Mental Health Prescription Program Named Winner in URAC's Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards
April 16 2008 - 2:31PM
PR Newswire (US)
Behavioral Health Pharmacy Management Program improves patient care
while saving Medicaid dollars INDIANAPOLIS, April 16
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- URAC announced the winners of its
inaugural Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection
Awards competition, naming the Missouri Department of Mental
Health, Missouri HealthNet, Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. and
Eli Lilly and Company as Silver Award winners in the Health
Information Technology category for the Behavioral Health Pharmacy
Management (BPM) program. The program also received an Honorable
Mention Award in the Integrated Care Coordination category. The
awards were presented at a black tie gala during URAC's Best
Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Conference in
Orlando, Fla. During the conference, award finalists presented
their model programs to attendees so these best practices can be
duplicated in communities across the country. Details on the BPM
program are available online at
http://www.lillyforbetterhealth.com/. "A Best Practices Award is a
strong signal to the market that an organization places a premium
on consumer protection and empowerment," said Alan P. Spielman,
URAC's president and CEO. "We are excited about this opportunity to
recognize these trailblazers and draw attention to programs that
are models for the industry." How the Program Works The BPM program
evaluates pharmacy claims for all mental health medications to
identify prescribing patterns that are inconsistent with
evidence-based best practices in standards of care, including
research published in medical journals. The program then alerts and
educates doctors whose data is inconsistent with these best
practices The program may be tailored to identify several types of
care improvement opportunities such as: -- Duplicative prescribing
of medication by different doctors for the same patient --
Premature, rapid switching from one medication to another --
Prescribing above or below recommended dosing levels -- Patients'
failure to refill their medications in a timely manner Missouri's
BPM program has produced positive results. Program studies have
shown a 43 percent decrease in hospital admissions for program
participants and an overall savings of $7.7 million in Medicaid
costs that the state would have incurred in fiscal year 2004. The
program has run in half of states nationwide, resulting in more
than 2 million Medicaid patient care improvement interventions.
"Not only do the patients do better, but the doctors are able to
provide care more effectively and efficiently," said Joe Parks,
M.D., medical director for the Missouri Department of Mental
Health. "The partnership is a model for reducing hospitalizations,
containing pharmacy costs, improving prescribing practices and
maintaining open access to psychiatric medications." States and CNS
work together to identify prescription patterns. Lilly provides
financial support for the initiative, and the operation and
implementation of the program is done solely by the states and CNS.
If a state decides to share data with Lilly, the data is blinded
aggregate data that does not contain information about individual
patients. In addition, Lilly has received approval and support from
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for these
initiatives. "Just like cancer or diabetes, mental illness is a
devastating disease that impacts millions. We believe that funding
programs which leverage information, technology and education to
improve patient care and efficiencies in the health care system
will have a huge beneficial impact on our society," said Jack
Bailey, vice president, Lilly. "At CNS, we work to provide treating
physicians with comprehensive information about their patients'
treatment histories and the most applicable evidence-based best
practice insights from the literature. Armed with the right
information, physicians can make better treatment decisions," said
John Docherty, M.D., founder and chairman at Comprehensive
NeuroScience, Inc. "The Behavioral Health Pharmacy Management
program demonstrates how state Medicaid programs can improve
patient care while freeing scarce Medicaid dollars for other
pressing healthcare needs." In all, URAC honored 22 winners for
excellence among entries from health care management, health
information technology, health plan and pharmacy benefit management
organizations. Entries were judged by a distinguished panel of
industry experts in three categories: consumer decision support,
consumer/patient safety and integrated care coordination. Programs
were selected as winners for their ability to measurably
demonstrate an impact on consumer empowerment and/or protection, as
well as their potential for widespread implementation of the
program by other organizations. A complete list of winners of the
Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards may be
found at http://www.urac.org/. About Comprehensive NeuroScience,
Inc. Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. (CNS) is a national
privately-held clinical research company based in White Plains NY.
CNS specializes in products and services that enhance the
efficiencies of clinical development and use of therapeutic
pharmaceuticals for persons with serious mental illnesses. The Care
Management Technologies division of CNS, leverages the expertise
and scientific breakthroughs for which CNS is known in order to
deliver innovative and effective integrated care management
solutions focusing on improving quality of care while reducing
pharmacy and health care costs for people, payors and the larger
community. About Eli Lilly and Company Lilly, a leading
innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of
first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by
applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories
and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers --
through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most
urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is
available at http://www.lilly.com/. About URAC URAC, an
independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in
promoting health care quality through its accreditation and
education programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality
benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid
changes in the health care system and provide a symbol of
excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to
quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance
structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC
ensures that all stakeholders are represented in establishing
meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry.
For more information, visit http://www.urac.org/. P-LLY (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO ) (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080416/CLW066LOGO )
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080416/CLW066LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company
CONTACT: Janice Chavers, Eli Lilly and Company, +1-317-651-6253,
Cell, +1-317-612-4974, , or Maria Donaldson, Standing Partnership,
+1-314-469-3500,
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