Medforma Unveils Next-Gen Health Portrait Platform

To help employers reduce expenses while improving the health of their workforces, St. Paul-based Medforma Inc., said it has unveiled the next-generation of its Internet-based wellness platform called Health Portrait.

In a release, the Company said that Health Portrait is far more than a traditional worksite wellness program. Using an interactive Web-based model, the program engages individuals in a systematic approach to change unhealthy behaviors that lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, stroke, depression and some cancers. Health Portrait provides a customized experience for each individual, leveraging Medforma's exclusive license of scientific behavior-modification expertise of the Prevention Research Center at Stanford University's School of Medicine, the largest prevention research center in the country.

To date, more than 30,000 employees have used the Health Portrait program, resulting in an impressive 10-to-1 return on investment for employers.

Now, Medforma said that it is enhancing those benefits through its new Group Portrait Developer, an online tool that gives employers insight into the collective health of their employees. While individuals' data remains confidential, employers can access aggregate information about a variety of health and wellness factors among their workers, such as the prevalence of high blood pressure and even employees' readiness to adopt healthy lifestyle changes.

"With our latest advancements, employers will receive invaluable information to help them better manage health costs and wellness investments," said Kye Anderson, CEO of Medforma. "At less than $50 per employee per year, our platform is highly affordable, but the advantages are substantial, especially considering the high cost of keeping employees healthy and productive."

Recent research demonstrated Health Portrait's effectiveness in making employees healthier and saving employers' money. A four-year study of 19,000 participants showed their risk of disease declined in six key health risk categories.

"Our goal at Medforma is to provide tools that are so friendly that people actually like to use them - so they can personally engage in health improvement they're ready for," Anderson said

"Medforma's aggregate data on our employees' health improvement allowed us to negotiate a 2 percent reduction in health insurance premiums," said Richard Dunn, who managed Thompson West's program as human resources vice president for compensation and benefits. "We implemented Medforma because it is science-based and not affiliated with any health plan or provider. We retained the program because it is easy to use, it makes employees feel more bonded to the company and it stabilized our skyrocketing insurance premiums."

Medforma provides a streamlined and confidential wellness program that employees and employers will trust, without the pitfalls and conflict of interest associated with health plan-administered programs, Anderson explained. "It's a comprehensive and affordable way for employers to invest in the health and well-being of their people."