Healthways Financial Well-Being Case Study.

1. 701 Cool Springs Blvd. | Franklin, TN 37067 | 800.327.3822 | healthways.com
One of the last great taboos in modern culture is talking about personal finances. An indi-
vidual’s salary, debt, spending habits and savings are all topics of conversation even close
friends and family members typically avoid.
Because of this reluctance to share our financial picture with one another, stress and distress
over money have become a silent epidemic, leading to negative outcomes such as poor
physical health, higher rates of substance abuse and depression, increased medical costs,
poor attendance and work performance, and broken marriages and families.
Passionately Fighting for Individuals’ Improved Financial Well-Being
Four-time New York Times best-selling author Dave Ramsey, considered by many to be
America’s trusted voice on money, is determined to guide this epidemic of financial distress
out of the shadows. “The Dave Ramsey Show®
,” which airs on more than 500 radio stations,
alone reaches more than eight million listeners each week, and he has positively influenced
millions with his books, website, syndicated newspaper column, live events and classes.
Ramsey’s goal is to improve overall well-being by helping individuals better manage their
personal finances, with an approach that includes basic budgeting skills and techniques for
day-to-day money management, as well as investment, savings and retirement techniques.
In 2011, two Healthways employees participated in Ramsey’s group-based Financial Peace
University®
program and subsequently experienced the relief and self-empowerment that
came with an improved approach to managing their personal finances. Then-director of
finance Rick Marshall and health coach Kali Worley were confident the Ramsey program was
a natural fit with the Healthways culture of improving well-being, so Marshall approached
the Ramsey team to determine whether or not it would be possible to share Financial Peace
University within the company.
Decreasing Colleague Debt in Only 13 Weeks
The Ramsey team, impressed by the enthusiasm of Marshall and Worley as well as the
mission of Healthways, made an unprecedented offer to invite 100 Healthways colleagues
to participate, at no charge, in the facilitator-led, 13-week Financial Peace University course.
Healthways Empowers Colleagues and Clients to
Improve Their FinancialWell-Being

2. HWAY_CSSTDY_Financial_0915 701 Cool Springs Blvd. | Franklin, TN 37067 | 800.327.3822 | healthways.com
These Healthways colleagues separated into smaller segments and met during their lunch
hours to complete each lesson, which included group discussions and interactive activities.
Participants first completed a financial pre-test consisting of several questions designed to
assess both their debt and their savings. Following the pre-test, they completed a series of
lessons on multiple facets of financial well-being, including budgeting, cash flow, savings, in-
vestments and retirement planning. Each lesson breaks down the financial well-being journey
into small, actionable steps that result in major changes, teaching participants to gain control
of their money instead of allowing their money to control them.
In fact, the program is predicated on changing a participant’s behavior (such as not reflexive-
ly reaching for the credit card to pay for something), which leads to long-term sustainability
and success. This holistic, behavior-based approach differs significantly from more traditional
methods of improving an individual’s personal finances, such as offering debt consolidation
services.
One of the core metrics of the Ramsey program is reducing personal debt. Of the Health-
ways colleagues who participated in this first phase of financial well-being improvement, 37
completed a post-program survey, which revealed the following remarkable tallies:
• $1,431,780 total consumer debt before program completion ($38,700 on average per person)
• $1,256,303 total consumer debt after program completion ($34,000 on average per person)
• $174,477 total decrease in consumer debt over 13 weeks ($4,700 on average per person)
Impressive Results Embolden Grass-Roots Effort
Bolstered by this success, Worley and Marshall continued collaborating with the Ramsey
team to recruit additional Healthways colleagues. In 2012, they worked with Ramsey account
manager Frank Hess to enroll colleagues in the newly developed Dave Ramsey’s Financial
Wellness (formerly CORE™ Financial Wellness) online program, which targets workforce
populations. Dave Ramsey’s Financial Wellness incorporates the same effective strategy that
Financial Peace University uses but is delivered online with support from expert coaches.
This self-directed program attracted 90 Healthways colleagues, of which 26 completed the
post-program survey. Phase 2 results were even more impressive:
• $1,096,020 total consumer debt before program completion ($42,200 on average per person)
• $898,600 total consumer debt after program completion ($34,500 on average per person)
• $197,420 total decrease in consumer debt over 13 weeks ($7,600 on average per person)
The success of both programs attracted the attention of the Healthways Innovations team,
which is charged with developing new Healthways offerings. The team was actively looking
for an innovative, world-class method to reduce financial distress and thereby round out the
company’s holistic solution for well-being improvement. To work most effectively, the solution
had to equally address all of the five essential elements that comprise well-being: purpose,
social, financial, community and physical.
“Once we started a budget, I immediately started sleeping straight through the night.
I wasn’t so tired all day at work, which made me more productive. I started doing yoga
two to three days a week. The best part is that my wife and I can handle situations that
might come our way like a job loss, car trouble or major medical bills. You are more
likely to focus on all the other aspects of your well-being when the financial well-being
is taken care of. I would have never started working out again with the worry of debt
stress on me.”
–Chad Hethcox, Healthways colleague

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© 2015 Healthways, Inc.All rights reserved.
The Innovations team firmly believed that the Ramsey program, given its track record, was a
good fit to complement Healthways’ Well-Being Improvement Solution because it was cham-
pioned by internal colleagues, characterized by innovation and based on a behavior-change
approach. In keeping with the Healthways solution philosophy, the Ramsey program also
demonstrated proven results and empowered the individual to take steps to self-improvement.
Educating,Supporting and Motivating Individuals to Gain Control of Their Money
Healthways worked extensively with the Ramsey organization to determine the optimal
way to leverage the Ramsey approach and tailor it for the more than 45 million lives that the
company touches through its total population health management offerings. In October 2013,
the two companies signed an exclusive agreement and began working on this new product.
The result is Healthways Financial Well-Being™, Powered by Dave Ramsey, which integrates
Ramsey’s successful approach to better financial health and personal money management
with Healthways’ intuitive technology and well-being expertise.The product combines video-
based learning modules designed to be completed at an individualized pace with features
such as access to educational Dave Ramsey content and a proprietary budgeting tool.
The offering is supported by Healthways coaches, who integrate financial well-being into
the company’s broader Well-Being Plan process and overarching coaching support, and who
also help participants navigate the online, self-directed experience. Program participants
needing additional help can access Dave Ramsey experts, who provide one-on-one financial
planning to participants requiring a more in-depth level of assistance in their journey to
improved financial well-being.
The collaboration of Healthways and the Dave Ramsey organization to create a solution
designed specifically to address an often overlooked element of a person’s overall well-be-
ing — his or her financial health and outlook — represents the culmination of an enthusiastic
grass-roots effort by Healthways colleagues to help their fellow employees. This spirit of col-
laboration and caring, so much a part of the Healthways culture, has now brought the hope of
financial well-being to millions through their health plans and employers.
“It is inspiring to me to work for a company that encourages you to be the proof when it
comes to well-being, which is ultimately about paying attention to your current situation,
setting actionable goals and being accountable.What better way to emulate that for your
financial health than to follow Dave’s strategy on budgeting, investing and insurance.”
–Kali Worley, Healthways colleague
“Money issues have a negative effect on people’s health. Working together, our
companies [can] help a lot of people improve their financial situation and their overall
well-being. The combination of Healthways’ science, research and technology, with our
ability to help people change their behavior,creates the perfect scenario to help people
get control of their money and begin to invest for their future.”
–Dave Ramsey