Type of business Private Launched 2009 | Website healthywage.com | |
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Founded New York, New York, United States Headquarters New York City, New York, United States Founders Jimmy Fleming, David Roddenberry | ||
Nightly news healthywage teams up with employers for a weight loss challenge
HealthyWage is an innovation-focused wellness company that designs and implements weight loss and step challenges with cash prizes. The company is noted for pushing public discussion on health incentive issues, and for launching programs that use cash prizes, financial commitment, teamwork and positive peer pressure to achieve weight loss results at the corporate and consumer levels. In January 2010, the company became the first in the United States to offer a free health incentive directly to consumers.
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Services
HealthyWage develops programming based on academic and industry research on the impact of social networking and financial incentives on the effectiveness of wellness program outcomes.
The HealthyWager program allows participants to "bet" on their weight loss based on how much they want to wager each month, how much weight they want to lose, and how long they give themselves to reach that goal. This model provides a double incentivization in the form of loss-aversion and winning money. For example, a 2012 Mayo Clinic study that found people who received financial incentives stuck with healthy behaviors longer -- losing, on average, seven more pounds than their colleagues who did no have a financial incentive.
The $10,000 Team Challenge is a weight loss competition in which teams of five use teamwork and tools to lose weight over a period of time. HealthyWage pays a large prize to the participants with the greatest percentage weight loss. The most important factor in HealthyWage's most successful program to date is that the team wins as a group, so every member has a stake in other members' success.
The Jackpot Challenge is a weight loss competition where teams (generally 4 to 9 teammates) compete to lose a team average of 6% of their body weight by the end of the 12-week challenge. At the end of the challenge, all of the successful teams win an equal share of the jackpot.
The Step Challenge involves teams competing to increase their fitness levels through activity tracked via step tracking devices. Participants that increase their steps a specific percentage (typically a 20-25% increase) by the end of the challenge win an equal share of the pot. During the summer of 2016, the company leveraged the popularity of the Pokemon Go! app to incentivize players with cash rewards for getting out and hitting their step goals.
Weight loss competitions reflect a broader trend of companies incentivizing employees financially for healthy behavior, from regular gym use to quitting smoking.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found those with a financial incentive to lose weight were almost five times more likely to reach their target than dieters with no money at stake.
History
HealthyWage was founded in 2009 in New York City by former healthcare consultant David Roddenberry and his colleague Jimmy Fleming. The company launched its website later that year at TechCrunch in San Francisco.
HealthyWage users join programs tailored to specific goals, like losing weight and step tracking. HealthyWage's first program, the BMI Challenge, paid Americans who moved from an obese BMI to a normal BMI. The 10% Challenge allowed participants to "double-down" on their weight loss. Participants put $150 on the line, and won $300 if they lost 10% of their weight over six months.