The new and improved Healthy Incentives^SM is as simple as 1, 2, 3 . . .

With changes coming to the Healthy Incentives^SM program in 2010, be sure to look for a packet of important information about WebMD, the county’s new partner for the Healthy Incentives^SM program, with information on how to take the wellness assessment in January.

The packet should arrive at your home mailing address by the end of this year. If you’ve moved recently and haven’t updated your mailing address with the county, contact your human resources or payroll representative with your new address so you will receive this important information without delay.

Onsite presentations are being held at worksites throughout the county in December and January. Click here for the schedule. If you can't attend one of the presentations, visit the Healthy Incentives site for more information.

The rules and deadlines for the Healthy Incentives^SM program have not changed: you and your covered spouse/domestic partner must each take the wellness assessment from Jan.1–31 and each complete an individual action plan by June 30 to earn the gold out-of-pocket expense level for the next year.

However, the choices for individual action plans and the process for completing them have changed.

The biggest change is that coaching calls are no longer an individual action plan. You can request the support of a personal health coach to help you with your health goals, but coaching calls alone will not count toward earning the gold out-of-pocket expense level.

Here’s how the new Healthy Incentives^SM process works:

Register

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, you can register at www.kcheatlhyincentives.com, the new Healthy Incentives^SM Web site powered by WebMD.

Registering is simple. Just enter:

• the personal identification code that will be included in your packet at the end of December, and
• an e-mail address, whether a work e-mail or a personal e-mail, so that WebMD can share important information with you, including reminders to take the wellness assessment and get started on your individual action plan. If you do not have your own e-mail account, you may obtain a free e-mail account for the Healthy Incentives^SM program by following the instructions at the time you log in.

Step 1: Take the wellness assessment by Jan. 31, 2010 

After you’ve registered, the next step is to take the wellness assessment by January 31, 2010.

Within moments of completing the wellness assessment, you’ll receive an easy-to-understand report that identifies your personal health risks and provides you with a detailed, customized plan to help reduce or eliminate your personal health risks.

You will no longer be ranked as high, moderate or low risk for your individual action plan, and you will no longer have to wait to hear from someone before you can get started. In fact, you can begin your individual action plan immediately after you complete the wellness assessment.

Paper versions of the wellness assessment and exercise and nutrition individual action plans are available at a cost to the county of $18 per person.

Step 2: Complete your individual action plan by June 30, 2010

In 2010, you’ll find more choices of individual action plans designed to inspire and reinforce positive behavior change:

• The Live Well Challenge
• Weight Watchers at Work^®
• A customized exercise program from WebMD
• A nutrition program from WebMD with personalized eating plans based on your tastes
• On online weight management tool from WebMD with information about your ideal weight range and the knowledge, tips and tools to achieve it.

In the past, low-risk individuals logged activities for 42 consecutive days to complete their individual action plans. To promote equity among all individual action plans, and in keeping with what evidence says works best in setting new, healthy habits, in 2010 everyone will log activities for their individual action plans. For those choosing one of the online programs or the Live Well Challenge, you will need to record activities for 50 days over a 10-week period.

For those enrolling in Weight Watchers at Work, you need to attend 10 of 13 meetings and pay the enrollment fee. If you’re one of the hundreds of employees currently participating in Weight Watchers at Work, you can now earn gold by participating in this evidence-based program that has helped employees shed more than 9,000 pounds since 2006.

Step 3: Visit the rewards page frequently 

You can keep track of your progress on the road to gold anytime you want by visiting the rewards page at www.kchealthyincentives.com. There, you can verify you’ve taken the wellness assessment and track your progress toward completing your individual action plan. You can always know where you are in the program and how much further you have to go before earning the gold out-of-pocket expense level for the next year.

Bonus features

When surveyed, county employees and their spouse/domestic partners rated personalized health information from reliable sources as one of the things they most wanted from Healthy Incentives^SM.

The new Healthy Incentives^SM page, powered by WebMD, is your personal portal to good health. Based on the health profile developed after you take the wellness assessment, your customized home page will deliver personalized news and access to the resources you need to take more control of your health, including:

Latest news—the most recent information about medical health topics of interest to you.

Symptom checker—an intuitive way to check your symptoms and research possible health problems. Just click on the part of the body where you feel symptoms.

Medical encyclopedias—access to reliable, up-to-date information on health issues and suggested treatments.

Newsletters—targeted health information, links to WebMD health tools, and up-to-the-minute medical information based on your profile.

To learn more, attend one of the Healthy Incentives^SM presentations at work sites in December and January. If you can’t attend a presentation, visit www.kingcounty.gov/employees/HealthMatters/HealthyIncentives for more information.