Ovia health coaches provide on-demand support

Registered nurses available to answer questions, no matter how big or small

From family planning to pregnancy to parenthood, MESSA members have support when they need it from the three Ovia Health apps available at no cost to members and their covered dependents.

Each Ovia Health app offers a customized experience, access to articles and tips to help you achieve your goals, as well as information about your fertility, maternity and family benefits through MESSA.

As an added bonus, members can connect directly with an Ovia health coach in all three apps. Most of Ovia’s health coaches are registered nurses, and they also include certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, certified lactation consultants, licensed therapists and sleep coaches.

So far this year, MESSA members exchanged more than 4,200 messages with Ovia health coaches. In some cases, advice received from a health coach helped prevent serious complications, illness or worse.

One MESSA member with a newborn contacted an Ovia health coach with concerns about a fever that developed shortly after being discharged from the hospital. The member reported that a urinary tract infection test had come back negative, but she still felt that something was wrong.

The Ovia health coach explained that postpartum infections need to be treated promptly, and strongly encouraged the member to immediately call her doctor.

Later that day, the member reconnected with the health coach with an update: She had been admitted to the hospital and was being treated for an infection.

All three Ovia Health apps are free for eligible MESSA members and their dependents:

  • Ovia Fertility: support for health tracking and starting a family.
  • Ovia Pregnancy: support for your happiest, healthiest pregnancy.
  • Ovia Parenting: support for newborn health tracking and the early years of parenting, from birth to age 4.

To get started, download the app that’s right for you from the App Store or Google Play. During signup, select “I have Ovia Health as a benefit” and enter MESSA as your health plan. For more information, visit messa.org/ovia.

Questions?

If you have any questions about your MESSA fertility, maternity and family benefits, call our East Lansing-based Member Service Center at 800.336.0013. Our member service specialists are happy to help.

This article was originally featured in MESSA DiscoverYou November/December 2020.