Verizon Teams with the Clinton Foundation to Foster Healthy Lifestyles in Underserved Communities at the Second Annual Health Matters Summit

Did you know the zip code you live in predicts how long you'll live? For example, if you live in zip code 94621, average life expectancy is 74 while a person living in zip code 94550 is 85.

Learning to live healthy has a great deal to do with not only how long you live, but your quality of life. This and other wellness themes were discussed at the Clinton Foundation's second annual Health Matters: Activating Wellness in Every Generation conference.

The high-visibility event brought together more than 400 stakeholders from the worlds of health care, public policy, education, individual wellness, and sports to identify strategies to promote and improve individual healthy lifestyles in the home, the community, and the workplace.

The conference, held January 15 in La Quinta, California, centered on the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) that was launched in mid-November of 2012. CHMI is a national initiative that builds on the Clinton Foundation's work on global health and childhood obesity in an effort to improve the health and well-being of people across the United States by developing and implementing a variety of new strategies for health and wellness in underserved U.S. communities working with its partners GE, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and Verizon.

"The Clinton Summit provided a phenomenal experience to be among leaders that are transforming health care delivery in the United States today," said Dr. Peter Tippett, chief medical officer and vice president of the Verizon Innovation Incubator. "Through our alliance with the Clinton Foundation, we will be able to deploy game-changing technology aimed at helping individuals maintain healthy lifestyles through the use of connected technology in communities with underserved populations."

As part of this initiative, Verizon has signed on to drive public awareness and an engagement strategy that evaluates the technology needs of health care facilities and related organizations within in-need communities, including Coachella Valley, Greater Little Rock and additional forthcoming communities. The goal is to help close gaps in health disparities and to improve well-being locally. In addition, Verizon will provide the technology infrastructure to support the CHMI web portal, including application development, cloud storage and high-speed connectivity.

"The hope is for these communities to serve as a new model for implementing locally-based technology-driven wellness programs that will address each community's unique health indicators," said Tippett. "With a focus on providing the necessary tools and programs to communities in need, Verizon believes it can help make a difference in the lives of many Americans."

You can see video of the Clinton Summit, available at this link: http://www.clintonfoundation.org/resources/hm2013.html