Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) today announced the expansion of its decade-long strategic relationship with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the immediate availability of InnergyTM, a physician-directed sustained weight loss intervention model to help people achieve and maintain clinically significant weight loss over a two-year period. The scalable, commercial design for InnergyTM was developed following the successful test of the telephonic and web-based delivery model as part of a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) clinical trial led by Lawrence J. Appel, MD1 and his faculty and research colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The trial's findings, which were hailed as "groundbreaking" by Donald M. Lloyd Jones, MD, Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University, were presented recently at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine2.

"In most weight loss studies, there is a lot of emphasis on frequent, in-person counseling sessions, but from a logistical perspective, in-person interventions are challenging for both patients and counselors," Appel says. "Patients start off strong but then stop attending in-person sessions. The telephonic coaching and web-based program, on the other hand, is convenient to individuals and can be done anywhere. Obesity is a major national public health problem and this collaboration can hopefully have a tremendous positive impact on this growing problem."

The personal and economic costs of unhealthy weight have been a subject of increasing focus for the past decade. In the 2001 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, former Surgeon General, David Satcher, MD, PhD, warned us of the negative effects of the increasing weight of our citizens and outlined a public health response to reverse the trend.3 Noting that "we have made some strides since 2001," the current Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA, has noted that "the prevalence of obesity, obesity-related diseases, and premature death remains too high... The sobering impact...is reflected in the nation's concurrent epidemics of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases."4

"We believe that Innergy now offers a proven solution to the obesity challenge, particularly given the recent decision of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide reimbursement for physician directed weight management counseling services," noted Healthways president and CEO Ben Leedle. "We are pleased to have demonstrated the effectiveness of our delivery capabilities in supporting, and now advancing, the proven clinical approaches crafted by Dr. Appel and his colleagues and employed during the clinical trial. We are proud that our reputation for science-based solutions and effective translation of science to practice in a scalable manner has led Johns Hopkins Medicine to expand its relationship with us to pursue Innergy's rapid deployment and future development."

Frederick L. Brancati, M.D., M.H.S., a professor of medicine and chief of the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says that the findings of the POWER trial are exciting because they were able to show a practical way to keep the weight off for a long period of time.

"Most other studies show maximal effect at six months but few demonstrate maintenance over one year, let alone two years as in POWER," says Brancati, who was involved in the trial. "Our objective now is to share this proven tool with thousands more who struggle with their weight. Historically, the translation of population health science to practice can take many years to accomplish. With this collaboration, we will quickly be able to make this intervention available to large numbers of people who can benefit."

Under the terms of the expanded relationship, Johns Hopkins Medicine will be responsible for the clinical integrity of Innergy, the training curriculum for Innergy coaches and clinicians, evaluation of outcomes, and scientific oversight of future enhancements to the delivery model. Healthways will be responsible for the sale and delivery of Innergy to physicians and health systems, employers, health plans, and governments, both domestically and internationally. The parties also announced the creation of a scientific advisory council for Innergy and the initial appointments of Dr. Appel, Dr. Brancati, Jeanne Clark, MD, MPH5, and Richard Rubin, Ph.D., CDE6 to that body.

"This collaboration with Healthways reflects our commitment to providing health solutions to the marketplace that are solidly based on the best science," says Patricia M.C. Brown, president of Johns Hopkins HealthCare, the managed care and population health arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Through our participation, we will be advancing the objectives of Johns Hopkins Medicine to foster intellectual discovery, develop innovative care delivery models, and improve human health."

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.5 billion individuals are overweight and 500 million of those are clinically obese.7 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention characterize obesity as an epidemic and reports that, "During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states had a prevalence of 30% or more."8 According to a recent study from the Society of Actuaries, the total economic impact of obesity in America is approaching $270 billion annually.9

Healthways Safe Harbor Provision

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our future results, activities and achievements which are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Those forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding the intent, belief or expectations of the Company, including, without limitation, all statements regarding the Company's ability to successfully create, implement and sell scaled telephonic and web-based weight loss intervention programs that achieve and maintain specific clinical results in any specific individuals or populations. In order for the Company to utilize the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, investors are hereby cautioned that the following important factors, among others, may affect these forward-looking statements. Consequently, actual results, activities and achievements by Healthways may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. The important factors include but are not limited to:

  • the Company's ability to create and implement scaled weight loss intervention solutions based on the Innergy weight loss intervention model which achieve and maintain specific clinical results in specific individuals or populations;
  • the Company's ability to successfully bring to scale in a timely and economically efficient manner solutions based on the Innergy weight loss intervention model;
  • the Company's ability to sell and accurately forecast the costs of commercializing the Innergy weight loss intervention solutions in both domestic and international markets;
  • the Company's ability to anticipate and respond to future trends and changes in domestic and international healthcare markets and the impact of such changes on the demand for the Company's services including Innergy weight loss intervention solutions;
  • the risks associated with changes and trends in weight management science, weight and weight loss trends in populations, disease onset and the associated costs;
  • the risks associated with changes in macroeconomic conditions;
  • the impact of future state, federal and international legislation and regulations applicable to the Company's business, including the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, on the Company's ability to deliver its services and on the financial health of the Company's customers and their willingness to purchase the Company's services; and
  • other risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.

Johns Hopkins Medicine Disclosure

Johns Hopkins faculty members and staff advise and collaborate with Healthways regarding the Innergy weight management program. Johns Hopkins receives financial compensation from Healthways in the form of royalties and fees for its contribution to the Innergy program.

About InnergyTM

Innergy is the scalable, commercial version of the sustained weight loss model Healthways provided as part of the successful Johns Hopkins POWER comparative effectiveness trial, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Developed through an on-going collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine, Innergy combines industry-leading telephonic coaching, on-line engagement and behavior change tools, and a web-based community of participants with education, support and appropriate physician interaction to help people get and stay on track. For more information, visit: http://www.healthways.com/innergy

About Johns Hopkins Medicine

Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Johns Hopkins Medicine is a nearly $6.5 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading academic medical centers in the United States. Johns Hopkins Medicine combines the 120-year commitment of its non-profit members to community care with groundbreaking research, teaching and medical services to patients worldwide. The Johns Hopkins Hospital has been ranked number one in the nation for 21 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. For the latest facts and figures, go to:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/

About Healthways

Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthways' solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate or eliminate lifestyle risk factors that can lead to disease and optimize care for those with chronic illness. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network and a national Fitness Center Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.

1 Professor of Medicine, Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Professor of Epidemiology and International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health

2 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1108660

3 http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/CalltoAction.pdf

4 http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/obesityvision/obesityvision2010.pdf

5 Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; faculty member at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The Johns Hopkins University; recipient of the Obesity Research Award for Outstanding Journal Research from the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.

6 Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; former President for Health Care and Education, American Diabetes Association

7 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

8 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

9 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

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Healthways
Chip Wochomurka, 615-614-4493
chip.wochomurka@healthways.com