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LIFEMASTERS INTRODUCES TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW HEALTH PLANS, PHYSICIANS TO OVERSEE DISEASE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES AND ACCESS PATIENT CARE RECORDS, IN REAL TIME

- Health Plans Can Track Progress of Outsourced Disease Management Program, from Enrollment to Clinical Outcomes; Physicians Can View Daily Patient Status -

IRVINE, Calif. (May 1, 2001) - LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc. today announced the introduction of a new browser-based application for health plans, physicians and case managers that provides real-time information on chronic-disease patients who are monitored and coached remotely through LifeMasters’ programs. Through the introduction of LifeMasters’ password-protected Patient Review Application (PRA), all parties involved in a patient’s care can track the enrollment status and health progress of individual patients or entire patient populations.

"The PRA makes LifeMasters fully accountable to its health plan clients by allowing them to observe our interactions with their members," said Christobel E. Selecky, CEO of LifeMasters. "It provides them with a tool to access Web-based reports detailing everything from the ramp-up of enrollment to a full program summary analysis. The PRA also opens our database of continually updated patient-care information to each individual patient’s physician and to health plan case managers who may also be coordinating the patient’s care."

With the introduction of the Patient Review Application, LifeMasters enhances the traditional partnership between a health plan and its disease management vendor by making all disease management related activities visible. Through password-protected access to the LifeMasters’ system, the client can fully oversee LifeMasters’ operations and assess the status of their population, including patient enrollment and progress. This patient data can be used to extrapolate clinical and financial results, and generate custom reports, as needed.

LifeMasters’ PRA also gives doctors access to a complete care record of their chronic disease patients, including daily biometric monitoring data, over the counter, prescription, and alternative medication information, progress charts and notes recorded by LifeMasters’ nurses. This convenient, real-time access will enable physicians to make informed care decisions, based on longitudinal data.

"Health plans benefit by outsourcing disease management to companies like LifeMasters because of our long term investment in technologies to monitor and manage patients in the most cost effective and timely manner," said Selecky. "However, there has always been a desire on the part of health plan management to coordinate these outsourced programs with existing in-house case management programs and to have the same level of oversight as they would with an internally developed program. In addition, health plans are looking for ways to encourage their physicians to get ‘wired’ and participate more enthusiastically in disease management efforts. Our Patient Review Application is a great step toward both goals."

"Giving physicians daily clinical information on their most ‘difficult to manage’ patients is very powerful," said Jeffrey M. Davis, LifeMasters’ chief medical officer.  "Before an application like the PRA, physicians had to rely solely on retrospective patient history and observations of care givers and family members.  Now they can have clinical information via other professional clinicians, the LifeMasters’ nurses, on which to make assessments and more proactive medical management decisions."

LifeMasters’ PRA will also allow for a patient’s latest vital signs and medication information to be accessible in emergency rooms which could result in a reduction of medical errors and improved service.

LifeMasters will retroactively offer this application to all existing customers and incorporate its features into all new contracts. LifeMasters has taken measures, including individual log-ins and permission restrictions, to ensure that clinical data is completely secure and available only to appropriate parties.

For More Information Contact:

Denise Apcar LifeMasters, Inc (650) 829-6217 pr@lifemasters.com