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Alere Medical Expands Disease Management Capabilities Via Systems Upgrade

Posted on: Monday, 28 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Industry-Leading Technology Provides 360-Degree View of Patients with Co-Morbid Conditions; Multi-Million Dollar Upgrades Provide Patient Data and Decision-Making Tools in Real Time

Alere Medical Inc., the leading specialty disease management company, has successfully completed the first phase of a multi-stage, multi-million dollar systems upgrade designed to further enhance the company's expanding disease management capabilities and provide access to multiple streams of data that will enhance patient management and care. Called Allegro, the industry leading, patient-centric monitoring system provides information on a patient-by-patient basis, where nurses caring for patients with co-morbidities have access to disease management information within a centralized environment. The new system integrates all disease states and co-morbidities, while generating one comprehensive report, where nurses have a complete view of each patient's health information.

"This new system is part of the larger systems and operations upgrade we're making to transition Alere from a singularly-focused disease management company to one that is managing and supporting the healthcare needs of patients with multiple diseases," said Janet Tewhill, chief operating officer, Alere Medical. "Helping employers and health plans successfully manage sub-populations with congestive heart failure, diabetes and other co-morbid conditions means we need to see the patient in a virtual 360-degree fashion. Allegro provides us with the capability to do that and bring data and information to the patient's physician and health plan in real time. That can be critical for patients, particularly the elderly, who are dealing with multiple illnesses that are often related yet treated too often in isolation," she added.

Allegro is a Web-based application that is completely scalable in terms of number of disease states as well as patients. With Allegro, one integrated system can provide all monitoring for heart failure, coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes and respiratory diseases. It also will have the capability to interface with other biometric devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and glucometers, using wireless technology.

"Allegro is transparent to both clients and patients, and enables Alere Medical to be more robust for nurses and patient care and more responsive to client needs, conducting its business more efficiently and effectively, while being integrated seamlessly," said Jeff Roggensack, vice president information services, Alere Medical. The new system represents a multi-million dollar investment that allows Alere Medical to manage more diseases on a patient-centric basis.

Allegro is based upon systems created by Orion Systems, which Alere Medical further developed and customized for heart failure and other diseases. Alere Medical reviewed 45 different platforms and chose one created by Orion Systems because it was customizable for different diseases and a myriad of clients.

About Alere Medical Incorporated

Alere Medical Incorporated is a leader in specialized disease management services, focusing on select high-cost diseases to maximize clients' return on investment. Alere Medical produces unequalled clinical and cost-saving results, by precision targeting the patients who will benefit most from specialty interventions. Alere Medical's integrated care monitoring system identifies and monitors all medium- and high-risk patients, and prioritizes those patients to facilitate efficient workflow. With published outcomes that exceed those of any competitor, Alere Medical's disease management programs result in improved clinical outcomes for patients, and guaranteed savings for clients.

Alere Medical has received NCQA Patient Oriented Full Accreditation for its Heart Failure Disease Management Program (2004-2007), and is also ranked #61 on the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing private companies (2005). For more information, visit www.alere.com or call (775) 829-8885.

Source: Business Wire

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