Alere Offers Single-Source Solution for Health Plans Seeking to In-Source Health Managemen...(outsourced programs. Blue Cross...)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina (BCBS/SC) recently became one of the first health systems in the nation to complete the integration of its DM programs with the IHMS system. The platform merges all of BCBS/SC's disease management, maternity management and personal health records, as well as complex care and wellness programs. The IHMS platform is also used to process all of the claims, pharmacy and medical data for BCBS/SC's 1.5 million covered lives.

"We're extremely pleased with the flexibility that Alere's integrated platform allows us to have with our customers," says David Boucher, president and COO of Companion Global Health Care, a subsidiary of BCBS/SC. "We can either develop programs internally or outsource our programs depending on the needs of our clients. This flexibility gives us a distinct competitive advantage and most importantly is enabling us to provide better care to members while we control costs for our customers."

In addition to providing the ability to insource or outsource, the value of the IHMS system to health plans is that it brings together management, oversight and data analysis for case management, disease management, and wellness onto a single technology platform. This enables greater administrative efficiency and control, resulting in an overall reduction in healthcare costs for health plans.

The IHMS technology can be used by any health plan, using either internally developed or outsourced DM programs. Using IHMS, health plans can:

• Integrate Alere's Personal Health Record which includes personalized health content, interactive member messaging, an online care plan, auto-generated reminders to member email addresses and/or cell phones for tasks and appointments, and an auto-populated claims and medication history system
• Initiate chronic interventions 60 to 90 days ahead of tra
  '/>"/>