Members enjoy using the friendly, award-winning Become curriculum to explore the steps that lead to a higher quality of life. The engaging curriculum is based in behavioral science concepts that are proven to build motivation and confidence and prepare members to make successful lifestyle changes.

Each quarter, members receive communications specific to their chronic conditions. These communications build awareness of current medical treatments and self-care practices. They help members identify ways they can improve their health and showcase other program resources and online tools that can help. Members see how other people just like them have benefited from taking control of their conditions and how they can get the most out of life.

Members also learn what steps to take when they are ready to create a personal action plan and the many benefits of working with a health coach.

Because everyone faces a unique set of obstacles to achieving what is best for their health, Carewise coaches do far more than educate members. Coaches help members learn how to overcome the specific daily challenges they face in following their physician’s treatment plan, taking medications as prescribed and putting healthy lifestyle behaviors into practice. Members learn the lifelong skills they need to manage their condition for the long term.

A health coach will work with you to create a personal action plan that will assist you in your health journey. The coach will use workbooks and journals as tools to guide your planning process. Together, you will identify changes that are needed to improve your health. With the guidance of your coach, you will set measurable goals, arrange a support system, identify strategies to overcome predictable obstacles and create a system for tracking progress and rewarding success.

For example, you may set a goal to go for regular walks but find it hard to stay motivated. Your coach can help you overcome this obstacle, maybe by recommending that you identify a specific support person and ask for the exact help you need. You may decide to ask a coworker to walk with you each day. Your coach will encourage you to create a system of self-rewards for intermediate successes and will check back next time to see if you were able to accomplish the goals you set. Together, you can review obstacles and modify strategies as needed.

You also will practice routine journaling of your activities and habits. Your coach will work with you to refine and expand your action plan based on the obstacles you face and the progress you make. You will learn the skills that can help you become an active participant in managing your own condition for the long-term. Because even the best intentions sometimes falter, you’ll create a relapse-prevention plan early, so you’ll never slip too far off track. As you become more self-sufficient, your coach will check in to see that your plans are on target, give you feedback and support your ongoing motivation.

• Asthma
• Atrial Fibrillation
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Diabetes
• Hyperlipidemia (High Cholesterol)
• Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
• Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)
• Low Back Pain
• Stroke / TIA

In addition, Become helps members manage more than 15 high-risk clinical conditions, including cancer, depression, HIV/AIDS, chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease and others.

It’s common for people to have more than one chronic condition to manage. For example, a person with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder also may have congestive heart failure or diabetes. The health coach is the member’s primary point of contact. When additional specialists are appropriate, the coach will coordinate contact with other experts on a multi-disciplinary team. The member and the health coach will work with these specialists as necessary to ensure all health needs are addressed.

Carewise Disease Management coaches are registered nurses and health educators with expertise in relevant clinical areas. Our nurses have an average of 15 years experience and are required to receive continuing education credits to ensure they remain well versed in current medical practice guidelines. Specialties represented among our coaches include smoking cessation counseling, exercise physiology, nutrition (registered dietitians) and masters-level training in wellness promotion. This clinical foundation is complemented by experience in motivational interviewing and behavior-modification techniques.

In addition, on-site medical directors are available for consultation, routine case review and professional-development programs for the staff.

Yes. However, unlike health plans that focus solely on those members with high-cost claims, Carewise Disease Management also targets those members whose current risks indicate the cost of their care will escalate in the future. To prevent or limit high-cost medical services, we engage members when we see indicators such as gaps in medical treatment, under-utilization of outpatient services required to monitor response to treatment, and pharmacy refill patterns that suggest medicine is not being taken as prescribed.

You will never have to wonder if your program is successful. Our method of measuring results with precision is unmatched in the industry, and we provide reports that are easy to understand. You will clearly see whether there are demonstrated reductions in hospitalizations, emergency room visits and hospital readmissions – as well as the corresponding cost savings. In addition, you can easily compare members’ health status and rates of compliance before and after their experience in the program. In this way, the effectiveness of your program is validated, and you can refine your strategy over time as the risk profile of your population changes.

By proactively addressing the health risks of members and increasing their self-care capabilities, we can prevent worsening symptoms, reduce rates of complication and slow the progression of chronic illnesses. Our goal is to achieve the best possible clinical outcome for each member while yielding cost savings that are sustainable over time.