Active Wellness, a fitness design and management company, has promoted Dr. Mike Rucker to chief digital officer.
Rucker oversees digital strategy, process optimization, member and employee experience platforms, and supports growth marketing automation for Active Wellness clients operating in more than 20 industries and across 13 U.S. states and Canada.
Rucker’s accolades include managing the enterprise migration of more than 90,000 member accounts and 1,000 employee accounts to the Cloud, which decentralized the preexisting data center, effectively reducing company OPEX technology expenses by 10% YOY since 2014.
In 2016, Rucker was named a Top 50 Digital Health Influencer by Onalytica. Going into 2020, he is a member of the inaugural Digital Influencer program for Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), which is an American not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care in quality, safety, cost-effectiveness and access through the best use of information technology and management systems.
“Mike is an incredible thought leader in digital health trends and our team is fortunate to benefit from his expertise,” said co-founder and CEO Bill McBride. “As our network of managed facilities expands, it’s of utmost importance for our operating systems and member engagement to set the pace at the forefront of technology.”
Rucker’s education includes a doctorate in Organizational Psychology and an MBA. His doctoral research paper explored workplace wellness strategies for small businesses and was published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. He also recently completed a case study that tracked modified incentives at an Active Wellness-managed corporate multi-tenant fitness amenity. After years of receiving entitled employee access to the corporate fitness center and accompanying wellness programs, access was changed to a use-it-or-lose-it model inspired by the behavioral economic concepts of the endowment effect and loss aversion. Employee engagement increased 68% and benefited the commercial real estate owner with an extra $150,000 in profits in less than four years.
“I’m grateful to play a part in all we do at Active to improve access and health outcomes across the continuum of care, reducing costs, optimizing processes and improving the user experience for both members and fellow employees,” said Rucker.
