Arizona Blues Offers Virtual Health Advisor to Encourage Employee Wellness

Phoenix - A new tool is available for Arizona employers who seek to improve employee wellness and boost productivity in the workplace. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) has introduced My BluePrint, a virtual health advisor and health measurement tool. By inviting employees to take an interactive assessment, employers receive an overall summary of results so they can identify risk factors in four key areas--fitness, sleep, nutrition and stress management--and implement the most appropriate wellness programs."Employers who offer the My BluePrint program are becoming increasingly engaged in the health of their employees while helping to improve company performance," says Dick Hannon, senior vice president of marketing and provider affairs for BCBSAZ. "Employers have the ability to take more control over the invisible costs of health care by promoting simple steps toward healthier living."

My BluePrint is offered to all BCBSAZ members and can be accessed online through their BlueNet accounts at http://www.azblue.com/productivity. The virtual health advisor helps individuals assess their current health and determine where they should be health-wise, as well as deliver a plan to help get them there. The initial assessment takes less than 30 minutes to complete and results are immediate. Members then have access to all My BluePrint content, including up-to-the-minute health news, personalized health topics and articles. The program keeps a history of results, helping participants see improvement over time.

And not just employees benefit from the health assessment tool. Once employees have completed their personalized My BluePrint assessments, BCBSAZ then provides employers with an executive summary that combines all responses into a targeted report about the organization's overall health. Information is analyzed and packaged into a comprehensive synopsis that includes statistical data comparing the company's health to other organizations of similar size. The report does not include identifiable employee data. Additionally, reports summarize stress levels, physical activity scores, nutritional balance and sleep status. My BluePrint details other potential risk factors for employees as a whole or by department or gender, and BCBSAZ representatives help employers create programs tailored to their workforce.

"By managing their own lifestyle factors, people not only will take better care of themselves, but also they will feel better, which translates to increased productivity in the workplace," says Hannon.

My BluePrint is a component of HealthyBlue, BCBSAZ's wellness program for total body health that offers members tools and resources to help BCBSAZ members improve physical health and well-being. BCBSAZ designed this program to help engage, educate and empower Arizonans to make healthier lifestyle choices.

Source: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona