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CareGuide's One Care Street(R) Granted Patent for Health Management System

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 10:43 CDT

CareGuide lowers health care costs by predicting near-term health utilization

- U.S. Patent awarded to CareGuide for its health management system and method used to identify individuals at risk of high health care costs.

- CareGuide is the only company that delivers near-term cost savings through a predictive assessment and coaching.

- Perceived health status predicts health care utilization and identifies individuals for health coaching.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- CareGuide, Inc. was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,542,913 B1, "System and Method of Predicting High Utilizers of Healthcare Services." The patent reflects CareGuide's unique approach to population health management and its ability to deliver cost savings to clients at a time when health management programs are being closely evaluated. CareGuide's One Care Street(R) Health Perception Assessment identifies those at risk for high health care utilization in the next six months and provides health coaching to lower risk.

Michael J. Condron, CareGuide's CEO, views the patent as a differentiator for CareGuide in the health management industry, "CareGuide is the only company that delivers near-term cost savings through a predictive assessment and coaching."

The predictive algorithms are based on the concept of perceived health. Michael Barber, MD, CareGuide's Chief Medical Officer, explains, "People seek medical care based on how ill or well they feel in comparison to how they think they should feel. A large gap between perceived degree of health and one's expectation for oneself drives non-beneficial or avoidable healthcare utilizations. One Care Street's coaching helps people better manage their medical conditions and be more successful at making important lifestyle changes."

Julie Meek, DNS, the creator of the One Care Street Health Perception Assessment and associated predictive model, recalls the motivation for developing such a unique assessment, "I recognized the challenge of managing the 10 to 15 percent of the population that incurs 80 percent or more of health care costs. We developed a tool to predict which members are at risk for high near-term healthcare utilization. These members enjoy better health and incur fewer health-related expenses if they can be identified early and helped proactively."

About CareGuide

CareGuide (www.careguide.com) optimizes population health through proactive assessment, coaching, disease management services, complex care management and utilization review. Our customer-centric health solutions achieve success through personalized interventions to shape and improve health and quality of life. We focus on analytical excellence to deliver targeted care management that navigates advanced chronic conditions by providing at-home telemonitoring and home visits to support the most vulnerable. CareGuide's services dramatically improve the lives of employee populations, Medicare/Medicaid recipients and health plan members.

SOURCE CareGuide, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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