CorSolutions and DIRECTV Group Focus of CDC Grant Study; Research to Measure Financial and Clinical Benefits of Employer Investment in Workplace Health and Productivity.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- As part of an ongoing collaboration to support employee health improvement, CorSolutions, the nation's leading health intelligence and solutions company, and The DIRECTV Group, Inc., a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment, broadband satellite networks and services, will be the centerpiece of a new study on health and productivity funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through the CDC's multi-year Health Protection Research Initiative, the 2004 Health Promotion grant award will be used to evaluate a new method of valuing investments in workers' health. Principal investigator Sean Nicholson, PhD, of Cornell University, and co-investigator Ron Loeppke, MD, chief health officer at CorSolutions, will coordinate the grant study.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of a new method for measuring the financial and clinical benefit to an employer of investing in the health and productivity of its workforce, an evaluation tool will be applied to DIRECTV's WorkWell+Plus employee health program provided in partnership with CorSolutions. The program, which has already shown health improvements for employees at the Boise Customer Contact Center, includes on-line tools and health information, personalized risk reduction and condition management support. The study will focus on employees at the Boise center.

"As health partners with DIRECTV, we are committed to measurably improving lives," said Dr. Loeppke of CorSolutions. "Demonstrating health improvements in a quantifiable way is critical if American businesses are to know the best health-related strategies to enhance the productivity of their human capital, their most valuable asset."

"We believe that an investment in health produces both a return for our employees as well as our business," said Kaye Reznick, human resources communications manager at DIRECTV. "The design of our workforce health program and the positive results generated to date are ideally suited for a study on health and productivity. We look forward to participating in this CDC funded study under the scientific leadership of Drs. Loeppke and Nicholson to show the real value of investing in employee health."

This year, the CDC awarded over 50 extramural grants to support research on developing effective health promotion and prevention programs, training efforts and centers of excellence. The grant that features participation by CorSolutions and DIRECTV was chosen by a panel of scientific experts outside of the federal government who reviewed and ranked more than 200 grants applications.

These grants follow CDC's launch last spring of the "Health Protection Research Initiative," a new grant program designed to promote and protect the health of Americans by funding research that could produce science-based recommendations that could be adopted by health departments, health care providers, employers and policy makers.

About CorSolutions

CorSolutions is the nation's first customer-centric health intelligence and solutions company that measurably improves lives. An industry pioneer with the longest tenure of delivering proven healthcare outcomes, CorSolutions addresses the demands of business today with an innovative, comprehensive approach to health and productivity. The company offers a completely integrated suite of clinical, administrative and provider services that span the entire health continuum from wellness and prevention to acute, chronic and specialty/complex care to deliver the industry's broadest and most flexible health and productivity management solutions. For more information, visit www.corsolutions.com.