Ann Arbor-based HealthMedia Inc. said its rapid growth in providing online behavior change programs continued in the first quarter.

Health care license revenues increased 60 percent and revenue from partnerships with strategic vendors increased 100 percent from first quarter 2007. 

One new program contributing to this growth was launched in January and serves a large Medicare population. Industry embracement of HealthMedia’s Overcoming Insomnia program is also contributing to company growth, with three of the nation’s top 10 health plans and several large employer groups rolling out the program to  more than 14 million covered lives.

To serve its growing customer base and help customers better meet their goals of improving the health of their populations, HealthMedia also announced several new enhancements to its product offerings. Recent updates combine newfeatures and functionality with an investment in infrastructure to ensure smooth operations as product usage continues to grow. 

“We are listening to our customers and working hard to improve both their own outcomes and the overall experience for the end users,” said Ted Dacko, HealthMedia president and CEO. “From our Fusion technology to our commitment to fill industry gaps for issues such as insomnia, depression, and pain -- among the top drivers of productivity impairment and healthcare costs -- we believe our latest product improvements are yet another important step in fulfilling our strategy.” 

HealthMedia has redesigned its public and private user home pages with an interface it describes as more "Apple-like."

“This is the beginning of an 18-month initiative to take the user experience to a whole different level, and enable HealthMedia to protect its already market-leading series of wellness, disease management, and behavioral health solutions,” Dacko said.

HealthMedia Connect is designed to drive end user participation through the use of communications, promotional plans, incentive rewards, and intelligent recruitment.  Several enhancements include a new incentive fulfillment partner -- IncentOne -- which accepts automated feeds for streamlined distribution of incentive awards, and expanded standard incentive campaigns that include rewards for reporting progress towards goals.

HealthMedia is also enhancing its already successful Overcoming Depression program.

“In spite of the fact that our depression program is producing wonderful outcomes, we added more functionality to some critical parts of the program in order to drive even better outcomes,” said Dacko.

Individuals using Overcoming Depression report a 17 percent increase in their ability to manage depression, and productivity savings of $3,390 per participant per year. There is significant research showing the negative impact of depression on productivity in the workplace and the co-morbid effects on other chronic conditions.

More at www.healthmedia.com.