in four children having vision problems. Yet, according to Jobson
Research, nearly half of all U.S. parents with children under age
12 have never taken their child to an eye care professional, and
more than 12 million adults need vision correction but do not seek
assistance. Similarly, 45 million adults over the age of 18 did not
fill a prescription in 2016 due to cost, according to an analysis
by Prescription Justice.
“As part of helping people manage all their health in one place,
we are very intentional in designing programs to help people –
especially for the more than 60% of Georgians managing a chronic
condition – gain easier, safer, more affordable access to
prescription medications, whether it’s through this new initiative
with Walmart for our state employees, teachers and their families
in Georgia or our recently launched Sharecare Rx digital pharmacy
savings card for consumers,” said Jeff Arnold, founder,
chairman and CEO of Sharecare. “We are grateful to Gov.
Deal for his leadership in bringing this new incentive program to
so many in Georgia’s workforce, and likewise are committed to
working alongside Commissioner Berry to continue improving access
for all Georgians and engaging them in their health for years to
come.”
As Sharecare’s lead research partner in Georgia, Emory
Healthcare, together with the Rollins School of Public Health, will
analyze anonymized data from the platform and retail transactions
in order to optimize and improve incentive and rewards programs for
Sharecare and its client partners. Over time and through the Emory
Healthcare Innovation Hub powered by Sharecare, Emory also will
embark on related research projects with Sharecare to explore how
data can be used to help people make healthier choices at varying
points in their health journey – from having a baby or training for
a marathon to preparing for surgery or managing their diabetes.
“When we formed the Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub powered by
Sharecare earlier this year, we made a commitment to seek solutions
that put the patient at the center of care delivery, and minimize
cost burdens for both patients and the healthcare system while
improving clinical outcomes – and this new incentive program sits
right at the intersection of those guiding principles,” said
Scott D. Boden, M.D., vice president of business innovation
for Emory Healthcare and chief medical/quality officer for Emory
University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital. “We look
forward to leveraging Emory’s expertise to study the validity of
incentive-based rewards and their compounding impact on sustaining
healthy behaviors, all while maximizing our collaboration with
Sharecare to help make Georgia healthier.”
This announcement builds on the partnerships Sharecare has
forged across the state since it announced the creation of the
Sharecare Movement in August 2017, which aims to make Atlanta and
Georgia among the nation’s healthiest places to live. SHBP members
can register for and download Sharecare by visiting
www.BeWellSHBP.com.
About Georgia Department of Community HealthThe
Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) is one of Georgia’s
four health agencies serving the state’s growing population of over
10 million people. DCH serves as the lead agency for Medicaid and
also oversees the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) and Healthcare
Facility Regulation, impacting one in four Georgians. Through
effective planning, purchasing and oversight, DCH provides access
to affordable, quality health care to millions of Georgians,
including some of the state’s most vulnerable and underserved
populations. Six enterprise offices support the work of the
agency’s three program divisions. DCH employees are based in
Atlanta, Cordele and across the state. Frank W. Berry serves as
Commissioner of the Department of Community Health.
About SharecareSharecare is the digital health
company that helps people manage all their health in one place. The
Sharecare platform provides each person – no matter where they are
in their health journey – with a comprehensive and personalized
health profile where they can dynamically and easily connect to the
information, evidence-based programs and health professionals they
need to live their healthiest, happiest and most productive life.
In addition to providing individual consumers with direct access to
award-winning and innovative frictionless technologies,
scientifically validated clinical protocols and best-in-class
coaching tools, Sharecare also helps providers, employers and
health plans effectively scale outcomes-based health and wellness
solutions across their entire populations. To learn more,
visit www.sharecare.com.
About Emory HealthcareEmory Healthcare, with
more than 21,000 employees and 11 hospitals, is the most
comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. Emory Healthcare
has $3.3 billion in annual net revenue and provides $89.1 million
in charity care. System-wide, it has 2,673 licensed patient beds,
2,800 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties and serves
metro Atlanta with 250 locations. Emory Healthcare is the only
health system in Georgia with three Magnet-designated hospitals,
Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital, Emory University Hospital and Emory
University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital, for nursing
excellence. Emory Healthcare's core purpose: "To serve humanity by
improving health through integration of education, discovery and
health care." For more information, visit
www.emoryhealthcare.org.
____________________________________
1 To be eligible for the Sharecare incentive, SHBP
members must complete the RealAge test and some combination of the
following: biometric screenings, Green Day Challenges, Monthly Step
Challenges, and phone calls with health coaches.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac9ead84-fcd9-4902-ab3e-915eba676187.
Media Contact:Sharecare PR
Teampr@sharecare.com 404.665.4305
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