what’s working
Their niche, they hope, is to pull data from other sources — wearable personal pedometers, workplace health screening
reports, goal-setting questions posed to users — and spin those many tiny pieces of data into a big picture.
The founders have deep roots in high tech. Norlander was a developer and engineer at Microsoft for 20 years, spending time
in the Office and Windows divisions and time as chief technical architect under Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie. CMO Rachel
Lanham is a veteran digital marketer from a dozen years
at Avenue A/Razorfish, where she worked with such
businesses as Weight Watchers, MillerCoors, and Levi’s.
Health123 is in the midst of rolling out to 20 to 30 pilot
businesses, but has plans to scale its product to where
it can serve thousands or millions of workplaces. Their
— Dr. Sarah De La Torre, Chief Medical Advisor, Health123
product aims to be affordable for small and medium
businesses, with a low, single-digit dollar cost per
employee per month.
“I found I could be more in touch with my employees
and make the workplace a more healthy arena for them.
We approach all elements of a person’s well-being.”
big data, big picture
As anyone who has purchased a health club
membership as a New Year’s resolution knows, plans to
“exercise” and “get healthy” tend to be difficult to sustain.
Taking a big picture approach, informed by unexpected
trends revealed through data analysis, might be a way to
avoid some of those problems.
Health123’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Sarah de la Torre,
a board-certified OB/GYN, used the product in her own
medical office. She and her partners quickly noticed a
trend: their employees reported high levels of stress.
They responded with office yoga on Monday nights and
discussions about how to manage tension.
“I found I could be more in touch with my employees
and make the workplace a more healthy arena for them,”
de la Torre said. “We approach all elements of a person’s
well-being.”
For employees and other end-users, the product
aims to provide useful tips each time you log in —
perhaps suggesting a consistent time to go to bed, or
recommending green tea to perk up during the afternoon
slump. When users go to the doctor for a wellness checkup, the program can provide a report listing the top health
issues for discussion.
For employers, a turnkey solution like Health123 can
be the difference between the status quo and a workable
wellness program. The potential for cost savings is real,
particularly as the Affordable Care Act, with its potential
discounts for employee wellness programs, kicks in.
A 2010 Harvard study found that each dollar spent
on wellness programs reduces medical costs by $3.27
and absenteeism costs by $2.73. Lanham said many of
those benefits tend to accrue to bigger businesses who
can afford to put comprehensive wellness programs into place. Only 35 percent of small businesses have health and wellness
programs, she said, but Health123 can “democratize” the playing field. After all, she said, most small businesses aspire to
someday become big businesses. High-tech wellness programs, starting with biometric screening that inform and shape
specific workplace goals and programs, are one way to offer a big business benefit.
24 association of washington business