City of Plantation, FL Selects Marathon Health to Provide Onsite Health Services

Plantation to Implement Employee Health Management Programs


BURLINGTON, VT--(Marketwire - November 18, 2009) - Marathon Health today announced that the City of Plantation, Florida has signed an agreement under which Marathon Health will provide integrated, onsite health services for City employees and retirees. In phase two, employee spouses and dependents over the age of 14 will be eligible for services.

Marathon Health will implement its workforce population health management solution offering:

--  Acute and primary care
--  Lifestyle management
--  Risk reduction health coaching
--  Disease management
--  Medication dispensing
--  Health Engagement System™ technology platform
    

"With the help of Willis of Florida, our benefits broker and healthcare consultant, the City of Plantation evaluated a variety of health and wellness models over the past several years for city employees," said Mayor Rae Carole Armstrong. "Through our search, we learned that healthcare cost avoidance is more than changing plan designs, and more than offering onsite acute care or wellness programs. As a result, we are taking a health risk management approach to healthcare, the same approach that Marathon Health provides through their onsite health centers. We believe that this strategy will offer significant benefits to our employees and with the decreased cost of care, will also decrease the burden on our taxpayers."

The City of Plantation is targeting April 1, 2010 for opening the center.

"In our review of solutions for Plantation, our primary objective was to match the City with a company whose philosophies, culture, and services were aligned," said Michael Meredith, executive vice president, Willis of Florida. "While Marathon Health has a track record with primary care health centers, their focus is on personalized health coaching, health risk reduction, and disease management as the means to driving out excess cost in the system. Their ability to support a broader health management perspective provided added value for our client."

The onsite health center for the City of Plantation will be staffed by a physician-supervised nurse practitioner, registered nurse, and a medical assistant.

"Comprehensive population health management, delivered through our onsite health center model, is true healthcare reform," said Jeff Shea, vice president, Marathon Health. "Population health management moves away from 'sick care' toward a holistic healthcare solution. At Marathon Health, we focus on the whole person, not just their symptoms. We are excited to demonstrate this vision and philosophy with the City of Plantation."

About Marathon Health

Marathon Health offers a proven solution for helping employers reduce the total cost of healthcare. Our approach integrates the best practices of onsite primary care, health assessment with risk identification, coaching and advocacy, and disease management for high cost chronic conditions. We support our unique model with our eHealth Portal with medical content, interactive diet and fitness tools, a personal health record, and electronic medical record to manage care. www.marathon-health.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Tracey Moran 802-857-0459