For Immediate Release
Silver Spring, Maryland
March 15, 2007
APS Healthcare and State of Missouri Expand Chronic Care Improvement Program to Medicaid Participants with Sickle Cell Disease
APS Healthcare, one of the country’s leading specialty healthcare companies, and the state of Missouri today announced the expansion of the state’s chronic care improvement program (CCIP) to include Medicaid participants with sickle cell disease. The CCIP program is a recent Medicaid initiative that offers additional support to a medically fragile population. Patients with sickle cell disease will benefit from the intensive case management afforded by the CCIP, which includes pain management and other strategies to help these patients deal with the complications of their disease.
The CCIP and associated Internet-based community health record, which are administered by APS, will provide support for more than 38,000 Missourians with conditions including diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and cardiovascular disease.
“APS applauds Gov. Matt Blunt and the state of Missouri’s efforts to create a new system for improving the Medicaid program through use of an integrated strategy for medical homes, chronic care improvement and electronic health records,” said David Hunsaker, president, APS Public Program. “We are very excited to partner with the state of Missouri to help chronically ill Medicaid participants achieve better health outcomes, working in conjunction with their healthcare providers and other caregivers.”
The CCIP is an enhanced primary care case management program that incorporates the principles of disease management, care coordination and case management to serve patients identified through a risk assessment and disease stratification model. It also includes an Internet-based plan of care, APS CareConnection® for health and disease management, which works in tandem with the chronic care program to help coordinate care for Medicaid patients. APS CareConnection® enables all participants - patients, providers and health coaches - to work more effectively together using a collaborative medical record.
To better assist Medicaid patients, APS is implementing its community-based care management model, which places health coaches and nurse care managers in community health centers and provider locations throughout the state.
“By placing health coaches and care managers in neighborhood health centers, we are able to meet Medicaid patients in the communities where they receive care, creating a better impact on the participant,” Hunsaker said. “This approach provides a better opportunity to increase compliance with recommended care plans and improve care coordination.”
APS Public Programs, a division of APS Healthcare, is one of the country’s leaders in providing services to Medicaid programs and currently serves clients representing more than 40 percent of the nation’s Medicaid population. In addition to health and disease management programming, APS provides Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-designated quality improvement organization (QIO) services, external quality review organization (EQRO) services, behavioral and other community-based government programs in more than 20 states.
About APS
APS Healthcare, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., is a leading provider of specialty healthcare solutions that cover more than 20 million members in the United States. APS offers customized, integrated healthcare solutions across two major healthcare product lines – care management and behavioral health services. APS operates under the belief that managing healthcare for the mind and body improves overall health and reduces total healthcare spending.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Clark-Lynn
Manager, Corporate Communications
APS Healthcare
800-305-3720, ext. 3266
sclynn@apshealthcare.com
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