THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross of California (BCC) announced today the launch of a secure, online Health Assessment in Spanish that will enable members to complete a health questionnaire and receive a personalized report, in Spanish, with recommendations on how to manage their personal health risks.
The Health Assessment helps members to identify and understand their personal risk factors, including family history and lifestyle behaviors. Upon completing the online questionnaire, members will receive a personalized, easy-to-understand report that allows them to compare their overall health status with the national average and with their peers.
The report also provides a member with personalized recommendations to help him or her effectively manage, reduce or eliminate personal health risks and embrace healthier lifestyle behaviors, for example, enrolling in a smoking cessation program, exercising regularly and getting preventive screenings.
"The online Health Assessment provides our members with a powerful tool -- in Spanish and English -- to help them identify their personal health risks and, more importantly, take action to manage these risk factors with a goal to prevent or delay the onset of more serious and chronic health conditions," said Ray Morales, M.D., a medical director for WellPoint, Inc., parent company of BCC. "This is especially important within the Hispanic community, where men and women are affected disproportionately by several health conditions, including diabetes and stroke. The Health Assessment is an easy-to-use tool that gives our members greater control of their health and health care."
The secure, online Health Assessment covers such topics as:
* current health conditions
* family health history
* lifestyle behaviors, including alcohol consumption, tobacco use,
stress, exercise and diet
* vital statistics, including cholesterol and blood pressure measurements
* life events, including family, children, relationships, job and
finances
* use of health care resources, for example, doctor visits, prescriptions
and hospitalizations.
The Hispanic online community is one of the fastest-growing online populations. More than half of the Hispanic population in the United States actively uses the Internet.
The Web-based Health Assessment in Spanish complements BCC's comprehensive suite of online health resources that are available in Spanish and English through the health plan's member website at http://www.bluecrossca.com/.
"The free, online Health Assessment -- now available in Spanish and English -- is a valuable tool that helps our members stay ahead of potentially serious, chronic and costly health conditions by answering a few simple questions about their health, lifestyle and family history," said BCC President Brian Sassi. "We're committed to providing our Spanish-speaking members with health tools and information that respect language and cultural differences -- and which engage and empower members to make more informed decisions about their health and health care."
Media Contact:
Tammy Taylor, Blue Cross of California
(805) 557-6799
About Blue Cross of California:
Blue Cross of California is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. . WellPoint's mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in terms of membership in the United States. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/.
