Sarah Stephens Winnay, Former Director of Marketing at HealthMedia,
Appointed Director of Consulting Group
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthMedia, Inc., the market
leader in tailored online behavior change programs, today announced the
formation of HealthMedia Consulting Group in response to marketplace demand
for more effective behavior change strategies.
The company also announced the appointment of former HealthMedia Director
of Marketing, Sarah Stephens Winnay, to Director of HealthMedia Consulting
Group, where she is responsible for business development and execution.
Building on the company's award-winning behavior change expertise,
HealthMedia Consulting Group pairs behavior change scientists with clinical
and marketing teams to help pharmaceutical companies improve customer
relationships and drug compliance; and to help health plan providers, disease
management firms and employers increase participation in health and disease
management programs and improve outcomes.
Specifically, the practice will provide services in the areas of program
promotion strategies, predictive modeling for persistency risk assessments,
and proprietary needs assessment audits for drug compliance initiatives and
health and disease management programs.
"The formation of the consulting group is a natural evolution for us, and
we are fortunate to tap Sarah's knowledge of our offerings and our customers,"
said Ted Dacko, President and CEO of HealthMedia. "Under Sarah's leadership,
we expect the consultancy to be a major force behind HealthMedia's high-growth
success."
Winnay said, "Our customers increasingly look to us for strategic counsel
on how to improve the effectiveness of their behavior change initiatives. Our
new consulting group will provide a dedicated team whose depth of expertise
and impact will complement our existing behavior change solutions."
Previously, Winnay held positions at Eli Lilly and Co., The Lewin Group
and Decision Resources specializing in market research and marketing
strategies for the pharmaceutical and health care industries. She holds a
bachelor's degree in political science from Dickinson College, and an M.B.A.
from the University of Michigan Business School with a concentration in
corporate strategy and marketing.
Working Toward The I.D.E.A.L.
HealthMedia Consulting Group uses a proprietary model called I.D.E.A.L. in
its audit process to examine customers' compliance and persistency
initiatives. The model was created by Dr. Vic Strecher, HealthMedia founder
and leading behavior change scientist at the University of Michigan, who has
found that most successful initiatives have five characteristics -- they are
Integrated, Data-centric, Evidence-based, Adaptive and Longitudinal.
In a typical audit process, HealthMedia Consulting Group applies these
characteristics against a customer's intent as well as actual content and
design to look for ways to improve the initiatives and make the communications
more compelling -- visually and through individually tailored content.
Recent research shows that adherence to medication therapy averages only
50 to 65 percent for common chronic conditions, costing the American health
care system as much as $300 billion. Despite steadily rising prescription
drug prices, the research also finds that money spent on medication treatments
led to substantial savings when the costs of adherence were compared to the
costs of hospitalization and medical treatments.*
"For these reasons, drug compliance is an area of particular interest to
all of HealthMedia's customers both on the pharmaceutical and the health plan
and disease management sides," notes Winnay.
About HealthMedia(R)
Founded in 1998, HealthMedia is the market leader in tailored online
behavior change programs. With its powerful combination of proven behavior
science, sophisticated technology, and creative marketing, HealthMedia
delivers individually tailored self-management programs for healthy lifestyle
issues, diseases, and conditions. These programs, which are utilized by
pharmaceutical and medical device firms, health plans, employers, and
organizations focused on disease management, simulate the personal touch and
efficacy of a counselor but can reach far more people at dramatically lower
costs to maximize the impact. HealthMedia's individually tailored solutions
can be offered in both Internet and print form and are proven to produce
validated outcomes and positive ROI. The company has created programs for
conditions and issues such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, lower back
pain, teen health, smoking cessation, nutrition, weight management, stress
management, and health risk assessment. For more information, visit
http://www.healthmedia.com .
* Research conducted by Medco Health Solutions as reported by Kelley M.
Butler in Employee Benefit News, August 2005.
SOURCE HealthMedia, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.healthmedia.com
CONTACT:
Sally Hart Petersen, Vice President of
Marketing of HealthMedia, Inc., +1-734-623-5485
|
