Telephonic Health Coaching:

How to do it best

Erin MB Ratelis

Master of Business Communication

Final Project Presentation

May 2006

Employers challenge Blue Cross

Help us…• Manage rising health care costs• Improve employee health

Find a solution that…• Targets high risk employees• Costs less• Is easy to administer• Is private & confidential• Creates return on investment

Blue Cross responds

Telephonic health coaching program

• Provides 1:1 support from a health professional

• Uses phone-based communication

• Engages high risk employees

• Focuses on health behaviors a person can change

• Motivates and supports

Now that employers have purchased…

We need to assess the Blue Cross program

Challenges

• Literature lacks direction

• There are multiple health coaching models

• Best practice guidelines don’t exist

Research Question

Can best practices for telephonic health coaching be identified?

Methodology

• Surveyed 52 health promotion experts

• 23 experts responded (40%)

• 15 experts had 11+ years experience

Methodology

• Web-based survey

• Survey was divided into three best practice categories1. Engagement2. Delivery 3. Results

Key Findings: Engagement

Question Who responds best to a health coaching

program?

ResponsePeople who have started to make a health

behavior change respond best to health coaches

Key Findings: EngagementEmployers should provide an incentive to employees who

participate in a health coaching program

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Stronglyagree

Agree Neutral Disagree Stronglydisagree

Re

sp

on

se

Pe

rce

nt

Key Findings: Delivery

QuestionWhat type of health professional is most qualified

to be a health coach?

Nurses, Psychologists, Health educators, Specialists

ResponseHealth educators are most qualified to be health

coaches

Key Findings: Delivery

How long should one telephonic health coaching session last?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Under 5minutes

5-10minutes

11-20minutes

21-30minutes

Longerthan 30minutes

Re

sp

on

se

Pe

rce

nt

Key Findings: Results

How long will it take to measure results of a health coaching program?

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Less Than 1Year

At Least 1 Year At Least 2Years

At Least 3Years

Re

spo

nse

Pe

rce

nt

(%)

Can best practices be defined?

Yes• Provide an incentive to health coaching

program participants – premium credits work best!

• Connect “action takers” with a health coach• Recruit and train health educators to be health

coaches• Engage participants in phone dialog at least

5 times during a year-long program

Can best practices be defined?

Yes• Engage participants in an 11-20 minute

conversation per call • Focus on no more than two health topics per

call • Facilitate health coaching dialog via email as

well• Measure program results after one year

Recommendations

• Share findings with employers

• Modify Blue Cross program based on key findings

• Continue to connect with experts

What questions do you have?