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LIFEMASTERS EXPANDS DISEASE MANAGEMENT OFFERINGS TO INCLUDE INNOVATIVE STAND-ALONE DEPRESSION PROGRAM AS PART OF ITS STRATEGIC GROWTH INITIATIVES Preferred One Health Plan First to Offer New LifeMasters Depression Program Irvine, Calif. & Minneapolis, Minn., May 19, 2008 - Following a recent round of financing, LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc., a national leading provider of health improvement programs and services, today announced that it will expand its disease management offerings to include a new depression program focused on providing support to diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals with depression. As part of the initial roll out, Preferred One Health Plan in Minnesota is offering the new depression program to its members. “Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults a year and studies are increasingly linking depression to chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease,” said Marcus Merz, president and CEO at Preferred One. “We decided to add the LifeMasters depression program to our health improvement offerings because we believe treating depression along with chronic conditions will best benefit our clients.” Given that the burden of depression as a single or co-morbid disease state continues to grow, LifeMasters determined its participants could benefit greatly from offering a depression program. In 2006, LifeMasters pilot-tested a telephonically delivered depression symptom support intervention based on a clinically proven model from a leading university. The new LifeMasters program incorporates the learning from that pilot and extends the tested model to a more robust set of interventions. The LifeMasters program provides support for the identification of depression, behavioral activation to counteract symptoms, pharmacotherapy support, and depression relapse-prevention through self-care. Preferred One is one of six health plans in Minnesota working with over 100 physicians to test an intervention for patients with depression that evaluates how a healthcare provider case manager team backed by a psychiatrist better supports patients with depression. LifeMasters has structured its depression program as a telephonic support program to expand upon this concept. Preferred One program participants work with a specially trained nurse or health educator who is supported by behavioral health specialists and case-supervised by a licensed psychiatrist with expertise in adult depression. Participant-focused and holistic, the LifeMasters depression program targets both participants’ emotional and clinical needs. While not aiming to treat or cure depression directly, it seeks to support the patient and physician in treating the condition with a focus on improving quality of life, and increasing productivity for the participant while reducing the economic burden of depression for the clients. “As part of our strategic growth initiatives, we are committed to expanding our offerings to deliver programs that have the greatest impact,” said Christobel Selecky, CEO of LifeMasters. “Our innovative depression program is designed to provide tangible results for the participant, their physicians and our clients. We are delighted to introduce this important program to Preferred One members.” |
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