| Written by DPS Health |
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Virtual Lifestyle Management™ Service Renewed and Expanded by GEHA
(Los Angeles, CA) – May 2, 2011 – For the third year in a row, DPS Health and Government Employees Health Association (GEHA) are pleased to announce the contract renewal and program expansion of DPS Health’s Virtual Lifestyle Management™ (VLM). VLM provides GEHA’s existing telephonic care management program with a clinically-linked, internet-based, weight management service that helps overweight adults become more active, eat better, lose weight, and live healthier lives. GEHA intends to continue its current level of service through its care management program who will receive VLM coaching directly from DPS Health’s Coaching Services. These members will receive VLM coaching directly from DPS Health’s Coaching Services.
“With the growing problem of obesity and diabetes, we are always looking for new ways to engage our membership to improve their nutrition and manage their weight,” said Kathy Ross, GEHA Manager of Care Management. “The VLM product offers another venue for the important and difficult behavior change discussion. The VLM lesson content, involvement of the participant, and timely coaching have been the right combination for many of our members.”
Virtual Lifestyle Management (VLM) is an online program based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a weight management approach developed by the University of Pittsburgh faculty under a federal research grant from the National Institutes of Health. Through web-based technology, VLM delivers the DPP research-proven lifestyle intervention, aiming to enhance the efficiency and success of healthcare provider weight management programs. To create VLM, the University of Pittsburgh, along with DPS Health, worked to improve patient engagement through web-based learning, tracking, and motivation.
To enable nurses to more effectively support patient self-management, in 2009, VLM was made available to 100 GEHA members participating in the telephonic care management program. GEHA added VLM to this program to complement existing health plan services and improve patient engagement. To date, VLM has proven to be a valuable tool to help members adopt and sustain a healthy lifestyle while enabling nurses to more efficiently interact with patients. This year, the number of VLM users participating in the telephonic care management program grows to 200 and plans to expand the service to an additional 350 members.
“I am truly grateful to GEHA for making this program available to me,” said GEHA member and VLM user Diane. “It's a new experience for me to feel such gratitude to a health insurance provider. Offering this program to me makes me think of GEHA as a partner by encouraging, and actually helping me, to have a healthier life.”
In January 2011, GEHA also extended VLM to a broader group, so that members who needed coaching but were not participating in the care management program could benefit from VLM. GEHA has enrolled an additional 350 members who have a BMI above 30 and at least one weight-related co-morbidity. These GEHA members will be coached by DPS Health’s coaches.
In order to manage this expanded program, DPS Health recently hired seven coaches with impressive and diverse backgrounds in nursing, nutrition, physical activity promotion, psychology, and life coaching with extensive experience providing in-person weight management support. DPS Health coaches provide email and chat support to VLM participants.
“We are proud of the impact that VLM has had on GEHA patients who have utilized the program over the past two years,” said Neal Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H., founder and CEO of DPS Health. “We are thrilled to maintain this partnership and confident that VLM will continue to help healthcare providers better support their patients and give patients the opportunity to better manage their weight and improve their long-term health.”
Kaufman is a proven leader who has built a record of trust through local, state and national efforts to improve public health. He founded DPS Health based on a deep concern about the epidemic of weight related illness, rising health costs and serious chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. His goal, then and now, is to help physicians address these issues and more effectively improve the health outcomes of their patients.
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About GEHA As the second-largest national health plan for civilian federal employees and retirees, GEHA provides health and dental plans to almost one million individuals worldwide. GEHA was one of the first insurance carriers eligible to provide coverage to federal employees under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act (FEHB) of 1959. The FEHB Program contracts with several hundred health insurance plans to provide coverage for over eight million federal enrollees and dependents, including retirees. The company currently offers traditional fee-for-service health plan options with a network of participating providers. www.geha.com P.O. Box 4665 Independence, MO 64051 (800) 821-6136
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