Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Medicaid Disease Management: Overcoming Social and Behavioral Barriers to Improve Outcomes and Engagement

Manasquan, N.J., USA, October 11, 2006 – With more than half of all adult Medicaid enrollees afflicted with a chronic or disabling condition, and half of this group reporting a second condition frequently accompanied by mental illness, this population would appear ripe for disease management (DM) interventions. But because Medicaid enrollees are often difficult to contact, unresponsive, a challenge to engage and seeing multiple providers who do not communicate with each other, DM strategies that get results in the private sector may fall short with the Medicaid population. To achieve payoffs in outcomes and engagement, a Medicaid-focused DM initiative must also address the psychosocial issues faced by this population.

To guide healthcare organizations in the construction of a DM program that can identify and engage Medicaid enrollees and boost their cooperation, compliance rates and outcomes, the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN) is sponsoring “Medicaid Disease Management: Program Design, Features and Results,” an interactive audio conference on October 25, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Participants in the 90-minute audio conference will hear the rudiments of DM design and features that target Medicaid patients in need of care management. For more information, please visit the HIN site.

“Because much of the Medicaid population comes from a lower socioeconomic level and is often transient, health plans and providers have a hard time maintaining data on this population and generating the desired health outcomes and savings that DM usually brings,” said Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The key is to utilize communication strategies that will locate and engage this population, then enlist enrollees’ cooperation in managing their own conditions.”

During this 90-minute audio conference, Dr. Philip Bonaparte, chief medical officer for Horizon NJ Health, David Hunsaker, president of public programs at APS Healthcare and Elizabeth Reardon, managed care director of Vermont Health Access, will examine effective DM strategies for identifying and engaging Medicaid patients and producing measurable returns. Participants will get details on:

• Locating, contacting and keeping the Medicaid patient in disease management programs;
• Implementing behavior modification techniques that are effective for Medicaid patients;
• Getting the Medicaid population to understand DM and be involved in their healthcare;
• Building a process to promote buy-in at all levels;
• Understanding the difference between urban and rural populations and how this can affect disease management program success; and
• Evaluating and demonstrating a positive ROI in Medicaid disease management.

To register and obtain additional details about the audio conference, please visit the HIN site.

The 90-minute live audio conference, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on October 25, 2006, includes a 30-minute question-and-answer period for participants. A recorded version on CD-ROM with a printed transcript will be available in mid-November, and an “On-Demand” audio conference re-broadcast can be accessed beginning October 27, 2006.

This audio conference has been designed to address the interests of CEOs, medical directors, disease management directors, managers and coordinators, health plan executives, care management nurses, business development and strategic planning directors, state Medicaid directors and quality improvement executives.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network – HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.

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Contact: Patricia Donovan

Voice: (888) 446-3530
Fax: (732) 292-3073
E-mail: pdonovan@hin.com
Web site: www.hin.com