Newsmakers this month in the employee benefits industry include Timicoin/TimiHealth, First Vitals, Vitality Group, Shapa, and more. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Newsmakers in the employee benefits industry include companies hiring, promoting, acquiring and partnering. Here's a few that we've heard of recently:

ActiveRADAR (formerly known as RxTE Health), a company specializing in pharmacy cost reduction programs for employers, announced the addition of three health care executives to its leadership team. Dr. Ward Godsall, a seasoned executive with years of clinical and financial healthcare operations experience, is joining the company as the Medical Director; Todd Simenson brings 30 years of healthcare information system development experience to the role of Vice President of IT; and Charlotte Hitchcock will leverage her extensive legal expertise as the company's new General Counsel.

MyHRConcierge (MyHRC) has announced its partnership with benefits and HR software provider Employee Navigator. Brokers and others who license Employee Navigator's software can now offer Touch-Free COBRACompli to their small-mid-sized clients.

Zenefits announced the build-out of its Certified Broker Partner (CBP) program, a nation-wide network of benefits and insurance consulting firms: to include these new partners:

• NFP
• The Horton Group
• ABD Insurance and Financial Services
•  The Capital Group, LLC

The Standard announced a strategic partnership with Altwork, a San Francisco-based technology and engineering startup, to offer employees with disabling health conditions an ultimate ergonomic workstation to help their shorten disability leaves and increase productivity.

America's Best 401k has formed a new Board of Advisors who are providing expertise and support to help modernize the 401(k) industry and eliminate unnecessarily high 401(k) fees for small businesses and their employees. The members of the Board of Advisors are as follows:

• Marc Benioff, Chairman, and CEO of Salesforce.
• Carter and Courtney Reum, authors and Founders of M13, a diversified venture and brand acceleration firm based in Los Angeles.
• Tony Robbins, peak performance strategist and author of the No. 1 New York Times Bestsellers UNSHAKEABLE: Your Financial Freedom Playbook and MONEY: Master the Game.
• Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient, a business committed to connecting women in business and advancing equality in the workplace.

EZShield announced it has acquired IdentityForce. This acquisition expands EZShield's identity protection ecosystem by nearly 50 percent. This acquisition unites two best-in-class leaders focused on world-class support with solutions for partners in every industry, businesses of all sizes, and consumers with the most secure capabilities and rapid restoration services.

DPL Financial Partners, a commission-free insurance network for registered investment advisors  announced that Heather Rosato has joined the firm as Chief Marketing Officer.  Rosato will oversee brand development and alignment of marketing and sales initiatives, including the rollout of a new ad campaign “Join the Revelation.” The campaign speaks to the notion of big ideas—like Commission-Free insurance—that DPL believes will transform the insurance industry.

Vitality Group, a global health tech company, announced a partnership with Shapa, a Silicon Valley firm focused on chronic disease management and prevention.Through this partnership, Vitality will make available to its members Shapa's recently launched health management solution. As part of the Vitality program, employees receive personalized and dynamic health recommendations and resources specific to their needs in a way that meets them where they are while also providing employers the opportunity to amplify their own benefits and program offerings.

Timicoin/TimiHealth, a health care Blockchain-as-a-Service company, and First Vitals announced a partnership to use Timicoin/TimiHealth's blockchain for storing real-time data required to support First Vital's health care operations throughout the state of Hawaii. First Vitals, a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation grant awardee 2012 through 2015, also supports a CMS practice transformation program for physician organizations and providers throughout the state participating in the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC+) program. The program includes nine physician organizations, representing approximately 100 practices, 252 providers and over 375,000 patients with chronic conditions throughout Hawaii.

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Benefits newsmakers: Lincoln Financial, Finworx, Hub Int'l, and more

Employee benefits newsmakers: Vitals, PSCA, InHub, ADP

Benefits industry newsmakers: MetLife, National Tax-Deferred Savings Assoc., OneAmerica