Profile by Sanford launches COVIDAge Calculator
Contact:
Paul Heinert
Sanford Health Media Relations
605-366-2432 / paul.heinert@sanfordhealth.org
Profile by Sanford, along with Everist Health, have created and released a new screening system to determine the risk of complications for COVID-19. (Video by Simon Floss, Sanford Health)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., May 6, 2020 — Profile by Sanford and Everist Health have unveiled a new screening system to determine the risk of complications for COVID-19.
The COVIDAge Calculator is an opportunity, says Profile by Sanford chief healthy living expert Stephen Herrmann, “for people to identify their risk of hospitalization, ICU admission and mortality.”
How it works
Herrmann says information like body mass index, smoking habits, blood sugar and cholesterol levels helps identify someone’s “COVID age” and risk of complication.
“All of these health factors play a role, but sometimes it’s complex to understand how. You can plug in the numbers you know; it creates a COVID age. That age will help you place your risk,” he said.
“It’s adjusting your risk based on all those other health factors.”
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Identifying risk factors
Herrmann says this calculator can be useful in determining which risk factors someone can control.
“A lot of them are linked to nutrition and diet. For a long-term solution, Profile is able to help build nutrition plans, activity plans and focus on lifestyle behaviors to lower those risk factors for this and other future issues that might arise.”
Herrmann reiterates that Profile by Sanford, part of Sanford Health, and Everist Health, a health technology company, are leading the way on something “that’s never been tried before.”
“What we’re trying to do with Everist Health is simplify some of the complex risk factors out there. So when people have a variety of health conditions, they don’t necessarily understand real well how they interact,” he said.
“How does your A1C (diabetes blood test) interact with your blood pressure, interact with your age, in increasing or decreasing your risk? So, trying to figure out a simple way to do that is really important. And then, what each of those independent risk factors contributes,” Herrmann said.
This tool follows a similar heart age calculator that was unveiled earlier this year by Profile by Sanford and Everist Health. The AngioDefender combines several health markers to give an idea of a person’s overall cardiovascular health.
“Being able to translate that and pivot quickly from general cardiovascular health to COVID-19 risk, is really impressive that they were able to do it so quickly,” Herrmann said.
About Profile by Sanford
Profile by Sanford combines nutrition, activity and one-on-one health coaching to help members achieve and sustain a healthy lifestyle. Physicians and researchers at Sanford Health, one of the largest integrated health systems in the nation, designed Profile by Sanford to take the guesswork out of healthy lifestyle change. The program’s results-oriented approach has allowed Profile by Sanford to open more than 150 locations in less than five years. The company was again named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the nation’s Top New Franchises in 2019. Profile currently has more than 50 new locations in development. For more information, visit profileplan.com.
About Sanford Health
Sanford Health is one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation, with 44 hospitals and nearly 300 clinics in nine states and four countries. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and serving the Upper Midwest, with nearly 1,400 physicians, Sanford Health is dedicated to several initiatives, including global children’s clinics, genomic medicine and specialized centers researching cures for type 1 diabetes, breast cancer and other diseases. Sanford Health has 28,000 employees, making it the largest employer in the Dakotas. Nearly $1 billion in gifts from philanthropist Denny Sanford over the past decade have transformed how Sanford Health can improve the human condition. For information, visit sanfordhealth.org.
