Nationwide Better Health enhances health promotion offerings
Acquisition of WellCorp, Inc. increases health management integration opportunities and on-site employee services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2007
Contacts:
Terri Wearsch Erlenbach (614) 249-5755
erlenbt@nationwide.com
Eric Hardgrove (614) 677-8516
hardgre@nationwide.com
Columbus, Ohio— Nationwide Better HealthSM, the leading provider of total population health management solutions, announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WellCorp, Inc., a leading provider of expert health management and integrated solutions. The acquisition of WellCorp enhances Nationwide Better Health’s health promotion offerings, and strengthens the company’s presence in the multi-billion-dollar health and productivity market. Terms of the acquisition were not released.
“At Nationwide, it’s our passion to help people protect and manage their most important assets, from their wealth and property to their health and wellness,” said Jerry Jurgensen, chief executive officer of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. “This transaction builds Nationwide Better Health’s best-in-class offering of health and productivity solutions and solidifies our commitment to providing customers with innovative solutions customized to meet their needs.”
WellCorp’s capabilities complement those already existing within Nationwide Better Health. Together they provide one of the best collections of health and productivity offerings available today. Nationwide Better Health will begin integrating WellCorp’s health promotion offerings within its own health and wellness, and disease, disability, absence, medical and maternity management offerings this year.
With the enhancement of its health promotion offerings, Nationwide Better Health will now be able to maximize and integrate the health management programs its customers currently have in place. Enhanced health promotion capabilities further strengthen Nationwide Better Health’s ability to help employers control the high costs associated with absence, poor health and lifestyle decisions, illness and injury.
“Healthier employees are more productive and, in the end, that leads to lower health care costs,” said Holly Snyder, president of Nationwide Better Health. “WellCorp is one of the largest providers of on-site biometric testing and screenings, and quality health and wellness services. These offerings improve our efforts to reduce health care and absence costs for employers, making an even stronger contribution to increasing the health of our nation’s workforce and driving tangible, financial results to our clients’ bottom lines.”
Nationwide Better Health currently offers health risk assessments and the following comprehensive health and wellness programs: weight management, nutrition, stress management, tobacco cessation and physical activity, along with 13 different disease management programs that address specific chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. These programs are delivered by dedicated health coaches using a variety of online tools and resources.
Founded in 1995 by Cheryl Agranovich, WellCorp enhances and complements Nationwide Better Health’s existing health promotion services by offering:
• On-site services, including health screenings, health fairs, training seminars and incentive programs
• Expanded dedicated lifestyle health coaching (on-site, telephonic, mail-based and online)
• Integration services to ensure an employer is optimizing its investment in all health management programs
• Coordinated and comprehensive health education programs, with online products and services
• Customized marketing and communications to drive employee understanding, participation and use of programs
• Customized programming to meet the needs of multisite organizations
“WellCorp’s communications-based health promotion programs are the perfect addition to Nationwide Better Health’s strong health and productivity offerings,” said Cheryl Agranovich, chief executive officer of WellCorp. “We understand the need to provide employees with information based on their preferences for how they want to be reached, whether it’s by phone, online, on paper or in person. The synergies between the two companies are ideal as we both pride ourselves on offering innovative, customized solutions to create healthy employees and organizations. We look forward to further success, together.”
Each year, more than 1.7 million Americans die of chronic disease, which accounts for about 75 percent of all health care costs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Obesity alone results in nearly $117 billion in medical costs and lost productivity. Health management programs help employees improve their health and reduce their chances of developing diseases or conditions that can be prevented.
Nationwide Better Health, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with an office in Hunt Valley, Maryland, already is working with, and providing better results to, some of the nation’s leading companies and millions of their employees. Its offerings are backed by the reach and power of Nationwide®. Nationwide Better Health is at the core of Nationwide’s commitment to helping people protect and manage their most important assets, including their health. WellCorp will continue to be headquartered in Solon, Ohio, and will operate under the current management team.
About WellCorp, Inc.
Founded in 1995, WellCorp, a national health management firm based in
Solon, Ohio, with regional offices throughout the U.S., is committed to
providing expert health management solutions that foster healthy
employees and organizations. The company targets employers with more than
1,000 employees and currently provides custom-designed health management
programs to a number of Fortune 1000 companies. WellCorp’s programs
target employees at all levels of health, from prevention to chronic
disease. For more information, call 866-935-5267 or visit www.wellcorp.com.
About Nationwide Better Health
Nationwide Better HealthSM, a subsidiary of Nationwide
Mutual Insurance Company, is a leading provider of total population
health management solutions aimed at lowering health care costs,
increasing productivity and improving quality of life for Fortune 1000
employers and their employees. Nationwide Better Health is the first
company to truly integrate the best collection of health and productivity
services available today, including health and wellness, and disease,
disability, absence, medical and maternity management, along with the
industry’s first integrated disease and disability management offering.
The company’s offerings work together and independently to address both
sides of the cost equation: increased efficiency of health and
productivity programs and better employee health and well-being to reduce
health care-related costs. For more information, call 866-404-6924 or
visit www.nwbetterhealth.com.
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than $158 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks #98 on the Fortune 100 list. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life, commercial insurance, administrative services, health management services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions and long-term savings plans. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
The Nationwide framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Nationwide Better Health is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
