HealtHy employees,HealtHier Bottom lines

polar fitness-based technology helps total Health interactiveenhance corporate wellness programs for its clients

“Our platform has proven to deliver engagement numbers over 30%. Of those employees that choose to engage with our wellness platform, over 30% of them will login everyday,” states Greg Frers, Director of Sales for Total Health Interactive (THI). In explaining how Polar fitness technology products have enhanced THI’s ability to provide highly effective wellness programs for its corporate clients, Mr. Frers says “Additionally, those that have been participating in our platform with Polar heart rate technology have engaged more frequently than those that self-report activity.”

State-of-the-art SolutionSTHI works with a wide array of corporations and other entities throughout the health, wellness and fitness industries to provide education and tools to help theiremployees become healthier and stay motivated.

In partnering with Polar, the leader in heart rate monitoring and fitnessassessment technology, THI is combining Polar’s world-class fitness toolswith their cutting edge software to bridge the gap between traditional andincentive-based wellness programs.

At the center of their collaboration are Polar’s fitness and activity computers (FT7, FT60, FA20) and Polar’s FlowLink®. Polar heart rate products enable THI clients to clearly see how their fitness training and wellness efforts are paying off by displaying such data as fat percentage and calories burned, while the FA20 measures the impact of daily activities. The Polar FlowLink® allows users to easily upload these training files straight into the THI platform.

GrowinG need for wellneSS technoloGyCorporate wellness strategies have become a priority for many companies across the nation.The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that companies can save between $1 and $6 for every dollar they invest in employee wellness1. How? First, keeping employees healthy can reduce a company’s health insurance and other benefits-related expenses. Secondly,

healthy employees are generally more productive.

Consider the following: an estimated 145 million American adults are overweight and 74million are obese, placing more than a third of the working-age population at risk for chronic illnesses. Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the U.S., or an estimated $147 billion a year. Just three chronic conditions – asthma,

diabetes and hypertension – are associated with 164 million lost work days per year at a cost to employers of $30 billion2.

Businesses large and small are realizing the importance of investing in programs and technologies designed to make employees healthier, with 74% of U.S. employers now offering wellness programs.3

A workplace health analysis involving more than 40 published studies shows that on average a well focused corporate wellness program can lead to:

• 30% reduction in workers compensation and disability claims costs

• 28% reduction in sick leave absenteeism

• 26% decrease in overall health-related costs

MeaSurable reSultSThrough the use of Polar fitness tools and their ability toprovide “see-for-yourself” improvement, THI client employees are guided toward better health in a way that’s easy andrewarding. Polar products deliver instant visual feedbackthat not only communicates continually updated progress information, but also encourages employees to improve their wellness by taking responsibility for their own fitness bothimmediately and for a lifetime.

“The two key areas where Polar technology has enhanced our platform is the introduction of certified results and userengagement” states Mr. Frers. “Engagement is our focus.The more captivated a user is with the platform, the moreparticipation and the better the return of our clients’health initiative.”

Verified data collectionThe integration of Polar technology into THI’s corporatewellness solution has introduced verified data collection, which in turn has been the impetus to enhanced user engagement.

Polar fitness tools enable the THI wellness platform tocollect reproducible, verified data and automaticallypopulate users’ private online accounts with that data while also tracking their participation in group fitness challenges–all within seconds. “Our experience has shown that those users that engage with the platform with Polar fitness tools are more likely to stay engaged with the program than those users that do not,” continues Mr. Frers.

Collected verified data can be used to substantiate individual and group user health activity and improvement of health. In addition, this data can be automatically communicated to health professionals, educators and wellness administrators to ensure that users maximize their fitness experience and are rewarded for their proven efforts in leading a physically active lifestyle.

“Polar technology has given our software platform a means to seamlessly collect validated health data and enhancethe user’s overall experience. Plus it gives the ability tocommunicate proven activity to others for the purpose ofassisting them to become healthier,” explains Mr. Frers.

FA20

FT60

FT7

FLOWLINK®

the future iS nowMore and more companies are understanding the crucial value of a healthy workplace, and those businesses are achieving impressive wellness results that can bode well for their bottom lines both today and tomorrow. “With [simple to use] hardware and software tools, you can now directly engage a workforce and reward employees for their proven efforts in leading a physically active lifestyle based on robust reports of verifiable data,” states Mr. Frers. “With Polar technology, employees can show exactly how long and how hard they worked out every week.”

Indeed, validated activity data represents the future of corporate wellness programs as it provides wellness administrators with objective measurements to report on proven efforts with regard to physical activity. Another caveat: Polar’s data collection capability enhances an employer’s ability to reproduce relevant real time aggregate group reports showing activity trends, thus creating the ability to substantiate and evaluate return on investment.

“The primary objective of a wellness program is to drive improvement of employee health. By proactively investing in the health and well being of employees, employers are taking a significant step towards containing escalating insurance costs and reducing the incidence and duration of missed workdays,” sums up Mr. Frers.

for further information about total health interactive and Polartechnology, contact:

michele.henschel@polar.fi // 516 364 0400 ext 3018

1 www.cdc.gov2 American Heart Association; www.americanheart.org3 HR Morning; www.hrmorning.com