Rising health care costs top the list of employers' concerns from the private to the public sector, so it's logical that a company who can prove to decrease health care costs would be growing. It's certainly the case for Ann Arbor's HealthMedia.
"Last year we hired 38 new people," says Caren Kenney, director of corporate communications. "That was a 40 percent growth rate over the year before."
Kenney says HealthMedia plans to hire 32 in the next year. Positions include sales, development, marketing, client services, product development and product management.
"The rising cost of healthcare has led to the need for more self-managament and early intervention," Kenney says. "The reason the cost is so high is that we're treating people when they're sick."
HealthMedia's offerings include an array of Web-based programs comparable to those used by real-life health coaches.
"We're working on two areas," Kenney says. "One is reduced healthcare costs, but there's also improved productivity - that's where the focus is now for employers. Not just absenteeism, but 'presenteeism,' where people are at work and working to their full potential."
HealthMedia got a bump when former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee began to tout the dollars he'd saved his state by using the HealthMedia system, but the company's success, Kenney says, is driven by its results.
"Mike Huckabee is out touting our programs, we have Kaiser Permanente touting our programs, and we have a lot of industry analysts that will look at these results," she says. "Once you get those outcomes, that's what fuels your growth - being able to prove it."
Source: Caren Kenney, HealthMedia
Writer: Nancy Kaffer
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