INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Summex, a pioneer and leading agent for change in the health management industry, today announced a strategic shift in the role that Larry Chapman, its co-founder and chairman of the board, will play in the company’s future.
Effective immediately, Chapman will no longer offer stand-alone consulting services on general health care topics. Instead, he will develop strategic partnerships with some of the country’s largest human resource and benefits consulting firms and build strong working relationships with Summex’s current clients. This shift will allow Chapman to focus exclusively on the role wellness plays and the value it brings to the overall health care landscape.
The change in Chapman’s focus is in direct response to Summex’s recognition of the increasingly influential role that HR and benefits consultants play in the corporate health management industry. Summex’s goal is to offer Chapman as a resource to these consultants by providing them with the data, research and technology they require to help their clients make buying decisions.
One of Chapman’s first priorities is to develop a technical white paper series addressing the challenges facing the health management field. Over the next year, he will make this research available to industry consultants as well as large employers. Additionally, Chapman will lead Summex’s fast-paced research and development initiative and will define go-to-market strategies for new services and methodologies. He will also cultivate new markets to facilitate the company’s long-term growth, viability and success.
“Larry’s contribution to our strategic direction has been invaluable over the years,” stated Rob Plankenhorn, Summex’s president and chief executive officer. “Modifying his role in this way helps capitalize on his industry relationships, vast base of client experience and vision across the industry. His leadership in this effort will allow Summex to be more responsive to the consultant community by providing comprehensive research-based methodologies that leverage our significant investment in technology and years of experience working with large employers.”
Chapman will apply his more than 25 years of industry experience, research, knowledge and relationships to help Summex develop innovative new practices, deliver results-based wellness programs and further establish the company’s position in the health management marketplace.
“This is an exciting change which is extremely invigorating,” noted Chapman. “Over the last several years, benefits consultants have found that their clients expect advice on health management topics. I want to be a forward-positioned resource to help deliver the best possible information, both on health management issues as well as Summex’s services. It also allows me to actively promote and build upon Summex’s expertise in research, development, deployment, measurement and analysis. Our clients will benefit from services that are proven to effect measurable enhancements in employees’ health while maximizing the return on their investment in wellness initiatives.”
In addition to his role with Summex, Chapman continues to serve as an editor for the American Journal of Health Promotion and the editor of the Art of Health Promotion Newsletter. He has published more than 170 articles and columns and 13 books on wellness and health cost management. He provides counsel to the National Institutes of Health; the Center for Disease Control; the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy; the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). Chapman is a frequent industry keynote speaker who earned a master’s degree in medical care organization from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He has also received numerous professional awards, including a Lifetime Service Award from the Association of Worksite Health Promotion and recent induction into the National Wellness Institute’s Service and Leadership Circle.
About Summex Health Management
As a pioneer and leading agent for change in the wellness industry, Summex works with health insurance companies (managed care organizations or MCOs), human resource and benefits consultants and businesses with 1,000 or more employees to actively manage and reduce health care costs. It accomplishes this by developing, implementing and managing comprehensive wellness programs that include a customizable combination of health risk assessments, personal coaching, Web-based information and services, ongoing lifestyle education and financial incentives.
All of Summex’s lifecycle services are designed to change high-risk behaviors that lead to illnesses, disease, injury and high medical costs. Its programs are based on the latest empirical research, designed to engage employees and monitored to yield a positive, quantifiable return on investment. Summex has more than a decade of experience empowering employees to eliminate risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and smoking that can result in heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer.
Founded in 1993, Summex is privately held and headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. To learn more about the company, its services or methodologies, please call (888) 878-6639 or visit http://www.summex.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS Denise McFadden Amy Zucker Synergy Marketing Group, Inc. Synergy Marketing Group, Inc. 317-205-9690 x 5 317-205-9690 x 2 denisemcfadden@synergy-mg.comamyzucker@synergy-mg.com
Summex Health Management
CONTACT: Denise McFadden, x 5, denisemcfadden@synergy-mg.com, or AmyZucker, x 2, amyzucker@synergy-mg.com, both of Synergy Marketing Group,Inc., +1-317-205-9690
Web site: http://www.summex.com/
