Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Minnesota Chooses Accordant For Disease Management Programs

Market Wire, 20050229

Accordant Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of technology-enabled disease management programs, announced today that it has signed a multi-year contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Minnesota Blue Cross). Accordant will provide a portfolio of support services for Minnesota Blue Cross members affected by one or more of the complex, chronic disease conditions managed by Accordant. Minnesota Blue Cross is the largest Minnesota health plan and the third Blue Cross plan to contract with Accordant for disease management services. "When fully implemented, Accordant's disease management programs are expected to serve more than 3,000 Minnesota Blue Cross members," states Steven Schelhammer, founder and CEO of Accordant. "These programs are focused on members with chronic, progressive conditions that represent a low prevalence among a health plan's total membership but a high health and cost impact if not appropriately managed. Accordant specializes in progressive chronic conditions, applying its expertise to support patients and enhance communication among patients, providers and caregivers."

Management of these complex, chronic diseases offers significant quality improvement to managed care organizations and equally significant health and quality-of-life benefits for participants. Since its inception in 1995, Accordant has interacted with more than 15,000 patients. Accordant programs have demonstrated improved patient satisfaction and care quality while lowering overall healthcare costs. Consolidated economic results from Accordant's program clearly demonstrate a typical "return on investment" of approximately 100 percent. Accordant has delivered patient satisfaction results consistently exceeding 94 percent of patients reporting that "they are satisfied or very satisfied" with Accordant's services.

"Accordant's disease management services are integral to our BluePrint for Health, which is designed to inform, educate, encourage and support better health for our members," explains Steven Eisenberg, M.D., medical director at Minnesota Blue Cross. "We have turned to the Accordant team because of its documented track record of success in managed care. Accordant specializes in areas where we can realize cost savings while improving the health of our members."

Utilizing its "tele-web" approach to disease management, Accordant initiates regular outbound communication with patients and works to foster improved relationships between patients and their physicians. The Accordant nurses interact with patients to:

*Monitor and coordinate health status updates with their physician;

*Provide disease specific education to stimulate effective self management approaches; and

*Encourage compliance and foster overall health and wellness.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.

About Accordant

Accordant, Inc., based in Greensboro, N.C., focuses on managing complex, chronic diseases with the goal of improving clinical, patient satisfaction and cost-of-care outcomes. The company relies on its expert "tele-web" system that integrates Internet and call center technologies to enable flexible, intelligent and customized information-sharing among patients, providers and health plans. At present, Accordant offers programs for 15 complex, chronic diseases in the areas of neurology, rheumatology, pulmonology and hematology serving. Accordant's Medical Advisory Board is comprised of national medical experts who participate in the development and continuous quality improvement of the company's programs. For more information about Accordant, visit www.accordant.com or call 1-800-948-2497.