Lowe's Expands Accolade Service, Doubling the Number of Employees with Access to Accolade Health Assistants®

Innovative model helps employees and their dependents make the most of their benefits and get the right care at the right time

News provided by

Accolade, Inc.

Jan 14, 2015, 12:15 ET

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Accolade, Inc. announced today that it has expanded its agreement with Lowe's Companies, Inc. to serve more employees and their dependents with its innovative personal health assistance service. Under the agreement, effective January 1, 2015, covered individuals will have their own Accolade Health Assistant^® to help them navigate the healthcare system, resolve benefits and claims issues, find the right provider, understand their treatment options and coordinate care across settings.

Lowe's began working with Accolade, a technology-enabled healthcare services company, in 2012 as part of its focus on pioneering innovative new approaches to support employee engagement in health. Accolade Health Assistants serve as a single point of contact to meaningfully engage those individuals, helping guide healthcare decisions and reduce errors that lead to increased costs.

"Lowe's is truly an innovator in employee health and wellness, and understands the link between engagement in health decisions and broader business results," said Tom Spann, chief executive officer of Accolade. "We value our partnership and are honored by the trust they have placed in us to support thousands more individuals along their healthcare journeys. By staying focused on the consumer and the results we deliver, we've been able to retain and expand our customer relationships, which is a key growth driver for Accolade."

Accolade Health Assistants — supported by a team of nurses, doctors, social workers and other specialists — build relationships with each individual and develop highly personalized care plans that factor in not only the individual's health status but also life context, knowledge and emotional issues that affect healthcare decisions.

"The healthcare system can often be so complex that even knowledgeable consumers find it helpful to have assistance navigating it successfully," said Bob Ihrie, senior vice president, benefits and compensation, Lowe's. "Accolade offers an independent, third-party resource that enables employees to make personal healthcare decisions for themselves and their dependents with confidence."

Since it began serving clients in 2009, Plymouth Meeting-based Accolade has steadily grown, with Accolade Health Assistants now serving more than half a million Americans.

Across Accolade's full book of business, the company has achieved, on average:

67 percent engagement among the total populations served
Savings of 5-15 percent in annual healthcare costs
Consumer satisfaction of 98 percent and a world-class Net Promoter Score of 70

NOTE: Spann will discuss how Accolade is solving the consumer engagement problem for innovative employers like Lowe's at the 33^rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference today at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. He also will provide additional details of the results that are driving the company's 97 percent compound annual growth rate.

About Accolade

Accolade is an innovative consumer healthcare engagement and influence company, dedicated to helping people get the right care while improving their health care experience and lowering costs for large employers, payers and Accountable Care Organizations. Our Accolade Health Assistants^®take the time to get to know individuals, understanding the context of their healthcare decisions, building trust and influencing decisions as they navigate the complex healthcare system. By integrating leading technology, analytics and clinical decision support, we're able to create personalized engagement and care plans of action for every individual. The result is superior levels of engagement, healthcare cost savings and consumer satisfaction. Accolade's savings calculation methodology has been validated through separate, independent studies by leading experts. For more information, visit www.accolade.com.

SOURCE Accolade, Inc.