Osage Nation fights obesity with technology

 

Last updated 7/27/2013 at 2:24pm



PAWHUSKA, OK—Osage Nation employees are getting paid to lose weight. A recent study conducted among citizens of the Native American community located in northeast Oklahoma showed that below average health conditions were being caused by overeating, smoking and depression. As a result, local employers have taken steps to implement health incentive programs which recognize and reward employees for healthy living choices.

One of those programs is provided by incentaHEALTH, a private health care technology company headquartered in Denver that uses its patented HEALTHspot kiosks for remote wireless wellness monitoring and counseling. Under the program, when employers see consistent weight loss they reward their employees with cash.

Osage Nation also is one of the first incentaHEALTH customers to use Fitbit smart activity trackers which are now part of the kiosk program. Participants now can wirelessly measure steps taken, distance walked, calories burned, floors climbed and even the quality of their sleep.


With the HEALTHspot kiosks conveniently located in the workplace, participants can privately track their progress and have access to daily e-mail and text message coaching, communication with a personal trainer, nutrition and exercise podcasts for their mobile phones, and biggest loser team weight-loss challenges ever three months.

“For years we have been rewarding individuals with cash incentives for achieving a healthy weight,” said Todd McGuire, co-founder and chief technology officer for IncentaHEALTH. “We are excited to extend our wellness incentive platform to now include the Fitbit solutions so we can offer the same cash rewards for measureable improvements in physical activity.”


Working with incentaHEALTH to support Osage nation is The Holmes Organization, a risk management consulting firm in Tulsa.

IncentaHEALTH is a cloud-based health care technology company with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. As a leader in measurable wellness programs, incentaHEALTH’s system is designed to help organizations and communities reduce their health care costs by offering incentives to individuals for improving their health. incentaHEALTH helps people manage their weight through the use of interactive email and text message coaching, weigh-ins on private kiosks in corporate and community locations, and cash rewards for sustained weight loss success.

 
 

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