Karelia Health Named Best Start-Up of 2012 by the Hartford Business Journal
June 12, 2012
Farmington, CT - Karelia Health has been awarded the title of Best Start-Up Business by the Hartford Business Journal. The award was presented as part of the Business Champions Breakfast which launches the Connecticut Business Expo held last week in Hartford on June 7th.
The annual Business Champions event recognizes organizations that represent “the true lifeblood of our communities, producing the jobs, creating the products, and delivering the critical services we all count on each day. They are not only business-savvy, but are innovators as well,” says John Lahtinen, editor at the Journal.
“We are thrilled to be honored by the Hartford Business Journal for this award,” says Karelia Health President and Co-Founder Bill Carew. “We created this new business so we could focus more energy and resources on helping high risk members to change their life for good, and we're off to a great start.”
Karelia Health delivers high touch, on-site programs that prevent and reverse the course of chronic disease by training high risk participants to make lifelong changes in behavior that help avoid the catastrophic health events that lead to premature death and disability. Companies who invest in the Karelia True Health programs are able to reduce healthcare expenses and provide a higher quality of life for members by dramatically reducing health risks through medical interventions that include screening, intensive education and hands on work with trained and credentialed risk reduction Registered Dieticians.
“Our team is working really hard to make a difference” said Kim Kovalski, CFO and Chief Operating Officer of Karelia Health. “Our mission is to prevent and reverse chronic disease in high risk members, and it's great to be recognized for the success our high-touch True Health Programs are having in reducing healthcare costs for employers while changing the lives of those in need.”
The Karelia Health team includes a national network of specially trained clinicians to work with individuals who are identified to be at high and emerging risk for heart disease, diabetes and life-style related cancers. Healthcare experts understand that 20% of the members drive 80% of costs, and high risk members often account for 50% or more of expenses. Karelia's True Health Program significantly reduces the cost of healthcare by identifying these potential high cost claimants and working with them to prevent and reverse the onset of chronic disease.
Karelia Health was formed earlier this year and is a subsidiary of Ovation Holdings, Inc., which is also the parent company of Ovation Benefits Group. Previous to the launch of the new company and the Karelia Health brand, services were provided through the Ovation Workforce Health division that was formed after the 2010 acquisition of Health Navigators, LLC. Kovalski says 2,000 people participated in the program this year and that number is projected to rise to 14,000 in the next year.
ABOUT OVATION
Established in 2002, Ovation is an Employee Benefits and Workforce Health organization. A national leader in Workforce Health Improvement and one of the largest independent benefit brokers in the nation, Ovation represents more than 250 employers and more than 100,000 individuals in 43 states. Ovation's clients include small business, middle market and Fortune 1000 employer groups and more than 40 cities, towns and boards of education. For further information, please visit www.ovationbenefits.com. Press contact: Allison Lantieri, Marketing Director, 860.409.7205 allison.lantieri@ovationbenefits.com
ABOUT KARELIA HEALTH
Karelia Health is a member-centric organization focused on helping at-risk individuals to make lifelong changes in behavior that will produce a higher quality of life for participants and lower medical expenses for payers. Karelia Health was founded in 2012 and its foundation dates back more than 30 years with the pioneering work of Peter Townsley and Charles Taylor, MD at Corporate Health Services of America and Health Navigators, LLC. Karelia Health's programs follow an evidence-based medical model supporting aggressive Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) and Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) that is promoted by the top primary care and preventive cardiologists in the country. Karelia Health is a subsidiary of the newly formed Ovation Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Ovation Benefits Group. Learn more at www.kareliahealth.com
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