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Magellan Health Services Taps Leading Obesity Authority for Insights into Effective Treatments

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 18:00 CST

In a presentation to members of Magellan Health Services' senior clinical management, Holly R. Wyatt, M.D., a leading authority on obesity and metabolic syndrome and a member of Magellan's obesity management medical advisory board, presented the latest information on the range of effective treatments medical professionals should consider in helping obese patients. Wyatt's insights and expertise are used in the ongoing development of Magellan's obesity management product, which the company launched earlier this year.

"With statistics showing that over half of all adult Americans are overweight and 40 million are obese, we are facing an epidemic of obesity in this country, the social and health costs of which are enormous," said Wyatt, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine of the University of Colorado at Denver and national program director for the Centers for Obesity Research and Education. "While preventing weight gain is the first step in treating the epidemic, we also must treat existing cases of obesity with all the tools we have available - nutrition, physical activity, behavioral modification, medications and surgery. With its broad base of health plan and employer customers and its innovative obesity management program, Magellan is uniquely positioned to support purchasers and society as a whole in addressing this critical public health issue."

Part of Magellan's Condition Care Management product suite, Magellan's obesity management product, known as Condition Care Management: Obesity, employs a multi-faceted approach to help individuals lose weight and maintain that weight loss. Unlike traditional weight management programs that focus almost exclusively on diet and exercise, Magellan's program draws on the company's 30 years of behavioral health expertise to enhance the cognitive, psychological and social supports that persons with obesity need to achieve the weight management and fitness goals they and their physicians have set.

Condition Care Management: Obesity offers four modes of intervention that include: Web-based interactive tools, telephonic support with the help of Magellan coaches, referrals to specialized behavioral health practitioners as well as fitness and nutrition experts, and a unique bariatric surgery management program.

"Through the work of experts such as Dr. Wyatt, the medical and behavioral health fields are gaining greater understanding of overweight and obesity conditions and metabolic syndrome and are developing more effective strategies for helping individuals deal with them," said Anthony M. Kotin, M.D., chief clinical officer for Magellan. "We are very pleased to be able to draw on Dr. Wyatt's expertise, as well as the expertise of the other members of our obesity medical advisory board, in refining our obesity management product, the first of its kind to deal with the root causes of obesity by addressing cognitive and behavioral components of successful weight management."

A graduate of Baylor College of Medicine, Wyatt has studied, written and taught in the areas of obesity, endocrinology and internal medicine for more than a decade. In addition to her current academic appointment, Wyatt serves as senior editor of Obesity Management, the journal of the Centers for Obesity Research and Education, and as an ad hoc reviewer for Obesity Research, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. She is the author or co-author of more than 30 articles, book chapters and other publications in the fields of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Wyatt is among a number of experts presenting as part of a four-day conference of Magellan's clinical leadership that the company is holding this week to exchange organizational and industry best practices.

About Magellan: Headquartered in Avon, Conn., Magellan Health Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:MGLN) is the country's leading behavioral health disease management organization. Its customers include health plans, corporations and government agencies.

Source: Business Wire

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