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MEDecision and Health Language Inc. Form Strategic Alliance

MEDecision — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa. & DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, and Health Language, Inc. (HLI), a global leader in medical terminology management, today announced that the companies have entered into a strategic partnership that will enable MEDecision to help its healthcare payer and provider customers transition to, comply with and capitalize on the industry's forthcoming ICD-10 requirements.

Under the agreement, MEDecision will incorporate HLI's Language Engine^® (LE) into its collaborative health management portfolio to accelerate the transition to the ICD-10 coding system, which goes into effect on October 1, 2013. This will give payers and providers an increased level of coding specificity and enable them to boost the efficiency of care management processes and promote interoperability. The web service platform synergies between the companies' technologies will allow for faster and easier integration with customers' systems, regardless of their technology platform(s).

"Adding LE to our technologies enables us to offer an additional health management benefit, not just an ICD-10 compliance component," said Eric Demers, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at MEDecision. "With this capability, we can help healthcare stakeholders keep pace with the ongoing introduction of new and updated standards and augment their administrative and care management processes for greater effectiveness. We're very pleased with the alliance we've forged with HLI and are excited about the advanced resources it will allow us to offer our customers."

The arrangement with HLI demonstrates MEDecision's continued commitment to collaboration, data integration and health information exchange. LE's ability to collect data from disparate codes and vocabularies, convert it into standard terminologies and codes, and deliver it to a variety of platforms enhances the interoperability approach inherent in the design of MEDecision's solutions. Additionally, LE's mapping capability and web service integration will hasten the crosswalk from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and streamline integration through existing translations, HLI's provider friendly terminology and customized mapping when necessary.

"MEDecision clearly shares our philosophy that technology is our best means of bringing sustainable, positive change to the healthcare system," said George Schwend, CEO at Health Language. "Combining our capabilities with their solutions gives users powerful tools for navigating changing regulations and evolving market forces to establish systems and processes that foster growth and a competitive advantage."

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook. For more information about Health Language, visit www.HealthLanguage.com and follow the company on Twitter at @health_language.

About Health Language

Denver-based Health Language, Inc. (HLI) develops and delivers state-of-the-art software solutions that automatically incorporate medical vocabulary and coding standards into healthcare information technology (HCIT) applications. HLI's Language Engine (LE) allows centralized access to medical terminology standards and generates mappings to create a common pool of standardized codes and concepts that enhance patient safety, facilitate clinical outcomes analysis and accelerate reimbursement. It also provides standards for modeling, storing, updating and distributing information consistently for interoperability between hospitals, regions and countries. For more information, visit www.healthlanguage.com or call 720-940-2900.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame™, a set of tools to facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

MEDecision is a trademark of MEDecision, Inc. The MEDecision logo and product names are also trademarks or registered trademarks of MEDecision, Inc. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Tags: MEDecision, Health Language Inc., HLI, Language Engine, healthcare reform, decision support, Nexalign, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications for MEDecision
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com
or
Amendola Communications for Health Language
Jan Shulman, 480-664-8412 ext. 12
mobile: 602-206-4284
jshulman@acmarketingpr.com

MEDecision to Present Complimentary Webinar, Medication Therapy Management: An Opportunity to Lower Costs and Improve Outcomes

MEDecision — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, will present a complimentary webinar, "Medication Therapy Management: An Opportunity to Lower Costs and Improve Outcomes," on Wednesday, March 16 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time. MEDecision's Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Andrew Schuyler, M.D., and Product Marketing Director Nancy Bucceri will host the session.

Medication therapy management (MTM) is considered a critical component of new patient-centric care models designed to reduce waste and improve outcomes. The webinar will define MTM, explain how health plans and accountable care organizations are best positioned to facilitate improved outcomes with MTM, and will review the technologies required to successfully implement MTM tools and programs.

Attendees will receive answers to the following questions:

What is MTM and why is it important?
Who drives MTM programs today?
What is the financial impact of MTM programs to health plans?
How does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Interim Final Rule on Medical Loss Ratio classify MTM services?
What are the information technology requirements of an MTM program?
What is MEDecision's approach to supporting MTM?

What: MEDecision webinar: "Medication Therapy Management: An Opportunity to Lower Costs and Improve Outcomes"

Who: Andrew Schuyler, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer Nancy Bucceri, product marketing director


When:	Wednesday, March 16, 2011; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:	Register at http://bit.ly/eROOzy.

MEDecision also recently announced the availability of its latest e-book, "Medication Therapy Management - A Case for Health Plan Intervention." The publication explains how health plans are ideally positioned to facilitate MTM programs and looks at the technology necessary to make them successful. The complimentary e-book can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/eIBMWG.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame™, a set of tools that facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, medication therapy management, MTM, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Publishes E-book: Medication Therapy Management — A Case for Health Plan Intervention

MEDecision — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today published its latest e-book, "Medication Therapy Management - A Case for Health Plan Intervention," exploring the importance of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) programs to emerging patient-centered medical home and accountable care organization care management models. The publication explains how health plans are ideally positioned to facilitate MTM programs and looks at the technology necessary to make them successful. The complimentary e-book can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/eIBMWG.

The American Pharmacists Association defines MTM as "a distinct service or group of services that optimizes therapeutic outcomes for individual patients." Since medications have a significant impact on the cost and quality of healthcare in the United States - they account for an estimated 1.5 million preventable adverse events each year costing the health insurance industry an estimated $177 billion in additional healthcare programs¹ - MTM is considered a critical component of new patient-centric care models designed to reduce waste and improve outcomes.

In the e-book, MEDecision explains how MTM has the most impact when it is administered by organizations charged with managing population health, such as health plans and accountable care organizations. The e-book also examines how technology that can gather comprehensive data from disparate sources, transform it into actionable information and deliver it to other entities on-demand can optimize overall health outcomes. Finally, the e-book covers the financial implications of MTM and how it is classified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Final Rule on Medical Loss Ratios.

"Given the prevalence of medication therapy in modern healthcare, it is essential that we better manage current processes to ensure safety, effectiveness and efficiency," said Eric Demers, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for MEDecision. "The numbers speak for themselves and, with the right technology, health plans can be instrumental in reversing current negative trends. The e-book offers crucial insight on MTM and its importance to the value-based approach that the industry is increasingly adopting."

With more than 20 years of health IT experience, MEDecision is uniquely positioned to empower insurers in their efforts to implement MTM initiatives. By design, the company's products are intended to drive value, improve quality and lower costs. They provide the all-inclusive, member-focused collaborative health management necessary for successful ACOs and patient-centered medical homes and, consequently, MTM programs within them.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

Tags: MEDecision, MTM, medication therapy management, personal health record, PHR, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

¹ Medication Therapy Management in Pharmacy Practice: Core Elements of an MTM Service Model, the American Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation, Version 2.0, March 2008, p. 3.

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

Deborah M. Gage Named President and CEO of MEDecision

MEDecision — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today announced that it has named Deborah M. Gage president and CEO. She will leverage her experience as a successful senior executive to lead the company during one of healthcare's most active and transformative periods.

"Deb is an excellent fit for MEDecision, and the right person to direct our continued innovation and growth during a time of unprecedented change in the industry," said David St.Clair, MEDecision's founder and CEO. "She comes to us with a well-rounded career in health IT, and that experience, knowledge and insight will be a great addition to our accomplished executive leadership team."

Gage replaces St.Clair, who will continue in a consulting role during the leadership transition and will remain a member of MEDecision's board of directors.

"I am very impressed with the results of the investments MEDecision has made to expand its broad platform of applications, with the breadth and depth of the company's talent, as well as its sizeable, growing and increasingly diverse customer base," Gage said. "As we move ahead, I look forward to working with the outstanding MEDecision team to write the next chapter in the company's long and successful history."

Gage brings to MEDecision a diverse and successful career as a senior executive, having led healthcare technology businesses that serve the managed care, insurance, hospital and government sectors. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of GTESS Corporation in Dallas, a SaaS (software-as-a-service) provider of payment technology applications for healthcare payers. She also served as president and CEO for Houston-based RosettaMed (now Kryptiq Corporation), a developer of an electronic medical record patient intake application. Gage was founder, president and CEO of SolutionPoint^®, Inc., Dallas, a provider of database management and decision support software products for hospitals and integrated delivery systems. She began her health information technology career as an early team member at The MEDSTAT Group (now Thomson MEDSTAT) where she served in a variety of roles, including vice president and general manager. MEDSTAT is a healthcare analytics, decision support and clinical software systems company.

Gage holds both a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's from the University of Michigan where she is Chair of the Women's Leadership Council and a member of the Ross School of Business Visiting Committee.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame^™, a set of tools to facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Deborah Gage, MEDecision President and CEO, Nexalign, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Kicks Off HiMSS 2011

MEDecision — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:15:00

HIMSS 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. & WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HiMSS11 - MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today kicked off a powerful presence at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HiMSS) Annual Conference and Exhibition. The company is leveraging the spotlight of the heavily attended event to showcase its technical innovations for healthcare's burgeoning accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical home models.

"This week we're taking full advantage of the forum HiMSS affords us to demonstrate our continued innovation in improving the quality and affordability of care," said Eric Demers, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for MEDecision. "It's an opportunity for us to illustrate how the proactive care management tools we've been perfecting for more than two decades are essential in the value-based care delivery era, and how that gives us an advantage in helping organizations navigate the changing market."

A HiMSS Diamond Sponsor, MEDecision's presence is anchored by its booth (#2563) on the exhibit floor. The company is hosting a number of events and demonstrations to engage attendees and emphasize its message about technology's important role in the future of healthcare. Highlights include:

Demonstrating its recently announced InFrame™ mobile application that brings clinically validated electronic health records to mobile phones, tablets and similar devices.
Hosting two presentations by Nathan Moracco, director of the State of Minnesota Employee Insurance Division, demonstrating how the state will use MEDecision's Nexalign^® health decision support service to power its personal health record program. Mr. Moracco will conduct his presentations in the MEDecision booth on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Sponsoring the HiMSS Payer Breakfast on Tuesday, February 22, at 7:00 a.m. This year's event will focus on ACOs, their implications for improving the cost and quality of care, and the essential role that technology will play in their success.
Hosting in its booth the 2011 New Media Meet-up for industry bloggers, social media users and those generally interested in new media on Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Also, MEDecision is encouraging HiMSS attendees to visit the MEDecision booth during exhibit hours to 'refuel'. The company is serving complimentary Starbucks^® in its booth-the only Starbucks coffee available at HiMSS.

"The MEDecision team is eager to connect with the HiMSS audience and show the market why we're enthusiastic about where MEDecision is right now and where it's headed," Demers said. "We've built great momentum recently, and we're excited about our prospects for continuing that going forward through our ongoing innovation and commitment to excellence."

To keep up to date on all MEDecision news, events and activities at HiMSS11, visit www.MEDecision.com/himss.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit http://www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

Tags: MEDecision, State of Minnesota Employee Insurance Division, personal health record, PHR, decision support, Nexalign, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext: 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision to Release Mobile Application for Access to Clinical Summaries

MEDecision — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:15:00

HIMSS 2011

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today announced that it is launching a mobile application that will enable physicians and other clinical users to access MEDecision Clinical Summaries - clinically validated electronic health records - through smartphones, electronic tablets and similar portable devices.

MEDecision offers tools to facilitate the health management and performance process for physicians and accountable care organizations (ACOs) through its InFrame™ portfolio. The latest milestone in MEDecision's mission to increase the ubiquity of electronic medical information, the new InFrame mobile application will deliver richer, more accurate and actionable data to the point of care. It is designed to help physicians, ACOs and patient-centered medical homes manage the healthcare process for patients as they transition to different settings throughout the care continuum. The application will be available through the Apple iTunes store beginning March 30.

According to Manhattan Research Company's 2010 "Taking the Pulse" survey, some 72 percent of U.S. physicians currently use smartphones. That figure is expected to rise to 81 percent by 2012. Additionally, many clinicians believe that mobile applications will become a major platform for healthcare users.

"Mobile applications and the devices that deliver them are the future of technology in general and health IT in particular," said Eric Demers, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at MEDecision. "With the InFrame app, we're putting critical health information at the fingertips of those who need it virtually anywhere at any time. It's the perfect representation of our longstanding commitment to innovation that fosters collaboration and health information exchange, and another reason for health plans and providers to turn to MEDecision for the innovations they need to ensure better outcomes for their members and patients."

With the MEDecision Clinical Summary, care providers have access to a summarized overview of an individual's medical history, including: a medication list, conditions list, admissions history, an emergency room visit history, gaps in care and a list of recently-received services. MEDecision's Nexalign^® service compiles a member's current and historical medical data from multiple sources. Analytics built on evidence-based medicine and best practices are applied to this information to create care plans and highlight treatment opportunities. This actionable insight is then delivered to care providers as a secure mobile application through InFrame.

The actionable insight within MEDecision Clinical Summaries can help reduce duplicative testing, facilitate more appropriate medication therapies, reduce admissions, and lower costs. Most importantly, MEDecision Clinical Summaries help care providers to make vital decisions based on more complete and consistent patient information.

MEDecision will demonstrate the InFrame mobile application in its booth (#2563) at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HiMSS) Annual Conference and Exhibition February 20-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame^™, a set of tools to facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, MEDecision Clinical Summary, InFrame, mobile application, decision support, Nexalign, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202, ext 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision to Host Demonstrations of State of Minnesota Employee PHR Program at HiMSS 2011

MEDecision — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:15:00

HIMSS 2011

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, will host demonstrations by State of Minnesota Employee Insurance Division Director Nathan Moracco at the 2011 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HiMSS) Annual Conference and Exhibition illustrating how MEDecision technology will power a personal health record (PHR) program the State has created for its employees and their dependents. The presentations will be held on Tuesday, February 22, and Wednesday, February 23, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the MEDecision booth (#2563).

Mr. Moracco will explain how Minnesota plans to deploy MEDecision's Nexalign^® health decision support service. The technology will enable the State to compile existing medical claims data from insurers and other related sources and apply healthcare analytics to it to identify opportunities for improved health, develop a consolidated view of the member's health history and offer additional intelligence for improved care-related decision making. This data will then be securely and seamlessly delivered to the PHRs of State employees and their dependents.

The project is currently generating successful results in its test phase and is on target for a scheduled launch in the spring.

"Nexalign offers the full spectrum of capabilities we need to execute our PHR program," Moracco said. "It is unlike most other technologies in that it can gather, transform and distribute actionable clinical information to give our PHR users a fuller picture of their health status and help them make important decisions that positively impact their care and the associated cost. Its ability to aggregate data from disparate sources, analyze it and deliver it to the right person through the right channel is extremely unique and essential to the success of our initiative."

"The Minnesota PHR program, in many respects, represents the future of care management and delivery," said Eric Demers, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at MEDecision. "It's similar to the value- and outcomes-driven models to which the industry is transitioning, such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes. We're thrilled that Mr. Moracco can demonstrate for the HiMSS audience how MEDecision's innovation can be the foundation on which these efforts build their success."

The State of Minnesota PHR program will employ the highest technical standards to assure users that their clinical information is protected with strong and well-defined security policies. It will provide robust user controls and powerful tools to ensure data is user friendly. The initiative is being instituted to help state employees make better healthcare decisions for themselves and their dependents, ultimately improving the quality of care and reducing expenses.

To this end, Nexalign delivers the exact set of enabling technologies-decision support, analytics, health information exchange, and identity reconciliation-needed to gather health data from various sources and apply analytics to it to foster better clinical and business decisions on a patient's behalf.

In total, Minnesota's state employee insurance division covers some 120,000 lives across 100 agencies throughout the State's judicial, executive and legislative branches. It includes approximately 1,200 clinics and more than 50 care systems and maintains a biennial budget of more than $1 billion.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202, ext 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar: Going Beyond the EHR: Supporting Care Coordination Within the Patient-Centered Medical Home

MEDecision — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, will conduct a complimentary webinar titled "Going Beyond the EHR: Supporting Care Coordination Within the Patient-Centered Medical Home," on Wednesday, February 9 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Hosted by Matt Adamson, MEDecision's vice president of health solutions, the session will provide background on the medical home movement and how it relates to accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other models being tested to improve care and lower costs. It will look at technology as the primary driver for the successful implementation of many of these initiatives and discuss how solutions designed specifically for the medical home care coordinator can work in conjunction with those already in place-such as EMRs and practice management systems-so health plans and ACOs can convert medical home pilot programs into broader rollouts. The webinar will include a demonstration of MEDecision's provider-focused collaborative health management technology for ACOs and medical homes.

Attendees will learn:

Why EMR adoption is a necessary component of a medical home, but doesn't sufficiently provide the ability to manage patient populations around quality and outcomes
How precise care coordination within the medical home depends on technology; particularly health information exchange and analytics capabilities, along with tools to help determine gaps in care related to health and wellness, chronic conditions and medication conflicts
How provider-focused collaborative care management tools are necessary to support the information technology needs of evolving ACO and medical home models
The value of enabling access to medical homes for a larger number of patients

What:	MEDecision webinar: "Going Beyond the EHR: Supporting Care Coordination Within the Patient-Centered Medical Home"

Who:	Matt Adamson, MEDecision vice president of health solutions

When:	Wednesday, February 9, 2011; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:	Register at http://bit.ly/h9PJNx.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

Tags: MEDecision, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision to Showcase Innovations for Accountable Care Organizations and Patient-Centered Medical Homes at HiMSS 2011

MEDecision — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:15:00

Will demonstrate technology for ACOs and PCMH models
Sponsoring New Media Meet-up and Payer Breakfast
Maintaining a wide-ranging and diverse presence at show

HIMSS 2011

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, will showcase its innovation in technology that supports accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient-centered medical home models (PCMH) with a comprehensive presence at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HiMSS) Annual Conference and Exhibition. The event will be held February 20-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

At HiMSS, MEDecision will illustrate that although electronic medical records are essential to PCMH and ACO models, they are insufficient at managing patient populations for quality and better outcomes. Instead, the company will emphasize proactive care and effective outreach. It will showcase how these practices depend on health information exchange and analytics capabilities, along with tools to determine health- and wellness-related gaps-in-care, chronic conditions and medication conflicts. To this end, MEDecision will demonstrate provider-focused collaborative care management tools that enable ACOs and medical homes to address these and other technology needs.

"With more than 20 years of leadership in care management and health information technology, MEDecision is looking forward to the opportunity HiMSS offers to showcase the innovations we are developing to support ACOs and medical homes," said Eric Demers, senior vice president, health and life science for MEDecision. "The success of these models will be measured by their ability to reduce costs, improve care and effectively engage patients. Our products and services are ideally designed and positioned to do this, and we look forward to trumpeting that message at the conference."

A HiMSS conference Diamond Sponsor, MEDecision will leverage the HiMSS spotlight to engage event attendees in meaningful dialogue regarding the importance of continued innovation that will fuel value-based care delivery models. Key activities include:

Once again, MEDecision is sponsoring the HiMSS Payer Breakfast on Tuesday, February 22 at 7:00 a.m. This year's event will focus on ACOs, their implications for improving the cost and quality of care and the essential role that technology will play in their success.
MEDecision will host the 2011 New Media Meet-up for industry bloggers, social media users and those generally interested in new media on Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at its active booth space, #2563.

Those not able to attend HiMSS can preview MEDecision's technology for ACOs and PCMHs by attending its complimentary webinar, "Going Beyond the EHR: Supporting Care Coordination Within the Patient-Centered Medical Home," on Wednesday, February 9 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

"All that we have planned will help us welcome and better engage our fellow HiMSS attendees," said Demers. "I believe they'll find an energetic and enthusiastic company that is uniquely positioned to offer the innovation and experience to help organizations capitalize on the many opportunities arising in healthcare."

To keep up to date on all MEDecision news, events and activities at HiMSS11, visit www.medecision.com/himss.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About HiMSS

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, Singapore, and other locations across the United States and the globe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 350 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame™, a set of tools that facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, HiMSS, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, HiMSS 2011, HiMSS Annual Exhibition and Conference, Nexalign, ACO, patient-centered medical home, PCMH, accountable care organization, collaborative healthcare management, health information exchange, HIE, electronic health record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext: 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision’s Interoperability Capabilities Shine Again at 12th Annual IHE Connectathon

MEDecision — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, has once again successfully completed its latest round of interoperability tests with other healthcare information technology (HIT) vendors at the 12th annual Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) North America Connectathon in Chicago.

The HIT industry has established IHE as its premier effort to ensure seamless data interchange between medical information systems. IHE's annual Connectathons in Asia, Europe and North America give participants a unique opportunity to test connectivity-removing proprietary, costly and time-consuming barriers to integration. The Connectathons are HIT's only large-scale interoperability testing events and help to promote standards compliance, electronic health record system connectivity and the interoperable exchange of patient health information.

Testing at Connectathon this year involved the latest extensions developed by the industry to enable more effective sharing of clinical data, a critical component of health information exchanges, and emerging accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient-centered medical homes (PCMH).

This year, MEDecision added new integration profiles and tested compliance with newly-updated profiles across the company's Nexalign^® and InFrame^™ solutions, including mobile application platforms.

MEDecision has successfully participated in numerous prior Connectathons, developing and commercializing the industry's most comprehensive set of IHE-compliant health information exchange components that currently support:

Patient identity cross referencing (PIX v2/v3)
Patient demographics query (PDQ v2/v3)
Multi-patient query (MPQ)
Cross-community patient discovery (XCPD)
Cross-enterprise document sharing (XDS, XDS-I, XDS-MS, XDS-LAB, XDS-SD)
Cross-community Access (XCA)
Cross-enterprise user assertion (XUA)
Document subscriptions (DSUB)
Shared Value Sets (SVS)
Audit Trails and Node Authentication (ATNA)
Basic Privacy and Patient Consent (BPPC)

These capabilities give MEDecision customers the ability to seamlessly connect multiple EHRs and clinical applications from the industry's leading vendors to share information and coordinate care-from acute care to ambulatory environments and among any number of payers, providers and patients.

"MEDecision has been a longstanding advocate of information sharing and interoperability," said Carole Hodsdon, the company's executive vice president and chief technology officer. "These capabilities are all the more in demand as our customers embrace new models for care delivery and reimbursement such as ACOs and medical homes, not to mention participation in regional health information exchanges. We're delighted to see the continued adoption of these standards by our colleagues in the vendor community and are confident that our customers will benefit significantly from these advances."

Each year the North American Connectathon features upwards of 150 systems from over 100 participating organizations. More than 3,500 successful tests of IHE Integration Profiles were performed and verified at last year's event.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame™, a set of tools that facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Alineo, Nexalign, InSite One, healthcare, collaborative healthcare management, Health Information Exchange, HIE, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, IHE, XDS compliance, image-sharing, Electronic Health Record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202, ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Introduces E-book — Medical Loss Ratios: Important Implications for Care Management

MEDecision — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative health management solutions, today published an e-book, "Medical Loss Ratios: Important Implications for Care Management," which examines the impact that healthcare reform and the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) medical loss ratio (MLR) mandates have on care delivery models. The e-book also explores the critical role of health information technology (IT) as health plans work to meet the new requirements, improve the quality of care and drive down costs. The complimentary publication can be downloaded at /contact/request-article?aid=1771.

MLR is defined by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (health reform) as the minimum percentage of premiums health plans must devote to clinical services and quality improvement efforts. Starting this year, health plans must meet the new MLR ratios or refund the difference to policyholders beginning in 2012.

The e-book outlines what the HHS considers to be medical and quality-related activities for health plans within the MLR parameters. Investments in health IT qualify as such and should be considered an important part of the equation to not only help health plans work to meet the MLR requirements but also to improve the overall quality and cost of care for their members.

"The MLR mandates are designed to reduce waste and costs and therefore strongly encourage investments in health IT," said Eric Demers, senior vice president, health and life science for MEDecision. "We launched this book to shed light on the important role health IT can play in delivering actionable information closer to the point of care and in the coordination of care among payers, providers and members. These are key considerations for health plans as they prepare for patient-centered medical home models, accountable care organizations and all the implications health reform has for the way care will be managed, administered and received."

Collaborative health management has long been MEDecision's forte. Now it has become the backdrop for health plans' growing need to engage consumers and providers with knowledge that optimizes consumers' health, improves outcomes, eliminates redundant tasks and reduces the cost of care. MEDecision's solutions can serve as a strategic foundation for health plans building the differentiated programs and models they need for a competitive advantage in this new era of healthcare. The company's solutions classify as a medical expense - health information technology related to health improvement and/or quality improvement - under the MLR definitions.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative health management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions, engage patients and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a health management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease, utilization and behavioral health management; InFrame™, a set of tools that facilitate the health and performance management processes for physicians and accountable care organizations; and Nexalign^®, MEDecision's health decision support service that applies analytics to information gathered from multiple sources to foster better business and clinical decisions on a patient's behalf. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Medical Loss Ratio, MLR, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, health content, health content management, healthcare quality

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar to Examine How Medical Loss Ratio Recommendations Will Impact Care Management

MEDecision — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, will conduct a complimentary webinar analyzing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' recent Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) proposal and the impact it will have on health plans' efforts to manage reform, adjust provider reimbursement and structure benefit design. The session will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Hosted by MEDecision Senior Vice President of Health and Life Science Eric Demers and outside counsel Howard Burde, the webinar will take a detailed look at the MLR changes and the new opportunities they present for health plans to make technology investments that will help improve the quality of care. Specific topics will include:

How reform is changing the way care is managed, administered and received.
Classifying clinical and quality activities-including IT investment-and the details behind NAIC definitions of MLR.
How technology can improve the quality of care by facilitating the increased focus on wellness and prevention being driven by MLR ratios.

What:

MEDecision webinar: "Medical Loss Ratios: Important Implications for Care Management"

Who:

Eric Demers, senior vice president of health and life science, MEDecision

Howard Burde, outside counsel

When:

Wednesday, December 8, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, MLR, Medical Loss Ratio, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, collaborative decision support, behavioral health, member-centric behavioral health utilization management, UM, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar: Proactively Manage Care Opportunities for Members with NCQA-Certified Software

MEDecision — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, will conduct a complimentary webinar to discuss the use of its NCQA-certified software to proactively manage opportunities for member care. MEDecision's Alineo^® Clinical Intelligence Rules recently achieved the National Committee of Quality Assurance Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) Software Certification for the first Care Opportunities Software that identifies gaps in care.

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, December 15, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time and will be hosted by MEDecision's Clarice Holmes, RN, senior vice president of medical services; Michael Alterman, product marketing manager; and Michael Johnson, RN, director of clinical analytics.

For eligible attendees, one CEU from the Commission for Case Management Certification (CCMC) will be awarded though official certificates of attendance.

The session will discuss how to utilize MEDecision's Alineo Clinical Intelligence Rules to:

Facilitate compliance and consistency of identification of members at risk
Improve member health and wellness and clinical outcomes
Improve NCQA HEDIS scores

What:

MEDecision webinar: "Proactively Manage Care Opportunities for Members with NCQA-Certified Software"

Who:

Clarice Holmes, RN, senior vice president of medical services

Michael Alterman, product marketing manager

Michael Johnson, RN, director of clinical analytics

When:

Wednesday, December 15, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

HEDIS™ is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). MEDecision is a trademark of MEDecision, Inc. The MEDecision logo and product names are also trademarks or registered trademarks of MEDecision, Inc. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Tags: MEDecision, clinical intelligence rules, HEDIS, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, NCQA, NCQA certification, care opportunities, gaps in care, healthcare quality

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

Contact

MEDecisi
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Ranked 17th on the Central Penn Business Journal List of Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania

MEDecision — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has placed 17^th on the Central Penn Business Journal list of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania for 2010. The award marks the second consecutive year MEDecision has received the honor which reflects the company's continued ability to create a positive and rewarding workplace and attract hardworking and talented employees.

Carl Smith, MEDecision executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Susan Vitiello, director of human resources, received the award on the company's behalf on Tuesday evening at a reception at the Lancaster County Convention Center. Last year, MEDecision ranked 33^rd in the medium-sized category for companies with less than 250 employees. This year, the company was recognized for its distinctions within the large-sized company category for companies with more than 250 employees.

"It has been so rewarding to watch MEDecision grow this past year, and we are honored to be recognized along with some of the top companies in the area," said David St.Clair, founder and CEO of MEDecision. "True recognition must go to the hundreds of MEDecision employees who bring an empowered, supportive, collaborative approach to their work every day. We are who we are because of them."

The Best Places to Work in PA program is a public/private partnership between Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Central Penn Business Journal. It was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places to be employed in Pennsylvania, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses.

Companies from across the state entered the evaluation process to be considered as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in PA. To determine final rankings, each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophies, systems and demographics were evaluated, and employees were surveyed to measure the employee experience.

MEDecision places a strong emphasis on maintaining a work environment that emphasizes opportunity and employee satisfaction. Employees enjoy a collaborative environment, extensive training, corporate wellness programs and comprehensive benefits.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Patient Clinical Summary, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, Health Information Exchange, HIE, interoperability, patient centered medical home, Electronic Health Record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management, NaviNet

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart
Director, Corporate Communications
610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden
818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar to Examine How Medical Loss Ratio Recommendations Will Impact Care Management (1)

MEDecision — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:15:00

How reform is changing the way care is managed, administered and received.
Classifying clinical and quality activities-including IT investment-and the details behind NAIC definitions of MLR.
How technology can improve the quality of care by facilitating the increased focus on wellness and prevention being driven by MLR ratios.

What:

MEDecision webinar: "Medical Loss Ratios: Important Implications for Care Management"

Who:

Eric Demers, senior vice president of health and life science, MEDecision Howard Burde outside counsel

When:

Wednesday, December 8, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Achieves NCQA HEDIS Certification for First Care Opportunities Software

MEDecision — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has earned the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) Software Certification for its programs that identify "care opportunities."

NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's healthcare. Since its introduction in 1993, HEDIS has evolved to become the gold standard in managed care performance measurement.

Alineo^® Clinical Intelligence Rules 2.4.0 and 2.5.0 have met NCQA HEDIS Care Opportunity software standards. Alineo is MEDecision's collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and integrated utilization management. Alineo Clinical Intelligence identifies populations of health plan members most likely to benefit from interventions, or "care opportunities," according to evidence-based medicine and best practices. NCQA Software Certification signifies that the populations identified for care opportunities by Alineo Clinical Intelligence are aligned with NCQA quality measures.

"We are confident in our solution's ability to produce accurate and reliable results and are honored to earn NCQA software certification," said Andrew P. Schuyler, MD, the company's executive vice president and chief medical officer. "This is a significant testament to MEDecision's commitment to quality and clinical integrity."

"Plans that use NCQA-certified software can spend more time improving quality in ways that matter to their members and less time getting ready for an audit," said Mary Braman, NCQA's director of licensure and certification. "We commend the vendors who have earned certification for their commitment to quality."

"MEDecision recognizes that continuous quality improvement as well as setting a high benchmark of excellence is of significant importance to our customers," Schuyler said. "That is why we are so proud to have achieved this designation."

NCQA validates software by generating unique sets of test data that vendors process using their software. The output is compared to the expected results to determine if the software computes results according to the specifications.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About NCQA

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010, NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame^™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

HEDIS™ is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

Tags: MEDecision, clinical intelligence rules, HEDIS, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, NCQA, NCQA certification, care opportunities, gaps in care, healthcare quality

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar: Leveraging URAC-Accredited Software to Drive Quality and Improve Health Outcomes

MEDecision — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, will conduct a complimentary webinar to discuss how health plans can leverage MEDecision's URAC-accredited disease and case management software and health content to drive care management quality and improve health outcomes.

he session will be held on Wednesday, November 17 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, and will be hosted by MEDecision's Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Andrew P. Schuyler, MD; Clarice Holmes, RN, senior vice president, medical services; David Comiciotto, vice president of organizational excellence; and Suzanne Kunze, RN, director clinical programs.

For those who are eligible and attend this event, one CEU from the Commission for Case Management Certification (CCMC) will be awarded through official certificates of attendance.

MEDecision's products, services, and core organizational structure (policies and procedures) have successfully undergone rigorous evaluation by URAC, a trusted, independent accrediting body. Webinar attendees will learn how health plans can employ MEDecision's URAC-accredited software, Alineo^®, and evidence-based clinical programs to:

Facilitate decision making, compliance and consistency of process
Provide opportunities to create efficiencies and improve clinical outcomes
Assist with health plans' URAC accreditation process

What:

MEDecision webinar: "Leveraging URAC-Accredited Software to Drive Quality and Improve Health Outcomes"

Who:

Andrew P. Schuyler, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer

Clarice Holmes, RN, senior vice president, medical services

David Comiciotto, vice president of organizational excellence

Suzanne Kunze, RN, director clinical programs

When:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:

To register for this complimentary webinar, visit http://bit.ly/bQhSPu.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Alineo, URAC, URAC accreditation, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, healthcare quality, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart
Director, Corporate Communications
610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden
818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

E-book: Patient-Centered Medical Home: The Cornerstone of Healthcare Transformation

MEDecision — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, today published an e-book, "The Patient-Centered Medical Home: The Cornerstone of Healthcare Transformation." The complimentary e-book can be downloaded at /insightseries.

The e-book marks the MEDecision launch of an integrated campaign to present the company's concept for advancing technologies that will support Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) implementations. MEDecision is exploring these concepts during a series of industry events, including:

Institute for Health IT Transformation's (iHT² ) Fall Health IT Summit
Medical Group Management Association's (MGMA) Second Annual PCMH Conference

The PCMH model has become one of the healthcare industry's most discussed topics. Its ability to foster collaboration among healthcare stakeholders centered on a holistic, patient-centric approach to care holds perhaps the best hope to transform and improve the system. Recent studies show that hospital readmissions of patients with chronic disease can be reduced by 46 percent for those whose care is managed within a medical home.¹

"An effective PCMH will require sophisticated business and clinical intelligence in order to proactively identify and stratify members most at risk for frequent hospitalizations or costly healthcare services. The new model will also require care management tools for developing individualized plans of care based on evidence-based best practices and efficiently managing tasks associated with care coordination," said Eric Demers, senior vice president, health and life science for MEDecision. "We are building on our 22-year history in these areas to develop leading-edge technologies that will help make the possibilities of the medical home a reality."

The comprehensive new e-book addresses how increased adoption of the PCMH model creates new opportunities for health plans, especially for cost reduction and competitive advantage. Readers will also learn how the combination of powerful analytics; workflow tools; a health plan's comprehensive, longitudinal patient data; and health information exchange capabilities is key to optimizing health outcomes, maximizing member and provider satisfaction, and lowering costs.

MEDecision Debuts E-book at Health IT Events

MEDecision highlighted the company's PCMH concept at the iHT² Fall Health IT Summit on November 3-4, 2010, in Beverly Hills. There, Demers joined senior executives from the American College of Physicians, Cedars Sinai Health System, Cottage Health System, and IBM during a panel session titled, "Beyond the Hospital Walls: Incorporating the Patient-Centered Medical Home into the Healthcare Continuum." This session addressed the central role of technologies in the resurgence of the medical home.

MEDecision also will demonstrate the company's PCMH concepts during the second annual MGMA PCMH Conference, "The Journey to High Performance," in Orlando on November 11-13, 2010.

Further, MEDecision also offers the complimentary on-demand webinar, "The Patient Centered Medical Home and Evolving Care Management Processes," featuring Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma and MEDecision, as they examine the medical home concept and how it correlates with care management processes that have evolved within the payer space.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Patient Centered Medical Home, PCMH, iHT2, MGMA, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, health content, health content management, healthcare quality

¹ Landro, Laura; December 12, 2007; "Keeping Patients from Landing Back in the Hospital." The Wall Street Journal

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext: 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Receives URAC Accreditation

MEDecision — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, today announced that it has been awarded accreditation from URAC, a Washington, D.C.-based healthcare accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the healthcare industry. MEDecision has received accreditation for meeting URAC's Vendor Disease Management, Vendor Case Management, and Health Content Provider standards.

For more than 20 years, MEDecision's ongoing vision has been to improve the collaboration between patients, payers and providers by providing mutual access to the information these stakeholders rely on to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes.

"This honor is a significant achievement for MEDecision," said Andrew P. Schuyler, MD, the company's executive vice president and chief medical officer. "We are strongly committed to quality and clinical integrity, and URAC accreditation validates this. It symbolizes to the market that our products and services have been measured against established national benchmarks and have successfully undergone rigorous evaluation by a trusted, independent accrediting body."

"MEDecision should be commended for meeting strict quality standards," said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. "It is critically important for healthcare to make a commitment to quality and accountability. URAC accreditation is a demonstration of that commitment."

The URAC accreditation process demonstrates a commitment to quality services and serves as a framework to improve business processes through benchmarking organizations against nationally recognized standards. The URAC standards development process is consensus driven, with hundreds of industry experts serving as volunteers to revise appropriate industry benchmarks.

"URAC accreditation recognizes the quality of MEDecision's case and disease management solutions, health content and organizational discipline," Schuyler said. "MEDecision health plan customers will now be assisted when seeking their own URAC accreditations. Our customers have yet another important reason to be confident in their selection of MEDecision's trusted solutions."

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About URAC

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is a leader in promoting health care quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC's standards keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a mark of distinction for health care organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful standards for the health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, case management, disease management, utilization management, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, URAC, URAC accreditation, health content, health content management, healthcare quality

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar: Behavioral Health Utilization Management for Healthcare Practitioners

MEDecision — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., will conduct a complimentary webinar to demonstrate how Nexalign^® iEXCHANGE^® 8.0 extends the company's automated referral and authorization portal to include behavioral health treatment information. Webinar attendees will learn how healthcare practitioners can use this information to communicate the full spectrum of a patient's health to health plans, and in doing so, improve clinical care management processes and ultimately, health outcomes. The session will be held on Wednesday, October 13, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

A key component of MEDecision's ongoing vision to improve the collaboration between patients, payers and providers, Nexalign iEXCHANGE uses health plans' business and clinical rules to automate the direct processing of authorizations, referrals, treatment updates, concurrent reviews and extensions. Since its introduction in 2000, healthcare practitioners and health plans have relied on Nexalign iEXCHANGE to process more than 177 million of the transactions associated with care management, including authorization and referral requests. By using Nexalign iEXCHANGE to automatically approve up to 80 percent of these transactions, as well as to educate and exchange information, health plans and providers have reduced administrative burdens and costs-freeing staff to focus on improving the quality of care.

The webinar will demonstrate enhancements to Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0 that allow:

Healthcare practitioners and health plans to streamline the collection and exchange of information related to behavioral health conditions, including:
- New behavioral health transaction pages supporting DSM-IV™ Axis I through V coding to accurately communicate a patient's diagnosis and coordinate care
- New data permissions to ensure behavioral health information is available to those authorized to review it
Healthcare practitioners to attach important information to a patient's record for delivery to the health plan
Health plans to deliver lab information as clinical summary content to track test results and identify treatment opportunities

What:	MEDecision webinar: "Introduction to Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0"

Who:	MEDecision Director of Product Marketing Robyn Fritz and Product Manager Maureen Ewing

When:	Wednesday, October 13, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:	Register at www.MEDecision.com/webinar.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Nexalign, Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, collaborative decision support, behavioral health, member-centric behavioral health utilization management, UM, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Product Advisory: Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0 Available Today

MEDecision — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, today announced the general availability of Nexalign^®iEXCHANGE^® 8.0, the latest version of its collaborative healthcare decision support service.

What is Nexalign iEXCHANGE? Nexalign iEXCHANGE is a web-based, multi-payer solution that allows physicians to quickly and easily submit transactions to healthcare payers. It supports the direct processing of inpatient and outpatient authorizations, referrals, treatment updates, concurrent reviews, and extensions.

Why is Nexalign iEXCHANGE important? In many cases iEXCHANGE can automate and approve up to 80 percent of referral requests, significantly reducing administrative procedures and related costs. In addition, the service gives the physician's staff real-time access to member eligibility and processed transaction information with appropriate considerations for member confidentiality. This increases the amount and accuracy of data that health plans receive, enabling staff to focus on clinical management instead of administrative functions.

Who will benefit? Physicians and health plans who need an easy way to exchange information to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes; patients who seek better care at a lower cost.

Can Nexalign iEXCHANGE help physicians and health plans meet the mandates of health reform? Yes. For example, the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) includes changes to behavioral healthcare management regulations that will significantly impact health plans and healthcare providers. Nexalign iEXCHANGE can facilitate compliance with these new mandates by extending behavioral health utilization to physicians, which will allow them to more effectively communicate to health plans the full spectrum of a patient's mental health.

What new features are available with Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0?

Behavioral Health Transactions and Data Permissions - Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0 allows health plans and care providers to streamline the collection and exchange of information related to behavioral health conditions, including:
- New behavioral health transaction pages supporting DSM-IV™ Axis I through V coding to accurately communicate a patient's diagnosis and coordinate care.
- New clinical summary data permissions to ensure that behavioral health information is available to only physician groups who are authorized to review it.
Attach Supporting Documentation - Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0 offers the ability to attach important, relevant information to a patient's record for delivery to the health plan, furnishing the documentation required for medical necessity or business policies.
Laboratory Results, including Diabetic Screening and Cholesterol Screening Clinical Intelligence - Nexalign iEXCHANGE 8.0 now delivers laboratory information as clinical summary content to help reduce the number of duplicate lab tests and trend results, support quality initiative programs and provide opportunities for patient education. The availability of lab results on the clinical summary delivered to physicians assists them in making clinical decisions that can affect the treatment plan. High impact laboratory results such as diabetic screening and cholesterol screening have clinical intelligence applied to identify medical issues and treatment opportunities.

For more information on Nexalign iEXCHANGE, see http://www.MEDecision.com/Nexalign. For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at http://www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

Resources

Webinar: Introduction to Nexalign^® iEXCHANGE^® 8.0; /news-events/webinar-series
Press Release: MEDecision Showcases Readiness to Support Post-Reform Healthcare Market at AHIP Institute 2010; /news-events/press-releases
Webinar: Member-Centric Behavioral Health Utilization Management; /news-events/webinar-series

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Alineo, Alineo 3.0, collaborative healthcare management, healthcare, healthcare reform, 2008 Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, Microsoft^®SQL Server^®, Health Information Exchange, HIE, interoperability, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Named One of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare

MEDecision — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has been named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare Magazine for the second consecutive year.

The honor recognizes outstanding employers in the healthcare industry nationwide and adds to the list of accolades for MEDecision's positive work environment. Last week, the company was named as one of the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania by the Central Penn Business Journal.

"Being named one of the best places to work in healthcare, for two years running, is a tremendous honor and a credit to MEDecision's healthy, high-performing culture," said David St.Clair, founder and CEO at MEDecision. "MEDecision is set apart by our employees' commitment to sustaining an environment of collaboration, creativity and innovation. Building the kind of company we have always wanted to work for has been key to our success and has certainly contributed to our ability to weather the unsteady economy and operate from a position of strength as we approach the opportunities of the changing healthcare market."

Modern Healthcare determined its Best Places to Work in Healthcare through a survey of employers detailing company policies, practices, benefits and demographics. Employees were asked a series of in-depth questions to help evaluate eight core areas: leadership and planning, culture and communications, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits, and overall satisfaction.

The ranked order of Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work in Healthcare will be announced at a banquet honoring the recipients on October 18, 2010 in Dallas and in a special supplement the magazine will publish on October 25, 2010.

On August 31, the company announced that it was named to the list of the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania by the Central Penn Business Journal, also for the second consecutive year. Final numerical rankings of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania will be revealed at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, PA.

About MEDecision

Tags: MEDecision, Patient Clinical Summary, healthcare, healthcare reform, collaborative healthcare management, Health Information Exchange, HIE, interoperability, patient centered medical home, Electronic Health Record, EHR, case management, disease management, utilization management, NaviNet

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Webinar to Examine How Technology Can Help Health Plans Navigate Changing Healthcare Mandates

MEDecision — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, will conduct a complimentary webinar highlighting technology that enables health plans to meet changing healthcare regulations. The session is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, and will be hosted by MEDecision's Director of Product Marketing Deepika Singh and Clinical Product Manager Pat Sitko.

The webinar will focus on Alineo^® 3.0, the latest version of MEDecision's Alineo collaborative healthcare management platform. Alineo 3.0 features a new behavioral health utilization module designed to support the requirements of the 2008 Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and various enhancements to help health plans facilitate more timely and accurate decision making to improve outcomes, increase clinical consistency and reduce costs. Attendees will learn how organizations can leverage the technology to optimally navigate the market's rapidly evolving regulatory landscape by using it to:

Better classify and manage patients for a more holistic patient view
Improve the coordination of care between patients, payers and providers
Provide additional data capture for member benefits and quality and compliance purposes
Improve workflow and approval processing to ultimately reduce administrative cost

What:	MEDecision webinar: "Introduction to Alineo 3.0"

Who:	MEDecision's Director of Product Marketing Deepika Singh and Clinical Product Manager Pat Sitko

When:	Wednesday, September 15, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:	Register at www.MEDecision.com/webinar.

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Alineo, Alineo 3.0, healthcare, healthcare reform, MHPAEA, collaborative healthcare management, behavioral health, member-centric behavioral health utilization management, UM, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Named One of the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania for Second Consecutive Year

MEDecision — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has been named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania for 2010 by the Central Penn Business Journal. This marks the second consecutive year MEDecision has received the honor, which recognizes the company's collaborative and positive work environment and ability to attract and retain motivated, high-performing employees.

"All of us at MEDecision have worked very hard to create and maintain a healthy, high-performing culture, and we are grateful for this prestigious honor," said David St.Clair, founder and CEO at MEDecision. "Too many companies across the Commonwealth have been forced to sacrifice benefits, employee programs and innovation in order to survive the economic downturn. MEDecision took the opposite stance and has been rewarded with employee loyalty and a shared commitment to improving the relationship among patients, healthcare payers and providers in managed care settings. Together, we continue to build the kind of company we've always wanted to work for."

MEDecision will be recognized at the Best Places to Work in PA evening awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, PA. Final numerical rankings of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania will be revealed at the ceremony.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Product Advisory: Alineo 3.0 Available Today

MEDecision — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, today announced the general availability of Alineo^® 3.0, the latest version of its Alineo collaborative healthcare management platform.

What is Alineo? Alineo is a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management. It provides a comprehensive view of past and present clinical data for patients and patient populations. Alineo is designed to help health plans increase the overall quality, affordability and efficiency of care. It helps maintain costs and improve outcomes by fostering greater clinical consistency, streamlining operations and bolstering workforce responsiveness.

Why is Alineo important? During this time of health reform, the greatest challenge for the healthcare industry is achieving better patient outcomes while making healthcare more affordable. Deployed effectively, Alineo supports collaborative care management between health plans, providers and patients. This is one area that can help with health reform compliance, reduce costs and improve care.

Who will benefit? Health plans faced with the challenge of meeting the mandates of healthcare reform, patients who want better care at lower cost, and providers who need access to information from throughout the healthcare ecosystem in order to provide the best possible care.

What new features are available with Alineo 3.0?

Behavioral Health - Alineo 3.0 offers a new behavioral health utilization module designed to support compliance with the 2008 Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. All care requests and programs can now be designated as medical or behavioral health related. Alineo incorporates standard DSM 5-axis coding to better classify patients. Integrating this with medical and surgical information allows for more holistic patient management and care.
Auto Workflow and Auto Approval Enhancements - The expanded rules and approval functionality within Alineo 3.0 reduces the administrative costs associated with rule maintenance and, at the same time, allows health plans the ability to more easily create complex rules that are required to manage their business.
Multiple Active Enrollments - A health plan member may have multiple insurance carriers, with the same or different subscribers, with overlapping eligibility dates. Alineo 3.0 now captures primary and secondary coverage information for members, providing a complete view of all member healthcare coverage and associated enrollment.
Outcome Text Field - Alineo 3.0 now provides a model field designed to capture rationale for utilization management outcome decisions. This feature supports health plans' critical need to capture and communicate detailed information regarding care decisions and also helps them meet state and accreditation standards.
Program Providers - With Alineo 3.0 health plans can associate multiple providers with a program, enabling them to better track and coordinate the plan of care between the patient, provider and payer.
Clinical Criteria - Alineo 3.0 offers health plans the option of using both Milliman Care Guidelines^® CareWebQI^® version 2.0, 14^th edition; and CareEnhance^® Review Manager 9.0, InterQual^® 2010 clinical criteria for utilization management requests. Alineo's interoperability with these best-of-breed clinical criteria vendors supports health plans' ability to make consistent utilization management decisions for both medical and behavioral healthcare.
Microsoft^® SQL Server^® Enterprise Platform Support - Organizations will have the option to operate Alineo on the Microsoft^® SQL Server^® Enterprise platform later in the year.

For more information on Alineo, see http://www.MEDecision.com/Alineo. For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at http://www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

Resources

Press Release: MEDecision Showcases Readiness to Support Post-Reform Healthcare Market at AHIP Institute 2010; /news-events/press-releases
Webinar: Member-Centric Behavioral Health Utilization Management; /news-events/webinar-series

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext: 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Founder David St.Clair Re-Joins Company as Interim CEO

MEDecision — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:30:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, today announced that its founder, David St.Clair, will suspend his retirement to re-join the company as CEO, replacing Scott A. Storrer who has announced his resignation to pursue other interests. St.Clair will remain in the position during the search for Storrer's permanent replacement.

"There is no one more qualified than David St.Clair to direct MEDecision's continued growth during this brief period of transition," said Colleen Reitan, chairperson of the board for MEDecision and executive vice president and chief operating officer for Health Care Service Corporation, its parent company. "He is primarily responsible for making it the market-leading company it is today. His familiarity and expertise will ensure stability as MEDecision continues to build strength in a rapidly changing industry."

"Like healthcare itself, there are tremendous opportunities on the horizon for MEDecision," St.Clair said. "Our main priority is to extend the momentum we've built over the past year. We will continue to enhance our products, services and approach so that we are optimally positioned to help existing and prospective customers capitalize on the industry's changing landscape."

Since his retirement in January, St.Clair has maintained an active role with MEDecision as a member of its board of directors. He originally founded the company in 1988 to offer healthcare organizations collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simplified and smart way to manage the health of members and member populations. MEDecision has since grown into an industry leader known for its continuous innovation in healthcare management solutions, while St.Clair is widely regarded as one of health information technology's leading visionaries.

Both Storrer's resignation and St.Clair's assumption of the CEO position are effective immediately.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management; Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions; and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com

MEDecision Offering Webinar on Member-Centric Behavioral Health Utilization Management

MEDecision — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:15:00

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, will present a complimentary webinar discussing member-centric behavioral health utilization management and what health plans need to begin considering today to prepare for the changes coming tomorrow, including related workflow requirements. The session will be held on Wednesday, July 14 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time).

Hosted by MEDecision's Vice President of Product Marketing Brian Nagle, Director of Clinical Programs Suzanne Kunze and Clinical Product Manager Dawn Kramer, the webinar will examine the societal, economic and regulatory factors that are driving insurers to increase access, improve outcomes, and control costs for mental health and substance abuse care. Its primary topics will include:

A summary review of the 2009 Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and its implications for payers
The relationship between medical and behavioral health and the importance of maintaining a holistic member view for utilization and disease management
What health plans need to consider to increase access, improve the quality of care, and control costs in the new behavioral health environment

What:

MEDecision webinar: "Member-Centric Behavioral Health Utilization Management"

Who:

MEDecision's Vice President of Product Marketing Brian Nagle, Director of Clinical Programs Suzanne Kunze and Clinical Product Manager Dawn Kramer

When:

Wednesday, July 14, 2010; 12:30 p.m. Eastern time (9:30 a.m. Pacific time)

How:

For more information about MEDecision, please visit www.MEDecision.com. Follow the company on Twitter at @MEDecision and on Facebook at www.MEDecision.com/Facebook.

About MEDecision

MEDecision offers collaborative healthcare management solutions that provide a simple and smart way for payers and providers to harness the power of knowledge to enable the best clinical decisions and improve health outcomes. Designed around a patient-aware health management philosophy, MEDecision's solutions include Alineo^®, a collaborative healthcare management platform for delivering outcome-driven case, disease and utilization management, Nexalign^®, a collaborative healthcare decision support service that fosters better payer-patient-physician interactions and InFrame™, a collaborative health information exchange service that connects care delivery organizations with one another and their patients. For more information, visit www.MEDecision.com.

Tags: MEDecision, Alineo, Nexalign, InFrame, healthcare, healthcare reform, MHPAEA, collaborative healthcare management, behavioral health, member-centric behavioral health utilization management, UM, case management, disease management, utilization management

Contacts

MEDecision
Sherri Stuart, 610-540-0202 ext. 2236
Director, Corporate Communications
Sherri.Stuart@MEDecision.com
or
TECHMarket Communications
Laura Paden, 818-597-0480
Laura@TECHMarket.com