BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - Aug 7, 2012) - Limeade today announced that 86% of benefits-eligible employees at Swedish Medical Center achieved their initial wellness program goals, including completion of a well-being assessment and a preventive care examination. These results, achieved in the first ten weeks of the new program, outpaced the 50% preventive care exam participation rate achieved during the prior three years combined. Swedish Medical Center is the largest nonprofit healthcare provider in the Greater Seattle area. Limeade is a leading enterprise health, well-being and productivity platform.
Launched on April 16, the Medical Center's program -- Swedish Wellness Works -- rewards employees with points for completing health and well-being activities. In the first stage of the program, employees were asked to complete a preventive care exam -- either with a primary care physician or through Swedish's Employee Health & Wellness Clinic -- and a well-being assessment by July 1, 2012 to earn points toward savings on their annual health insurance premium.
"We're thrilled with these early results. Swedish employees are helping our community live healthier lives. For them to walk the walk, we need to give them access to the same quality of care they provide our patients. We are able to exceed expectations with a carefully constructed, easy to understand plan using Limeade's cutting-edge platform," stated Mandy LeBlanc, Manager, Wellness Works Program - Swedish Medical Center.
"Helping employers achieve their goals is what Limeade is all about. We're delighted that Swedish was able to exceed their goals using Limeade. We're also excited by the prospect of helping Swedish employees engage in social challenges, games and more to improve their health as the program expands," stated Henry Albrecht, CEO of Limeade.
To earn the points necessary to realize a savings of as much as $600 on their annual health insurance premium, Swedish employees must continue to engage in wellness activities, including getting a flu shot and TDAP vaccination, and being tobacco-free or taking a readiness to quit quiz.
"The benefits of an annual preventive care exam cannot be overstated. It helps to diagnose and support people facing hypertension, heart disease, diabetes or other chronic conditions," stated Warren Fein, MD, Executive Medical Director - Swedish Primary Care Group.
"We knew that the recipe for success was to include our employees and providers in the design of both our wellness program and our medical benefits plan. It is important that everyone understand that prevention and early detection will improve the health of our employees and the health of our fiscal bottom line," stated Laura Boyd, SPHR, Director, Compensation Benefits & HR Operations - Swedish Medical Center.
About Swedish Medical Center
Swedish Medical Center has grown over the last 102 years to become the largest non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. It is comprised of five hospital campuses (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Edmonds and Issaquah); ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek; and Swedish Medical Group -- a network of more than 100 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. In addition to general medical and surgical care including robotic-assisted surgery, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit www.swedish.org.
Swedish is affiliated with Providence Health & Services, which is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1856 with 27 hospitals, 214 physician clinics and almost 53,000 employees across five states. Based in Renton, Wash., Providence Health & Services provides strategic and management services to integrated health-care systems in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington State. For more information, visit www.providence.org.
About Limeade
Limeade is an enterprise wellness platform that builds happy, healthy, high-performance workforces. Limeade provides a refreshing alternative to traditional, antagonistic wellness approaches, and connects all wellness programs in an integrated, cohesive user experience. Limeade clients include Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, healthcare providers, and large, high-performance employers. Additional information about Limeade may be found at www.limeade.com.
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Robin Schoen
Robin Schoen Public Relations
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