Jim shared the company history and how his clients are managing healthcare costs while improving the health of their employees, by taking advantage of new regulations. You can listen to the full interview below.

May 16, 2012

CLEVELAND – Bravo Wellness, an industry leader in results-based wellness incentive programs, was recently honored as a recipient of the 2012 Crain’s Leading EDGE Award for the second year in a row. In its fifth year, this prestigious award was created and developed by The Entrepreneurs EDGE to recognize value-creating, middle-market companies in the region.

“We are honored and excited to be among the leading Northeast Ohio winners to receive this prestigious award,” said Dave Campbell, president of Bravo Wellness. “It is a testament to the hard work of our employees and the results we have been able to produce for our clients.”

The results that Bravo’s clients are seeing, which include unparalleled employee participation averaging 95%, return on investment of $400 per employee per year and overall lifestyle improvement, have led to robust growth for the company. In just over three years, Bravo Wellness has grown from a startup to an industry leader in results-based wellness with over 225 employer groups and nearly 190,000 participants in all 50 states.

About Bravo Wellness
Bravo Wellness is a rapidly growing company that works with employers and business partners to design and administer wellness incentive plans that link participants, progress and results. Bravo possesses the expertise required to navigate the legal complexities of health insurance law, including HIPAA non-discrimination regulations, and has unique expertise in the practical application of wellness regulations for group health plans.  Bravo Wellness is headquartered in Avon, Ohio.  For more information, visit www.bravowell.com.

About The Entrepreneurs EDGE
Founded in 2005, The Entrepreneurs EDGE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps mid-market companies in northeast Ohio grow in value by creating programs, services, and events and by fostering economic development through education, innovation, and relationships.

CLEVELAND, OH – January 17, 2012 – Bravo Wellness is pleased to announce the promotion and appointment of three team members to Vice President, Business Development. These promotions reflect the organization’s commitment to strengthen our position in key markets by expanding awareness of Bravo’s specialized solutions for the design and administration of results-based wellness programs. Results-based plans are often viewed as intricate in nature. Bravo’s consulting in the plan modeling and design allows our clients to make the best value-based decisions on where to invest time and resources for a greater return on investment.

The executives promoted to Vice President, Business Development are Kevin Bodi, Joe Clark and David McGlennen. “Kevin, Joe and David each bring 25+ years of experience within the employee benefits industry,” stated Mike Mitchell, Bravo’s Senior Vice President, Business Development. “Their promotion is a result of their significant contribution to the company and the respect they’ve earned from their peers, clients and business partners. Each of these individuals will continue to play a critical role in the evaluation of target markets for business planning purposes and advancing Bravo Wellness as the leader in administering participation-based, progress-based, and outcomes-based wellness programs.”

Kevin Bodi – Having worked as an underwriter, executive and consultant, Bodi is an accomplished professional with many years’ experience within the employee benefits industry. Holding a license with the State of Ohio for Life and Health, he has a breadth of expertise in the health care market. Bodi joined Bravo Wellness in January 2009.

Joe Clark – With vast experience in sales in the health care industry, Clark previously owned an IV therapy pharmacy and home health care company. He also developed an ancillary service PPO network and oversaw sales and marketing for a TPA. Clark joined Bravo Wellness in January 2010 where his knowledge of self-funded and fully insured venues serves clients well as he consults to create the best possible wellness initiatives for their corporate culture.

David McGlennen – Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a third generation insurance executive, McGlennen began his career working for his father, helping to run a successful general agency in Indiana and then in 1995, began consulting for several niche products before joining a global leader in insurance broking and risk management in their employee benefits practice. McGlennen joined Bravo Wellness in January 2009.

About Bravo Wellness – Bravo Wellness offers services to employers and business partners desiring results-based incentive programs for wellness. Clients experience immediate cost savings by linking employee incentives to participation and results. Bravo recognized the potential legal challenges of complying with recent changes in health insurance law, including HIPAA non-discrimination regulations, and has unique expertise in the practical application of wellness regulations for group health plans. Bravo offers its IncentiSoft Solutions platform to employers, including insurance companies, third-party administrators and wellness companies that have already invested in on-site clinics, preferred health coaching relationships or other wellness solutions. Employers can immediately increase their penetration into the employee populations they serve by accessing the compliance and technology platform from Bravo. Bravo Wellness and IncentiSoft Solutions are headquartered in Avon, OH. For more information, visit www.bravowell.com or www.incentisoft.com.

Cleveland, OH. – Bravo Wellness would like to congratulate its client, Oakwood Homes, LLC, on its recent successes and milestones from the past month. As the largest privately held new home builder in Colorado, Oakwood Homes not only is celebrating its 20th anniversary and 10,000th home sale, they have also been recently recognized by the Denver Business Journal with the first Metro Denver Healthiest Employer Award for small companies. This award recognizes metro-area employers who are truly focused on their workers’ wellness.

According to recent studies, total health care costs continue to climb, reaching an anticipated $11,176 per active employee in 2011. This is a 7.6% increase from 2010. In Colorado alone, companies’ insurance costs have increased 14.4 percent in 2011, the 10th consecutive year with a double-digit increase. This grim picture of employer health care costs demands action, and that is just what Oakwood Homes has done.

For the past three years, Oakwood Homes has been able to keep health care costs flat by implementing several wellness initiatives. In 2008, they started an active lifestyles program in which employees could earn “Oakwood Bucks” for recording exercise hours each month. Now, by implementing Bravo Wellness’ results-based program, employees are incentivized for living healthy by linking their health care contribution to results, which allows them to mitigate their own costs.

Oakwood Homes’ commitment to health also includes a full gym at their facility, vending machines with healthier options, fresh fruit in the break room every day and a Weight Watchers at Work program. Employees are enjoying the wellness initiatives as well as the cost savings for living healthy, and Oakwood Homes is enjoying the benefits of happier and healthier employees.

In partnership with Bravo Wellness, Oakwood Homes is proactively addressing rising healthcare costs by putting in place innovative programs that renew the employee’s motivation to remain active and healthy. At the recent CDHC Solutions Forum West, held in Denver, Bravo Wellness was able to discuss with many other area employers the value and success of its results-based incentive programs, like the one implemented by Oakwood Homes.

About Bravo Wellness

Bravo Wellness offers services to employers and business partners desiring results-based incentive programs for wellness. Clients experience immediate cost savings by linking employee incentives to participation and results. Bravo recognized the potential legal challenges of complying with recent changes in health insurance law, including HIPAA non-discrimination regulations, and has unique expertise in the practical application of wellness regulations for group health plans. Bravo offers its IncentiSoft Solutions platform to employers, including insurance companies, third-party administrators and wellness companies that have already invested in on-site clinics, preferred health coaching relationships or other wellness solutions. Employers can immediately increase their penetration into the employee populations they serve by accessing the compliance and technology platform from Bravo. Bravo Wellness and IncentiSoft Solutions are headquartered in Avon, OH. For more information, visit www.bravowell.com or www.incentisoft.com.

CLEVELAND–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Known for leading edge implementation of results-based wellness, Bravo Wellness is pleased to announce its latest innovation for the employee benefit marketplace, IncentiSoft Solutions. With IncentiSoft Solutions, organizations that offer and recommend wellness programs (wellness companies, insurance carriers and third-party administrators) can access Bravo’s IncentiSoft technology and administrative support to optimize their existing wellness products, tools and services. The real “magic” is based on IncentiSoft’s proprietary technology using predictive modeling of various plan designs, logistical support for very complex environments and results-processing that incorporates both participation-based and outcome-based goals, as well as appeals and the completion of alternative programs where desired or required by law.

“Results-based wellness is clearly the direction the market is moving,” said Jim Pshock, Founder and President of Bravo Wellness and IncentiSoft Solutions. “The fastest way to scale and meet the market demand is to empower the excellent existing wellness providers in the nation with access to the tools they need to respond to customer demands. IncentiSoft Solutions makes it simple for health-focused organizations to provide HIPAA-Compliant expert consulting and administrative support that drives their participation levels through the roof, creates immediate return on investment (ROI), and technology that converts lab, screening and appeal results into a simple payroll file for their customers to use.”

In just over two years, Bravo has grown from a startup to a leader in providing results-based wellness programs for more than 145 employer groups and nearly 85,000 participating employees. Bravo’s clients are seeing unparalleled employee participation averaging 95%, return on investment of $400 per employee per year and overall lifestyle improvement. The original Bravo Wellness model was geared for “one employer at a time” marketing and often included biometric screening coordination, health risk assessment tools and health coaching through strategic partners. For more information, visit www.incentisoft.com or www.bravowell.com.

About Bravo Wellness

Bravo Wellness offers services to employers and business partners desiring results-based incentive programs for wellness. Customers experience immediate cost savings by linking employee incentives to participation and results. Bravo Wellness recognized the potential legal challenges of health insurance law, including HIPAA non-discrimination regulations, and has unique expertise in the practical application of wellness regulations for group health plans. Bravo Wellness is headquartered in Avon, Ohio. For more information, visit www.bravowell.com.

Contacts

Bravo Wellness, LLC
Jim Pshock
440-934-2090
jimpshock@bravowell.com

OR

For Bravo Wellness, LLC
Nikki DiFilippo
216-780-0472
nikki@viaveragroup.com

Cleveland, OH – February 23, 2010   Bravo Wellness, a provider of results-based incentive programs for wellness, has announced Michael Mitchell as Senior Vice President of Business Development.  Michael will be responsible for client relationships, strategic alliances and new business development for the company.

Michael brings with him over twenty years of sales and executive management experience working in the healthcare industry and has a broad understanding of the various funding arrangements and sales distribution channels associated with employer group sponsored health plans.

“We are pleased to add someone of Mike’s caliber to our talent base, said Jim Pshock, President of Bravo Wellness.  “Mike is a proven leader with considerable experience and will be a perfect fit for us as we continue to experience incredible growth at Bravo Wellness.”

Michael spent much of his career at HealthSmart Holdings, Inc. (formerly Interplan Health Group), where he served as National Vice President, Business Development.  Prior to HealthSmart Holdings, he held the position of President at Chandler Group. He directly engaged in contract negotiations with private employer groups, healthcare consultants, third party administrators and major hospital delivery systems in order to broaden target markets and sales channels.  Michael has also provided consultative services to provider-sponsored healthcare programs, industry producers, health insurance companies and hospital systems in the areas of quality measuring, predictive modeling, clinical integration, product positioning and risk management.  He holds a B.B.A. from Ohio University and is licensed with the State of Ohio for Life and Health.

Mitchell said, “It’s more evident than ever that the next phase of consumerism in health care is the significant role that personal accountability for one’s health choices plays. Bravo Wellness has established itself as the clear leader in this space, and I’m honored to be selected to help guide the strategy.”

Bravo Wellness provides expert consulting, technology and related support services to over 130 employers that have tied employee wellness screening results to their health plan contributions and/or their benefit plan design.  With average participation of 97% and typical first-year return on investment of $400 per employee, the company has experienced tremendous growth since its inception in 2008.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Oct. 18, 2010) — Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has selected Bravo Wellness as its exclusive incentive management partner for employer group customers. The Bravo program, now offered exclusively in Arkansas to customers of Arkansas Blue Cross and its family of companies, provides employers with a tool to control the cost of health care while encouraging healthy behaviors among employees.

Bravo Wellness is a technology and compliance company that administers results-based incentive programs designed to drive demonstrable health improvement in employee populations. Because 75 percent of health care costs are driven by lifestyle choices, the Bravo program is designed to reward employees who make positive lifestyle decisions.

The Bravo program will be available to Arkansas Blue Cross, Health Advantage and BlueAdvantage Administrators of Arkansas employer customers with more than 50 employees. With the Bravo program, employers can expect a first-year cost savings of 3 to 10 percent, depending on how they choose to structure the program. Along with improving employee health and productivity, the Bravo program has the potential to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for employees.

“Our goal is to always help our current and prospective members live healthier lives,” said Mark White, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Blue Cross. “With the help of Bravo, we can meet the needs of employers by providing a results-based incentive program and continue to help our members reach their own personal wellness goals.”

“We are thrilled to be selected and have given Arkansas Blue Cross exclusive access to our products and services in Arkansas,” said Jim Pshock, founder and president of Bravo Wellness. “By offering Bravo’s programs, Arkansas Blue Cross has provided employers with a unique opportunity to control costs and improve the health status of their employees.”

About Bravo Wellness

Bravo Wellness offers services to employers and business partners desiring results-based incentives for wellness. Customers experience immediate cost savings by linking their employee’s cost for health benefits to participation in wellness programs and demonstrable health improvement results. Bravo Wellness recognized the potential legal challenges of health insurance law, including HIPAA non-discrimination regulations, and has unique expertise in the practical application of wellness regulations for group health plans. Bravo Wellness is headquartered in Avon, Ohio. For more information, visit www.bravowell.com.

About Arkansas Blue Cross

Founded in 1948, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is the largest health insurer in Arkansas. Arkansas Blue Cross and its affiliates have more than 2,700 employees. If combined, the 39 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans collectively provide healthcare coverage for 98 million — nearly one in three — Americans. For more information, visit arkansasbluecross.com.

Bravo Wellness is an independent company that operates separately from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Bravo Wellness does not sell or service Arkansas Blue Cross products and is solely responsible for the incentive management services it provides.

By Ronald E. Bachman, FSA, MSAA
President & CEO of Healthcare Visions, Inc.
Senior Fellow, Center for Health Transformation

Consumerism is about empowering individuals with information and a financial stake in their own health and healthcare. Unfortunately, ObamaCare move away from personal responsibility. ObamaCare is about limited choices, mandated coverages, regulated prices, and controlling individual decision-making. But, ObamaCare cannot shut out the forces of consumerism. Buried in the dark clouds of ObamaCare is the opening for consumerism to survive.

A key feature of healthcare consumerism is providing individuals with opportunities to be financially rewarded for doing the right activities that improve their health. Rewards can include activities such as, participation in a wellness assessment, attending a smoking cessation class, compliance with a condition management program (e.g. taking medications, diet, exercise, office visits), and maintenance of good health characteristics (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol, nicotine use, body mass index).

ObamaCare allows both participation incentives and limited rewards based on specific health status outcomes. The new law increases the maximum for rewards based on health status from 20% to 30%. The act allows the Secretary of Health & Human Services to potentially increase the health status rewards to 50% of coverage costs. Financial rewards are critical to changing behaviors. If just being healthy was good enough, we would not have growing diabetes and an epidemic of obesity in this country. We are typically American. We want to be paid to do the right things. We want financial incentives and rewards. ObamaCare allows some current market initiatives to continue to include financial incentives and rewards.

Rewards and incentives can take on many forms. The chart below describes several options employers can use to engage employees in healthy choices. Both positive and negative rewards and incentives are possible. Existing rules should allow a combination of rewards and penalties to exist within the same structure as long as the difference between the best and worst financial impact is within the ObamaCare allowances.

Under Obamacare the major areas of differentiation in employment compensation packages will be provisions for rewards, incentives, and information to support healthy productive employees. Employers will always be concerned about their “human capital.” High functioning employees lower the costs of unscheduled sick days, absenteeism, disabilities, workers compensation claims, and improve productivity.. Here are typical options that employers can still use under ObamaCare:

Click here to see the full article and chart.

Within these general areas, there are at least five ways to implement financial incentives:

1. Change the Premium – this allows both the employee and the employer to share any savings based upon the split in how each contributes to the overall cost of the plan.
2. Change the Employee Contribution Rate – this allows greater flexibility to award employees more or less that would occur by using the “change in premium” approach.
3. Change Deductible – increase or decrease the plan deductible based upon compliance standards set in the plan.
4. Change Cost-sharing – this would expand on the “change deductible” approach and impact any combination of deductible, coinsurance, maximum out of pocket costs, and copayments.
5. Change Personal Care Accounts – this would allow direct increases to health savings accounts (HSAs) or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). ObamaCare does limit some financial incentive options for individuals, small groups, and large group plans offered through the government exchanges if they directly impact premiums for employees. The law states:

“With respect to the premium rate charged by a health insurance issuer for health insurance coverage offered in the individual or small group market-

(A) such rate shall vary with respect to the particular plan or coverage involved only by-

(i) whether such plan or coverage covers an individual or family;
(ii) rating area,
(iii) age, except that such rate shall not vary by more than 3 to 1 for; and (iv) tobacco use, except that such rate shall not vary by more than 1.5 to 1; and

(B) such rate shall not vary with respect to the particular plan or coverage involved by any other factor not (above).”

Small employers are defined as groups with 100 or fewer employees, or 50 or fewer at the discretion of the states.

For those plans that can use the full capabilities of rewards and incentives, these areas of emphasis are likely to grow and expand as employers continue to seek ways of controlling health costs and improving productivity. A healthy employee is a more productive employee.

A survey of employers by Towers Watson showed that 22% of employers provide financial incentives using bio-metric screenings (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index) and wellness appraisals. An additional 19% of large employers are moving in that direction. While only 3-4% of employers currently provide financial incentives based on meeting bio-metric standards, results oriented incentives are considered the next generation of consumerism to motivate broad plan membership engagement in healthy choices.

There are many companies developing the technology and compliance standards to assist employers. One such company offering the technology to monitor and administer reward programs based on bio-metrics is Bravo Wellness. Forbes magazine highlighted Towlift, Inc., which selected Bravo Wellness’ incentive-based integrated wellness program. After four years of this strategy, Towlift has experienced a reduction of 26% in per capita claims cost and steady improvement in employee heath measures.

Employers can experience immediate cost savings by linking employee incentives to participation and results. There are obviously some rules to follow. When an incentive or penalty is contingent upon the satisfaction of a health standard, it must:

• Be designed to promote health and wellness
• Not exceed 20% (30% under PPACA) of the total cost of coverage offered
• Be available to all “similarly situated individuals”
• Offer an appeals process
• Provide “reasonable alternatives” when appropriate
• Offer re assessments at least once per year

Employers need to be cautious and flexible during these times of uncertainty. Do what is needed and what has been proven to work anyway. Consumerism with rewards and incentives has proven itself over the last eight years to lower costs and improve quality of care. The American Academy of Actuaries reports that healthcare consumerism lowers costs in the first year by 12-20% and reduces future trend increases by 3-5%.

Changes based on healthcare consumerism won’t have to be reversed even if ObamaCare is successfully challenged in court, a different Congress limits ObamaCare implementation, or a new Administration changes the regulatory rules. If it is consumerism versus ObamaCare, consumerism will win in the end. It’s an American health reform idea that will not be defeated.

More companies ask employees to meet programs’ targets
By SHANNON MORTLAND

4:30 am, February 1, 2010
Wellness programs have been popular among employers for several years, but they’re coming with more strings attached as companies look for ways to trim their health care costs even more.

Many companies are looking for results — and, in some cases, rewarding employees for them — rather than giving employees incentives for just participating in initiatives such as walking 10,000 steps a day or completing a health risk assessment.

“You have to actually achieve a goal, not just take a test,” said Jim Pshock, president of Bravo Wellness LLC of Avon, which creates incentive-based wellness programs for 51 employers across the country.

Among those employers is Southwest General Medical Center, which signed up with Bravo Wellness this year and has given its employees one year to reach certain wellness goals or face higher health insurance premiums, said Judy Murphy, director of human resources at Southwest.

“The program focuses on employee health with regard to smoking, body mass index, cholesterol and blood pressure,” Ms. Murphy said. “Employees are being charged with being within a certain number within those health indicators.”

Southwest employees are participating in health screenings that will be followed by a detailed report of their current health condition so they will know how far they need to go to reach their goals, Ms. Murphy said.

Though the hospital already had a popular wellness plan in place, its health care expenses still were rising, she said.

“Certain health conditions which can be avoided or controlled by lifestyle changes are the most expensive to a health plan,” Ms. Murphy said.

Steve Millard, president and CEO of the Council of Smaller Enterprises advocacy group, said he’s seeing more small companies get involved in wellness and education initiatives, such as providing health screenings, exercise and diet programs, and lunch-and-learn sessions to teach employees how to live healthier.

Though annual increases in health insurance premiums have moderated to between 9% and 15%, after hitting 20% in previous years, Mr. Millard said the hikes are still high.

“It’s got everybody’s attention,” Mr. Millard said. “People are getting much more active because they can’t afford it anymore.”

Forget the television

Last year, COSE gave 70 wellness grants to local companies, Mr. Millard said. Under that program, COSE provides grants of up to $1,500 for wellness expenditures, such as repairing treadmills at the workplace. However, the use of the money does have limits.

“We’ve gotten a lot of requests for TVs in the workout room, but we haven’t approved those yet,” Mr. Millard said.

Pat Perry, president of the Employers Resource Council human resources group, said some midsize businesses responded irrationally to the economy last year by reducing benefits and increasing deductibles and co-pays for employees, both of which are only short-term fixes.

“They jumped off a really sound strategy and chased the dollar,” he said. “These cutbacks could have been made up elsewhere easily.”

However, not all midsize companies panicked, including Sawyer Technical Materials LLC in Willoughby.

The company continues to try to change the behaviors of its employees through incentives, said Kim Coleman, controller at Sawyer.

“People are getting skinny …’

The crystal quartz manufacturer has installed a walking track around the building and offers monthly incentives for participating in wellness programs, Ms. Coleman said. For example, the Fall Into Fitness eight-week program encouraged people to reach certain fitness benchmarks through cardiovascular workouts. Those who did more vigorous workouts received more points. The team with the highest point total got $25 gift cards to Subway restaurants, she said.

By participating in such wellness activities, employees can reduce their premiums by $50 each month, Ms. Coleman said. Smokers can reduce their monthly premiums by another $30 for not smoking. But, if they choose not to participate one month, their premiums rise by those same amounts, she said.

The incentives are working, as almost all of the company’s 35 employees participate in the wellness program.

“People are getting skinny, and they’re just trying to monitor their blood pressure,” Ms. Coleman said.

“I’m looking forward to spring to see how challenging I can make it.”