New Ocean Health Solutions
The Voyage to High Quality Healthcare

From his earliest days in business, Hal F. Rosenbluth, Chairman and CEO of New Ocean Health Solutions has always taken the unique approach that starts with understanding and fulfilling the needs of his employees as the key to determining and meeting the needs of clients. It was through this mindset that a younger Hal Rosenbluth combined technology and his burning desire to help companies and their employees better manage travel expenses that he transformed his $20 million local travel agency to a $6 billion dollar global travel management corporation which he sold to American Express in 2003.

Rosenbluth entered the vast world of healthcare with Take Care Health Systems and a goal to transform the industry by introducing affordable, accessible, high quality care in the form of retail clinics inside national pharmacies. Take Care Health Systems provided expert healthcare 7 days a week from nurse practitioners. In 2007, Walgreens acquired Take Care Health Systems, where Rosenbluth became President, Walgreens Health and Wellness and Senior Executive Officer of Walgreen Co. responsible for $48 billion of the company’s $63 billion of sales. Under Rosenbluth’s leadership Walgreens became the largest provider of retail clinics and worksite wellness centers with over 700 locations nationally. Rosenbluth realized that improving the overall health and well-being of employees is key to reducing medical claims and associated healthcare costs while boosting the productivity of an engaged workforce.

Today, Rosenbluth’s sails are set high with his company, New Ocean Health Solutions which is charting a course that maps a new frontier in health, engaging members and employees to take control of their health and improve their lifestyles and overall well-being. These efforts are all in the bid to reduce and better manage healthcare costs. “The existing health and well-being programs available in the market tend to take one-size fits all approach,” he says. “New Ocean is different. We used evidence based behavioral economics and mobile-first technology to develop health and well-being solutions that maximize sustained engagement through best-in-class vetted, original content to support our proprietary customized programs, challenges and rewards.”

Rosenbluth has always believed that engaging people to take a greater role in self-managing their health is a win-win-win situation for employers, health-plans and their employees and members. By providing accessible health tools and resources, New Ocean empowers people to embark on a personalized health and well-being journey.

“New Ocean Health Solutions is building upon the success of Take Care Health Systems in providing affordable, high quality, accessible healthcare,” states Rosenbluth adding, “the team at New Ocean is results-driven with a track record of setting and exceeding industry standards and we’re doing it again with a platform that powers solutions that go beyond technology.”

We are on a continuous journey to seek out the unknown, unmet needs of the healthcare ecosystem and build solutions to fulfill them

“The Bridge,” New Ocean’s first offering, is a mobile-first health management integration platform that delivers the capabilities of New Ocean’s proprietary solution which includes a reimagined Private Health Assessment (PHA) and recommended programs and content for a personalized journey that is accessible through any device, at any time. Customized challenges and a completely configurable rewards engine are designed to meet the prioritized health goals and budgets of each client and aim to assist people in their efforts toward improving health and overall well-being and managing chronic conditions.

The Bridge excels as a three-dimensional power center spanning a comprehensive offering that includes flexible data integration. The first dimension links New Ocean’s PHA to customizable personalized programs and content for lifestyle management and chronic condition management. Proprietary programs, challenges, rewards and social aspects, facilitate “The Voyage,” New Ocean’s personalized health and well-being journey. From any device, users can embark on their individualized health journey beginning with an intuitive, simple Private Health Assessment.

“The second dimension of the Bridge relates to New Ocean’s flexible data integration and seamless connectivity with our proprietary PHA programs, content, and vetted third-party solutions which can include telehealth, price transparency, employee benefits, and health savings accounts information,” says Rosenbluth.

The third dimension focuses on the development of an application for predictive analytics that will help clients determine healthcare costs on the health conditions of their employees and members.

More than Just Healthcare Solutions

“As a software development company, we take a people-centric approach to build solutions that are cognizant of time, space, and resource,” Rosenbluth points out. Considering the spend on chronic conditions, New Ocean’s solution is focused on engaging people to get and stay healthy with a broad variety of educational content and tools that help them in self-managing their health. “We work smarter by using both focus groups and latest research from leading experts of behavior change theory and behavioral economics.” With this knowledge, New Ocean’s subject matter experts thoughtfully develop, meticulously curate, and strategically deliver refreshing, evidence-based proprietary content. “Informative content in the form of original videos, articles, recipes, motivational messages, tips, and reminders drive engagement for maximum participation,” he adds.

As a person who blazed new trails in the travel industry, Rosenbluth has now disrupted the healthcare arena with a health platform driven by cutting edge technology. “I thoroughly enjoy connecting the nuances between people, technology, and a plethora of unknown variables,” Rosenbluth adds. He points out that while traditional health risk assessments are tediously time consuming and uninspiring, and leave participants feeling exposed, New Ocean’s assessments are shorter, less invasive, with incisive questions that get to the heart of the matter quickly without making people feel their privacy is at risk. Continuous feedback throughout the assessment and recommendations—that direct users to programs uniquely suited to them—make New Ocean distinct in the healthcare landscape. On their website www.newoceanhealth.com a vignette entitled “Shame” playfully jabs at traditional risk assessments using nudity as a theme that really gets the point across. Watch New Ocean's "Shame".

Participation in a health assessment is one of the keys to getting and staying healthy. New Ocean’s PHA is the gateway to the personalized journey that includes lifestyle and chronic condition management. New Ocean’s configurable rewards program to incent both intrinsically and extrinsically offers the dual benefit of earning rewards that can offset individual healthcare costs while getting healthier.

Embracing Health and Well-Being

The first company to launch with New Ocean is Independence Blue Cross (Independence), offering its employees the opportunity to embark on their health and well-being journey. Later this year, Independence will offer the health and well-being platform to members and self-insured clients.

“To keep our members at the center of all we do, Independence is committed to innovating alongside dynamic companies like New Ocean Health Solutions,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, President and CEO of Independence Blue Cross. “Together, we are creating a best-in-class solution that empowers individuals to take an active role in their health and well-being. We believe the unique platform from New Ocean will provide our members a personalized, engaging toolset that integrates into our existing technology for a seamless member experience.”

Thriving on a friendly, open and collaborative culture, the company’s breakthrough approaches are a resultant of shared ideas and synergy that is palpable in its work environment. “I love new ideas and spend a great deal of time creating an environment where the teams actively bring forth their ideas regardless of their position in the company,” highlights Rosenbluth.

“We are on a continuous journey to seek out the unknown, unmet needs of the healthcare ecosystem and build solutions to fulfill them,” says Rosenbluth.