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Prevention Partners: a benefit of health plan One of the benefits for MUSC holders of the South Carolina State Health Plan is Prevention Partners, a division of the S.C. Employee Insurance Program.   Services provided by Prevention Partners include free classes, worksite screenings for a minimal cost, chronic disease management, and a variety of products. The Prevention Partners office is located in Columbia, SC. Health 1st, MUSC’s Employee Wellness Program, coordinates Prevention Partners classes and screenings at MUSC.   Any MUSC department that can gather the minimum number of employees interested in holding a class or screening should contact health1st@musc.edu or call 792-1245. Classes Prevention Partners’s health educators provide free classes at any South Carolina state employer workplace as long as a certain number of employees have registered for the class by a certain date before each class.   Topics can be related to health promotion, disease prevention and chronic disease management. Some examples of topics include: Weight Management, Stress Management, Heart Health, Caregivers, Diabetes, etc. Screenings Worksite screenings test employees for hemogram, chemical profile, and lipid profile and measure employees’ blood pressure, pulse, height, and weight.   Each employee with any of the state health insurance plans (standard Blue Cross Blue Shield, MUSC Options, Blue Choice, and Cigna) can participate in the screening each calendar year for $15. If the employee chooses to repeat the test in the same calendar year, they can do so for $38.   MUSC employees not covered by the S.C. State Health Plan can participate for $38 as long as there is a space in the schedule. A confidential report is given to each employee who participates to take to their primary care provider. A useful 16 page Guide for Personal Health can be downloaded from the Prevention Partners Web site. Smoking cessation One hour smoking cessation classes are offered as well as telephone coaching. Smokers who want help quitting can call: Free and Clear 1-866-quit4life (BCBS) Great Expectations 1-800-327-3183, ext. 25541 (MUSC Options/Blue Choice) Healthyroads for Living 1-800-244-6224 (Cigna) Products Products can be ordered from Prevention Partners. These include pedometers for about $3, slideguides for $.75 each (lowering your cholesterol, weight control, walk for fun, low fat food finder, trimming that fat), and Tension Tamer Program $10.50. Health information   Visit http://www.eip.sc.gov and click on Prevention Partners to find more information about a wide variety of topics promoting employee health.   Samples of Prevention Partners products and other information will be available at Health 1st’s next Wellness Wednesday.   Make sure to come by the Health 1st table from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 22  in the lobby of the Children’s Hospital. Remember that Health 1st is MUSC’s Employee Wellness Program promoting the health and well-being of all the MUSC community. Editor's note: The preceding column was brought to you on behalf of Health 1st. Striving to bring various topics and representing numerous employee wellness organizations and committees on campus, this weekly column seeks to provide MUSC, MUHA and UMA employees with current and helpful information concerning all aspects of health.     Friday, Aug. 17, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.