INSPIRIS and Mercy Care of Arizona Named Winners in URAC's Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protect...( INSPIRIS CarePlus Nurse Practitio...),Health

INSPIRIS CarePlus Nurse Practitioner-Led Care program with Mercy Care of Arizona wins Best of Show Award and Silver Award in the Health Care Management category in first-ever nationwide competition recognizing health care management programs that empower, protect consumers

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- URAC announced the winners of its inaugural Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards competition recently, naming INSPIRIS and Mercy Care of Arizona as partners to receive one of only two Best in Show winners, as well as the Silver Award winner in the Health Care Management category. The awards were presented during URAC's Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection Conference March 25 in Orlando, Florida. During the conference, award finalists presented their model programs to attendees so these best practices can be duplicated in communities across the country.

INSPIRIS is a health care management company focused on improving the quality of life for the frail elderly, chronically ill and those with disabilities, while reducing the cost to Medicare Advantage and Medicaid health plans. Mercy Care Plan, a managed care organization that provides health care services to people in Arizona's Medicaid and Medicare Advantage programs, is administered by Schaller Anderson, an Aetna company.

CarePlus provides members with care and care management in the nursing home setting. It bundles acute, long-term care, case management, and behavioral health services. INSPIRIS nurse practitioner-led teams bring on-site care to patients in order to reduce the incidence and severity of acute care problems and to actively manage chronic illness. A pilot study of Mercy Care of Arizona enrollees found that acute inpatient hospital admissions for patients served by INSPIRIS' CarePlus program dropped 63 percent as compared to other comparable patients.

"A Best Practices Award is a strong signal
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