Healthways Wins Silver for Its Process Improvement Initiatives At World Conference on Quality...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) today announced its process improvement team was awarded the overall Silver Award at the American Society for Quality (ASQ) International Team Excellence competition during the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Houston, Texas. The

The four-member Healthways team was recognized for its project utilizing specific Lean/Six Sigma tools and methodologies to improve clinician productivity and overall member contact levels in a healthcare telephonic delivery model. This resulted in $3.3 million in cost avoidance, improved utilization and clinical outcomes.

"We are thrilled at this award, and believe our Healthways team truly deserves the honor," said Mike Davis, Healthways Vice President of Quality and Process Improvement. "At Healthways, our goal is to make the world a healthier place, one person at a time - and process improvement and quality assurance is an important piece to making that a reality."

The International Team Excellence Award process allows its participants to showcase their process improvement activities and compete with other organizations to see how they measure up against premier quality and continuous improvement processes from around the world.

There were 35 teams from 23 companies and five countries who participated in the award process. Of these, 26 teams were invited to compete in the finals. Teams were judged using stringent criteria, and the three highest scoring teams were honored with the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. Healthways received the Silver honor. Gold went to Boeing and Bronze to Bayer Material Science.

About the American Society for Quality

The ASQ is widely considered to be the world's leading membership organization devoted to quality. With more than 100,000 individual and organizational members, this professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. Additional information about ASQ and the award process is available at www.asq.org.

About Healthways

Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care Support(SM) solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare costs. Healthways' solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression of disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.