Gallup, Healthways Announce Global Well-Being Index^SM

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Americans soon will have a new daily pulse of their individual and collective health and well-being – The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index^SM – announced today by Gallup chairman and CEO Jim Clifton, and Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) president and CEO Ben R. Leedle, Jr. The exclusive 25-year strategic relationship between Gallup and Healthways resulted from their membership in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation.

Data collection for the Index will be based on 1,000 daily surveys which Gallup polling experts began conducting in January and which will continue throughout the 25-year term of the agreement. Armed with this unprecedented depth of information, leaders across government and business will be able to collaboratively and more effectively address the health, wellness and prevention needs of their population. Similarly, business leaders will be better guided in implementing programs to unlock the productivity dollars currently being lost to health-related causes.

The research and methodology underlying the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health as “not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being.”

“The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index will be the Dow Jones of health, giving us a daily measure of people’s well-being at the close of every day,” said Gallup’s Clifton. “With that daily well-being index, we will be able to determine the correlation between the places where people work and the communities in which they live and how it impacts their well-being. With that information, we can then begin to better understand how those factors impact the financial health of corporations and communities.”

Under the agreement, Gallup will evaluate and report on the well-being of countries, states, and communities; Healthways will perform similar services for companies, families and individuals. The new index combines elements of Gallup’s World Poll – a 100-year effort to annually measure the emotional, physical and financial well-being of citizens in more than 130 countries. The new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index will include more targeted questions relative to health and productivity to come up with a unique, objective benchmark for measuring and tracking the well-being of communities and companies, as well as the effectiveness of programs implemented to improve health, well-being and productivity.

The index will specifically measure:

• Access to and affordability of basic needs such as healthcare, food, shelter and personal safety
• Individual perceptions of physical, mental and emotional health and access to resources to improve them
• Job satisfaction, individual productivity and financial security
• Strength of social network
• Standard of living

Detailed results of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index based on the data from the first 100,000 surveys and including a relative well-being ranking of cities and states, will be released on April 29^th at a press conference in Washington, DC. Thereafter, the index will be made available daily online and through other outlets in the United States, and is expected to be extended globally over the next decade.

Initial results from the first 50,000 completed surveys with American households reveal such findings as:

• Friends and family helped individuals improve or maintain their health 53% of the time, almost as frequently as physicians who were cited 59% of the time
• Eighteen percent of full-time workers indicated that they currently care for a disabled or elderly family member, relative or friend
• More than one-third of unemployed individuals looking for work smoke as compared to about one-fifth of individuals employed on a full-time basis

“Healthways has long believed that a person’s state of health affects not only direct healthcare costs, but also impacts their ability to be productive in the work environment,” Leedle said. “The index will enable employers and community leaders to objectively assess the health of their population and access solutions that maintain health, modify risk factors and focus on the evidenced-based care necessary for those with chronic and persistent conditions.”

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index will provide cities, states and countries, as well as employers, families and individuals with objective information that shows their well-being score, how it compares to benchmarks, why that is, as well as things they can do and solutions they can employ to change it.

“Employers will now be able to measure the well-being of their workforce and families anywhere in the world. We envision that the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index will be an important, if not a leading factor in a company’s decisions about health benefits, work environment and corporate culture, as well as providing a new, critical data point about site selection for a new plant or facility,” Leedle added. “Organizations have long made such decisions based on workforce, transportation systems and educational systems. Now they can add well-being to the list.”

Commenting on the Gallup-Healthways initiative, CHT Founder Gingrich called the collaboration a shining example of the kind of thinking and action that’s necessary to truly transform the way society views, responds to, and chooses to alter its approach to healthcare and its state of well-being. “What Gallup and Healthways are embarking on is remarkable in its scope and mission, and I believe we will look back on this moment as a defining point in health transformation,” Gingrich said.

About Gallup

Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology. Gallup consultants help organizations boost organic growth by increasing customer engagement and maximizing employee productivity through measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services. Gallup's 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations, through the Web, at Gallup University's campuses, and in 40 offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.gallup.com/.

About Healthways

Healthways, Inc. 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.

Safe Harbor Provisions

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In order for Healthways to utilize the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, investors are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by the important factors, among others, included in the discussion in Part I, Item 1A, and Part II, Item 7, of Healthways’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year end ended August 31, 2007, and Part I, Item 2 of Healthways' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended November 30, 2007. Consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Healthways undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.