Healthwise Turns 40 With a Promise of Continued Patient Engagement Innovation

BOISE, ID--(Marketwired - May 14, 2015) - There is a wind sculpture outside the Healthwise headquarters. Its steel and concrete base never moves. The base represents the organization's nonprofit mission, unchanged for its 40 years: "Help people make better health decisions." The wings of the sculpture, however, are ever moving -- even in the slightest wind. The sculpture represents the relentless innovation that has kept Healthwise at the leading edge of patient engagement through four decades.

As Healthwise celebrates its 40^th anniversary on May 16, the organization will be looking back at its remarkable history and also ahead to a future that will impact the quality of population health across the continent and the world.

"Our history is a rich one," said Don Kemper, Healthwise founder and CEO. "We have mixed advocacy and solutions to advance medical self-care, wellness, disease self-management, shared decision making, information therapy and, now, population health."

Along the way, Healthwise has picked up national recognition for its content quality, plain language, and health information technology, as well as for receiving the Wall Street Journal's award as a Top Small Workplace. It was also named by the American Psychological Association as one of the 10 Most Psychologically Healthy Workplaces in the nation. "Healthwise is strong because of our positive workplace culture that emphasizes respect, teamwork, and doing the right thing," said Molly Mettler, senior vice president of mission.

Healthwise has always looked to advance its technology to continue empowering patients, members, health systems and health plans. "Innovation is at the core of how we help providers and insurers get the right information to the right people at the right time," said Jim Giuffré, Healthwise president and COO. "We are always looking around the corner to learn how new technologies, policies, and social changes might provide better ways to engage each person in his or her health."

Healthwise gained additional international respect through its 2014 merger with the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. Michael Barry, president of the Foundation and chief science officer of Healthwise, said, "The Foundation's research and advocacy and its thought leadership regarding shared decision making are continuing to shape the health care landscape."

Over 200 million times a year, people turn to Healthwise information and decision support through their doctors, hospitals, health plans, or health websites. "If you've ever found value from our information, please send us a note," added Kemper. "We'd love to add your thoughts to our celebration."

You can find more information about Healthwise's 40^th anniversary on their website. Send stories about Healthwise to media@healthwise.org.

About Healthwise
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. In 2014, Healthwise merged with the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation to further advance the mission. People have turned to Healthwise information more than 1.5 billion times to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the care they need, and say "no" to the care they don't need. Healthwise partners with hospitals, electronic medical record (EMR) providers, health plans, care management companies, and health websites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the people they serve. www.healthwise.org. 1.800.706.9646.