Blue Shield of California Introduces New Medication Therapy Management Program
Posted on: Wednesday, 2 August 2006, 15:00 CDT
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California has launched a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program available to all qualified Blue Shield Medicare Part D members. The Blue Shield MTM program makes clinical pharmacists available to members at no additional cost for medication utilization reviews to assist with managing their medications and provides members educational materials through the mail.
The program is offered to all qualified members enrolled in a Blue Shield of California Medicare Part D plan. The qualifying medical conditions covered by the MTM Program are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and diabetes. To participate, members with two or more of these conditions must also have seven or more Part D-covered prescriptions and are likely to incur an annual cost of $4,000 for Medicare-covered prescriptions.
"These members present the most significant opportunity for intervention to prevent long-term complications, hospitalizations and urgent care visits," says Nancy Stalker, Blue Shield vice president of Pharmacy Services. "By giving members access to Blue Shield pharmacists for personalized consultation and educational mailings, we expect to improve member medication use."
Participating pharmacists will document member consultations with a customized contact management and documentation system developed by MedInitiatives Inc., a health care business technology company. The MedInitiatives system also allows pharmacists to measure and track outcomes with access to the member's medication profile.
"We are pleased to provide technology that helps Blue Shield of California meet its Medicare Modernization Act Part D requirements," said Matt Simas, MedInitiatives president and CEO. "MedInitiatives' technology will allow Blue Shield's clinical staff to use their proprietary clinical measures to easily identify a member's potential health risks and to immediately act on their findings to positively affect patient care."
In addition, designated members will receive educational mailings regarding quality of care measures that highlight evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and are targeted to their specific medical needs. This program, provided by Resolution Health Inc. (RHI), a disease management analytics and communications company, includes the Patient Personal Care Note, a member mailer that details their recent claims and potential medication therapy interventions, which can be shared with the member's healthcare providers.
"RHI's communications tools provide patient- and disease-specific messaging to drive improved quality of care for Medicare Part D participants," says Earl P. Steinberg, M.D., M.P.P., president and CEO of Resolution Health Inc. "Our Patient Personal Care Notes will have significant impact on patient compliance with best clinical practices, as well as adherence to the Blue Shield of California formulary."
About Blue Shield of California
Founded in 1939, Blue Shield of California is one of the state's leading healthcare companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, the not-for-profit corporation has more than 3.3 million members, 4,300 employees and more than 20 offices locations throughout California. For more information, visit the Blue Shield of California website at http://www.mylifepath.com/.
About MedInitiatives Inc.
MedInitiatives provides decision support solutions designed to improve clinical and financial outcomes for health care organizations. MedInitiatives' customized business tools integrate and analyze pharmaceutical and medical data, allowing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health plan organizations to gain insight, drill into details and make decisions about benefits and cost structure. MedInitiatives' technology enables users to optimize finances, examine trends, identify inappropriate prescribing, manage patients, improve therapies and more. Founded in 2000, MedInitiatives was named the #1 Fastest Growing Company in the Sacramento region by the Sacramento Business Journal in 2004 and maintains a position in the Top 10 for 2005. Today, MedInitiatives' technology is used by health care companies managing more than 83 million lives and more than $25 billion in health care expenditures. MedInitiatives is headquartered near Sacramento, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.medinitiatives.com/.
About Resolution Health Inc.
Resolution Health Inc. performs sophisticated healthcare data analytics and provides highly targeted patient and physician communications to help companies reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality and safety. RHI clients include health plans/insurers, large self-insured employers, unions, disease management companies, pharmacy benefit management companies, and benefit consultants. Visit http://www.resolutionhealth.com/.
CONTACT: Elise Anderson Media Relations Manager Blue Shield of California (310) 568-2866 elise.anderson@blueshieldca.com
Blue Shield of California
CONTACT: Elise Anderson, Media Relations Manager of Blue Shield ofCalifornia, +1-310-568-2866, elise.anderson@blueshieldca.com
Web site: http://www.mylifepath.com/http://www.medinitiatives.com/http://www.resolutionhealth.com/
Source: PRNewswire
Related Articles
- Anthem Blue Cross in California Provides More Members With Access to Comprehensive Transparency Tool
- St. Joseph Health System and Blue Cross of California Renew Healthcare Coverage Contract
- MEDecision's Patient Clinical Summary To Be Implemented By Memphis Managed Care Corporation
- Alere Medical Chooses HC Innovations, Inc. To Provide Care Management for Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred Members
- Blue Cross of California Announces Launch of 360 Degree Health(R)
- Premera Blue Cross and The Polyclinic Announce Joint Campaign to Promote Colorectal Screening for Members and Patients
- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Centura Health Launch HMOSelect(TM) - Lower Cost Health Care Benefits Plans - in Colorado Springs
- U-M Health System in Talks With Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to Sell M-CARE Health Plans
- Study Presented at The American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting Shows Improved Clinical, Behavioral and Mental Health Outcomes for Hispanic Diabetes Patients Who Received Culturally-Appropriate Health Education
- Martin's Point Health Care Selects Health Dialog to Enhance Care for Members With Chronic Illness
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds