American Healthways began offering its full suite of care enhancement programs, including diabetes, cardiac, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and 11 different impact conditions, to Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield's self-funded groups earlier this year. Four employer groups, representing more than 62,000 employees and dependents, have already elected to offer those services to their employees.
“We selected American Healthways to administer our disease management program and work closely with our members' physicians and are pleased to be working with them to help improve the health of our members.”
"We are focused on providing our members and their physicians with the very best tools available to make informed decisions that lead to improved health, fewer disease-related complications and reduced health-care costs," said Dale Andringa, M.D., chief medical officer, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. "We selected American Healthways to administer our disease management program and work closely with our members' physicians and are pleased to be working with them to help improve the health of our members."
American Healthways' programs are designed to enhance the care experience and reduce the cost of care, employing the principles of evidence-based medicine and recognized standards of care to support the physician's plan of care and help people with chronic and other diseases improve their health. The programs monitor patients' conditions, educate them to become more effective self-managers of their disease and support them in creating and sustaining the behavior changes that result in better health. Advanced technologies also help determine those at high risk of health complications, enabling the provision of preventive interactions that can greatly reduce or avoid costly health-care episodes.
Ben R. Leedle Jr., president and chief executive officer of American Healthways, said, "We value the confidence Wellmark has placed in our programs and in our company. We have had a great working relationship with Wellmark since they began offering our programs to their self-insured members earlier this year, and we look forward to a smooth and successful road ahead with their fully insured members as well."
About Wellmark
Wellmark, Inc. does business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Wellmark and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, including Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota, insure or pay health benefit claims for more than 1.8 million individuals. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information regarding Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, please visit www.wellmark.com.
About American Healthways
American Healthways is the nation's leading and largest provider of specialized, comprehensive disease management, care enhancement and high-risk health management services proven to improve the quality of health care and lower costs. As of Aug. 31, 2004, the Company had over 1.3 million lives under management nationwide. For more information, visit www.americanhealthways.com.
Safe Harbor Provisions
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In order for American Healthways to utilize the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, investors are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by the important factors, among others, included in the discussion in Part I, Item 1, and Part II, Item 7, of American Healthways' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2003, and Part I, Item 2 of American Healthways' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 31, 2004. Consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. American Healthways undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.
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