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Health and wellness coaching is a fast-growing segment of the healthcare industry and a wise investment for health plans, employers and providers as a hedge against the escalating costs of chronic illness. According to the Wellness Council of America, a $1 investment in wellness yields a $3 ROI in healthcare cost savings.

Whether you're planning to launch a new health coaching program in the coming year or expanding an existing initiative, the key to success is access to reliable data to help you evaluate your program and compare performance and utilization data.

"Health Coaching Benchmarks: Operations and Performance Data for Optimal Program ROI and Participant Health Status" is the one-of-a-kind resource you can use to see how your coaching program measures up to others and map out any necessary enhancements.

This exclusive 35-page report analyzes the responses of more than 230 of your peer organizations to HIN's 2008 survey on health and wellness coaching, presenting the data in easy-to-follow graphs and tables. This industry snapshot is enhanced by recommendations and advice from 15 leading experts in health coaching on the most common coaching concerns — from coaching caseloads to call center staffing to coaching intervention frequency and duration.

This report tackles many health coaching FAQs:

• What is the optimal coaching caseload, and how often should a coach contact a client?
• How long should a coaching intervention last?
• Which coaching modality should be employed, and how should you identify, engage and reward participants?
• What can you expect to pay per member for health coaching, and how can you measure the effectiveness of a health coach and a coaching program?

Benefit from your peers' experience and get recommendations and advice on:

• Identifying candidates for coaching;
• Preferred coaching modalities — telephonic, online and in-person;
• Matching coaching modalities to participants' health conditions;
• Coaching intervention length, frequency and duration by modality;
• Enrollment trends — eligibility, participation and completion rates;
• Call center staffing, operations and scheduling;
• Recommended coach caseloads by coaching modality and the factors that can influence this;
• Using incentives to engage, motivate and reward participants;
• Suggested formulas for measuring ROI and program effectiveness;
• Frequency and duration of health coach training;

• The numbers of hospitals, health plans and employers offering health coaching today and those with coaching programs in the wings;
• Health conditions most frequently targeted by health coaching programs;
• Coaching modalities in use by respondents;
• Preferred behavior change models;
• Frank commentary on what's working in health coaching and the greatest challenges associated with launching a coaching program.

Health and wellness coaching programs large and small — and those still on the drawing boards — will benefit from the performance and operations benchmarks suggested by coaching veterans from business, healthcare and academia:

• Ted R. Borgstadt, co-founder and CEO of TrestleTree, Inc.;
• Danielle Butin, executive director and founder of The Afya Foundation and former director of health services at Oxford Health Plans, a United Healthcare company;
• Dr. Susan Butterworth, associate professor and director of health management services at Oregon Health & Science University;
• Michael Casey, senior director of population health products and services for Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources;
• Richard Citrin, vice president of EAP solutions at UPMC Health Plan;
• Allyson Faist, president and CEO, MEDeCOACH;
• John Harris, senior vice president and chief wellness officer of Healthways;
• Jennifer Hidding, former director of interactive health management of consumer solutions at OptumHealth;
• Darcy Hurlbert, health and wellness product specialist at Ceridian LifeWorks;
• Kerry Little, senior health coach with Duke University Medical Center;
• Margaret Moore, founder and CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation.
• Ruth Quillian-Wolever, clinical health psychologist and director of research at Duke Integrative Medicine;
• Roger Reed, chief consumer engagement architect, Gordian Health Solutions;
• Maddy Rice, director of clinical operations for the International Partnership for Microbicides and former vice president for training and development at CorSolutions;
• Dr. Dennis Richling, medical director and vice president for CorSolutions, a Matria Company;
• Bonnie Sechrist, director of clinical program development with Health Management Corporation; and
• Sean Slovenski, president and CEO, Hummingbird Coaching Services.

"Health Coaching Benchmarks: Operations and Performance Data for Optimal Program ROI and Participant Health Status" contains essential information to help you evaluate your program, plan improvements, measure coaches' effectiveness and determine program success and ROI.