Cover Story
Working together
How AdvoCare Group is embracing innovation
Smart Business Cleveland | September 2009
Joseph Cannelongo, CEO, AdvoCare Group
Karen Agnich, President, AdvoCare Group
It’s no surprise that a company founded by people who believed they could make a difference by helping individuals and employers with highly effective workers’ compensation programs would be innovative.
Since its founding in 1996 by a nurse and two vocational rehabilitation specialists, AdvoCare Group, led by President Karen Agnich and CEO Joseph Cannelongo, is a family of companies that has excelled at providing those programs that deliver health care solutions and offer effective rehabilitation services.
The innovation continued with the company’s creation of CAM PPO of America Inc., a network of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) providers in Ohio and an additional 30 states.
In September 2007, CAM PPO launched with its first client, Parker Hannifin, a major Northeast Ohio employer. AdvoCare Group, through its subsidiary, AdvoCare Alternatives, worked with the executive leadership at Parker to identify providers of massotherapy, acupuncture, chelation therapy and a range of naturopathic practitioners who joined a network of providers for Parker associates in Ohio and 30 additional states.
The leadership team at Parker holds a conviction that complementary and alternative medicine are of value in tandem with traditional health care treatments. With the financial support of the company, associates are awarded an annual financial allotment for CAM treatments, if needed, to help in wellness or a healing regimen.
AdvoCare responded to Parker’s interest by creating a complementary medicine network and credentialing practitioners in all of the areas where associates live and work.
AdvoCare expanded its expertise by joining physician experts, Dr. Laura DeVincentis, and Dr. James P. Frackelton, who are well known for their study of complementary medicine as part of an integrated approach to medical care.
CAM PPO was launched and available for use. The network has more than 1,200 providers in 30 states, and the program is now available to all companies interested in securing a trusted network of complementary and alternative medicine providers. In 2009, a complete portfolio of wellness products was added to the CAM PPO lineup.
Today, CAM PPO is one of the largest credentialed networks of complementary and alternative medicine in the U.S. at a time of renewed interest and respect for this approach.
How to reach: AdvoCare Group, (216) 514-1451 or www.advocare-inc.com or www.camppoamerica.com
